Salad dressing question

[vegan1]

I have two questions.

First, I thought in terms of vinegar that only apple cider vinegar was raw. But then I went to this raw blog (http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/03/splendid-salads.html), I saw recipes that contained balsamic vinegar. Is balsamic vinegar or any other vinegar raw?

Also, can people send me to their favorite salad/salad dressing recipes? I'm not asking that they type them out, but list the cite or book? I am getting bored with lemon juice and olive oil.

Thanks for any help!

[Carmella]

Welcome vegan1,
Sorry I can't answer your question about whether vinegars are raw. If you are concerned, you can totally replace whatever vinegar is called for in a recipe for ACV or even lemon juice (that's what I do...)

[Sharon in Colorado]

Some people will use the Bragg's ACV with the mother, which hasn't been cooked but is not technically fresh. Other people won't use it at all since it's acetic acid, so everyone's different.

If you really want to use something from a whole food source, you can try using an acidic fruit or veggie, like lemon juice, lime juice, tomatoes, pineapple, oranges or orange juice, etc. and blend them with nut butters, nuts, avocado or olives which is a whole oil substitute.

The taste may be a lot lighter in the begnning but after a while it really grows on you and conventional dressings start tasting too concentrated and heavy.

Try playing around and you'll get some fun ideas. Sometimes just a squeeze of orange juice over my greens is all I need!

[RawCutter]

try this as a template for dressings and marinades. mix n match components from below.

acid such as vinegar, tomato or citrus juice such as lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, blood oranges, tangerine, kumquats, etc
+
oil such as olive and avocado (oil, chopped or pureed) or nut butters such as tahini
+
aromatics such as onions, shallots, garlic, ginger
+
salty such as miso, soy sauce, sea salt
+
herbs and spices such as rosemary, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, clove, mint, etc
+
heat such as red pepper flakes, hot sauce, sliced chiles, black pepper
+
sweet such as berries, mango, agave, honey

[Vegan Princess]

My two faves are alissa's creamy italian (lots of basil) - one of my fave dressings ever! And also the ginger marinade.

[TanjaJo]

I took the ingredients off of a bottle of goddess dressing, and converted it to raw. It's:

oil
apple cider vinegar
soy sauce (whatever kind you use - I am using up my Bragg's)
lemon juice
sea salt
garlic
parsley
chives (I usually use a small amount of onion)
tahini
and blend it all up in a blender.

I LOVE this stuff, and used to pay about $4.00 a bottle, and not a large bottle at that for the organic brand. I didn't list measures, because I sort of do it by taste and don't measure anything. My next favorite is Alissa's smooth and creamy avocado dressing. Very simple. Really great.

[rawpesto]

I use sweet mustard and mike's special flax oils from FoodsAlive. They are delicious and raw. One is better than the SAD honey mustard and the other is like a tangy SAD french. They taste similar to their SAD counterparts but have a much fresher flavour.
Hope this helps.

[vegan1]

Thanks so much for all the suggestions!