Salads Need Dressing

And I wanted a salad and had no dressing on hand. When I was at work one day, I was looking through a raw diet cookbook (which gave me a ton of ideas and made me really want a dehydrator) and found some interesting recipes. One happened to be a dressing recipe that was so simple and easy to make I was like "heck yea I can make that in a gif!"

So it came time to eat my salad and no dressing issue. I had all the ingredients that the recipe called for: mango, fresh ginger, and water (even though the recipe called for filtered water or coconut water, I used my own version of filtered water, water that was left over in my tea pot after my morning tea. So I got to work on making my own dressing! (And this is only my second dressing I've made, the first was made at work and was a honey mustard dressing that came out really good but no one wanted to choose it over a remesco sauce!) I don't know if you have ever tried coconut water but it is not one of my favorite things in the world. It has a very subtle coconut taste that just doesn't do anything for me. Don't get me wrong, it is really good for you, rehydrating properties and all and it can be refreshing, but just that weak coconut flavor is hard for me to get over, but I will keep trying it to see if eventually I like it. Anyways, enough about coconut water, and back to the dressing.

Mango Ginger Dressing

1 large mango, diced
1 inch nub of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon xanathum gum (optional)

Place everything but the water in a blender. Add only a 1/4 cup of water to the blender and puree everything. If the mixture is not moving add more water, slowly. Only use as much water as you need. (You can now blend in the xanathum gum if using, this will just make the dressing thicker and hold together better. I did not use it.) This keeps in the fridge for a week, if it lasts that long.

Easy right! And it taste really good, with a slight spicy kick from the fresh ginger. If your mango is really ripe you may want to hold off adding in the agave nectar, so that you don't make the dressing too sweet. Taste it before and fix it according to your taste buds. You may even need to add more agave nectar if the ginger is too strong for you. Eat it on any type of salad you like! It taste equally as good in a salad or just dipping fresh veggies in.

I tried a new take on peanut butter cookies. You know my quest to making the best vegan ones around, well here is another attempt. Peanut Butter and Jelly cookies. I used the peanut butter bar recipe, but tweaked it slightly (http://debbyeats.blogspot.com/2011/02/happy-valentines-day.html). I didn't add in the milk, added in 1/2 a cup more of flour, and peanut butter chips. Then spooned them into a mini muffin pan along with jelly in the center. Some had grape jelly and others had strawberry jam. My favorite are the ones with the grape jelly. I guess I am more of a grape girl, hum. So, next??...