Recipes
Creamy Hemp Heart Caesar Dressing
By The KSW Team · May 1, 2018 · 2 min read
I used to crush Caesar salad on the reg. I figured I was eating salad so it had to be a healthy option. Wrong.
Caesar salad dressing is definitely not the healthiest option. But, it can be! By swapping out inflammatory ingredients for wholesome alternatives, you’ve got yourself a pretty healthy dressing.
But what’s so bad about it?
Salad dressings can be an inflammatory and health hazardous minefield! The majority of commercial salad dressings, not just Caesar, contain poor quality fats, salts, sugars, and artificial flavouring/colour. These dressings are full of the bad omega-6s and rarely have any good omega-3s or omega-9s. This is why I always tell my clients over in The Clear Skin Solution to read labels before buying products. It’s super important for your overall health to be removing as many of these toxic and inflammatory ingredients as possible! READ YOUR LABELS.
Here’s a little list of the most common ingredients used in salad dressings:
- Canola and/or Soybean Oil – Genetically modified (GM) crops that use massive amounts of pesticides and have never been adequately tested for safety. High in poor quality omega-6 fats.
- Corn Syrup – Increased risk of deadly health issues, including obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, fatty liver disease, and heart disease.
- Sugar – Increased risk of high blood pressure, obesity, inflammation, diabetes, and fatty liver disease.
- Artificial Food Dye – Some of the most commonly used artificial food dyes have been identified as potentially cancer-causing chemicals. Many others are known to trigger reactions in those with allergies.
- MSG – Animal studies have linked MSG to nerve cell damage in the brain. Causes migraines and nausea in many people. Goes by many names including, Autolyzed Yeast Extract.
Healthy Alternative
Salad dressings are super simple to make at home! I absolutely love making my own so I am absolutely sure the food I’m feeding my family is the best it can be.
Since we’re talkin’ Caesar dressing, we gotta make it creamy! Enter hemp hearts. I use these little powerhouses as the base for most of my creamy dressings. When blended down with all the the yummy ingredients, you’ll absolutely love how decadent it makes your dressing.
Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts are a staple in our kitchen. They’re pre-shelled so you can use them right out of the bag for your smoothies, salads, or anywhere you want a protein-rich topping. At 10 grams of protein per 30-gram serving, they contain two times more protein than flax or chia!
Ingredients
- ½ cup Manitoba Harvest Hemp Hearts
- ¼ cup water
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp gluten-free tamari
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp raw honey or maple syrup
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients, except the olive oil, in a mini food processor or blender
- Blend on low, drizzling the olive oil in until emulsified.
Notes
