A Salad Dressing You'll Want Every Day

Ok, another favorite of mine, lemongrass, is the pick of the day.
I love salads so much that I really don't like going without one for a day. Remember the party I wrote about yesterday? A woman asked which dish I liked the most (there were dozens of dishes, many of which were more like the raw gourmet kind of foods that took a long time to prepare). And what was my answer? The salad! : ) She was so surprised; she was shocked!...haha. Yes, I do love salads. Naturally, I get to play a lot with creating salad dressings to vary the flavor and nutrition poured over the greens and veggies. My latest favorite is this almond-butter-based, aroma-filled concoction. It's very much like a Thai dressing and it will be wonderful in the summer to toss fresh cucumbers and chilis in it.

Lemongrass Dressing

1 lemongrass

1/4 cup (or more) almond butter

~3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 cloves garlic

2-3 tsp coconut sugar or your preferred sweetener

salt

1/2 cup (or less, to taste) water

optional: piece of jalapeno / other hot pepper / dash of ground cayenne 

To prepare:
1. Lemongrass is a very fibrous herb and the outer leaves, most of the top, and the bottom stem are all removed. Only a relatively small piece of the fresh herb you'll end up using.
2. Once you end up with just the core that is much easier to slice, chop it to small pieces to help the blender.
3. Place all ingredients in a blender with only some of the water to begin with so that you can add more as you adjust the flavors when taste-testing.
4. Blend the ingredients on a high speed until you get a smooth, uniform consistency. Taste-test and adjust ingredients.
5. Pour it over your favorite salad ingredients...so yummy.

Note: the dressing will keep in the fridge for days. It will thicken and separate but can be simply stirred and you can add a little vinegar or water if you find it too thick.

The incredible flavor is paired with many health benefits
Lemongrass is a cleanser, in other words, it helps the elimination of toxins. It's a digestive aid and it has warming energy, which means it helps improve blood circulation and this makes it a great cold weather raw food ingredient. It can come to your rescue when fighting a fever (it's even referred to as fever grass at times), coughs and colds, can help lower high blood pressure and balance cholesterol levels.
This grass of wonderful aroma also has antibacterial, antiseptic, and antifungal qualities, is very high in fiber, and rich in minerals especially manganese (a hard-to-get mineral!!!), iron, potassium, magnesium, and zinc. This adds up to a "nutrition facts" label that says eat this to support strong bones, great brain function, and heart health. I still eat it just because it's so delicious : )
Enjoy and have a lovely weekend!