Creamy Lemon Dressing

This creamy lemon dressing is the perfect way to add a bright, tangy flavor to your salads, vegetables, or grilled proteins. It's made with a handful of simple ingredients, including raw cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and water. The cashews provide a creamy base, while the nutritional yeast adds a nutty, cheesy flavor. The lemon juice brightens up the dressing and adds a touch of acidity, and the water helps to thin it out to the desired consistency.

The inspiration for this dressing came from a classic Caesar salad dressing. I wanted to create a vegan version that was just as creamy and flavorful, but without the use of dairy or eggs. After some experimenting, I came up with this recipe, which uses raw cashews as the base. The cashews are soaked in water for at least an hour, which helps to soften them and make them easier to blend. Once they're soaked, they're combined with nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and water in a blender or food processor and blended until smooth and creamy. The resulting dressing is thick and rich, with a bright, tangy flavor that's perfect for dressing salads, vegetables, or grilled proteins.

Prep time: 5 | Cook time: 0 | Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 tbsp water

Instructions

1. Soak cashews in water for 1+ hours or overnight; drain and rinse
2. In a blender or food processor combine the soaked cashews, water, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast
3. Blend until smooth and creamy; add water 1 tbsp at a time to thin out if needed

Why It Works

• The cashews provide a creamy base for the dressing, while the nutritional yeast adds a nutty, cheesy flavor.
• The lemon juice brightens up the dressing and adds a touch of acidity, which helps to balance out the richness of the cashews and nutritional yeast.
• The water helps to thin out the dressing to the desired consistency, making it easy to drizzle over salads or vegetables.