ORANGE CASHEW DRESSING

I have come across several recipes that use cashews to create a dressing or dip for salads, vegetables, beans and grains.  Using cashews in a dip reminds me of the times I have used tahini which is ground sesame seeds.  I really liked this orange cashew dressing and I used it on salads, with quinoa and as a dip for vegetables.  I soaked the cashews for an hour beforehand in water.  There are different schools of thought in soaking raw nuts before you blend them or roast them. What makes this recipe also great is that is only requires four ingredients.  In a future post I will provide another salad dressing that is more of a ranch style dressing and includes cashews as one of the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup raw cashews
3 oranges, peeled
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar, use orange balsamic vinegar if you have it

DIRECTIONS:

1. Soak cashew nuts for an hour or two in water.  Drain.
2. Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
3. Adjust taste if you want to add more lemon juice and or vinegar.

Serves at least 6 servings.  Store in a jar with a lid.  Keeps for at least a week in the fridge.