Grand Green Goddess Dressing Recipe

[This is a contributed article by the Green Goddess of the Rose Garden. - Editor]

Adapted from Green Goddess Dressing in Eco-Cuisine: An Ecological Approach to Gourmet Vegetarian Cooking by Ron Pickarski

If I were to recommend a vegan cookbook author, my first and only choice would be Ron Pickarski, the former Franciscan friar and the first vegan chef ever to have won the gold and silver medals at the prestigious International Culinary Olympics. (Isa Chandra of the Veganomicon fame comes in at a pretty close second.) His beautifully imaginative plant-based creations take vegan dishes to the heights of haute cuisine; many can be adapted to be completely raw, as I have done here. Eco-Cuisine also presents seasonal menu ideas for a traditional six-course meal that could be served at any five-star restaurant. His first tome, Friendly Foods, with its absolutely scrumptious recipes, like the Chocolate Cream Couscous Cake, could easily convert an omnivore to a vegan diet, and demonstrates Pickarski’s mastery over his culinary art. As his original Green Goddess Dressing is mostly raw, I have made a few substitutions, and changed the recipe to be less piquant by skipping the garlic and the scallion, as raw dishes tend to need fewer herbs and spices to bring out all the subtle flavours. If you like the above-mentioned herbs, add 3 cloves of peeled garlic and a 1/2 bunch of scallions to the rest of the ingredients.

Makes approximately 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 ripe pear (Anjou or Bartlett works best)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (or 1/8 cup lemon juice and 1/8 cup lime juice)
• 2 tbsp cold-pressed olive or sesame oil (optional)
• 2 medjool dates, pitted, soaked in 1 cup of water for 30 minutes or longer
• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley (about 1 cup, packed), chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, packed (or 1/2 tbsp dried basil), chopped
• 1/2 tbsp Nama shoyu (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Equipment

• Blender
• Knife for cutting the avocado and pear

Peel and seed the avocado and cut into chunks. Seed the pear, unless using the Vitamix, and cut into chunks. For a sweeter dressing that is lower in fat, use two pears instead of an avocado and a pear, and skip the oil. Combine all the ingredients along with a 1/2 cup of the water used for soaking the dates in the blender. Blend everything until smooth. Add more of the date water if thinner consistency is desired. Adjust the flavour with additional salt and pepper as necessary. The dressing is best served cold over a combination of flavourful greens such as kale, spinach, arugula, and/or lettuce, as well any variety of fresh herbs, like basil, cilantro, and dill.

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• Basic Raw Vegan Basil Pesto Recipe
• Chocolate Hazelnut Drink Recipe
• Banana Crepe Recipe
• Date Syrup Recipe