This creamy vegan ranch dressing is made by blending silken tofu with lemon, herbs and spices.
A friend of mine went to a yoga retreat a while back. I’m sorry to admit that, despite being a yoga lover, I was secretly afraid to do such a thing myself. I’ve always thought of it as one of those things that I might sign up for but then end up being all “What did I get myself into?!” upon arrival. I imagined the worst. Will I be subjected to grueling 105 degree yoga practice for fifteen hours a day? Will I have to take a vow of silence for the duration of my stay? Perhaps most importantly, what will they feed me? I’ve heard rave reviews of the “healthy food” served at many a yoga retreat, and somehow I took that to mean that they essentially don’t feed you, which would be extra awful, given the fifteen hours of hot, hot yoga I’d be doing every day.
Monday after my friend’s arrival home from her yoga retreat she arrived at work all glowy and relaxed. Hmmm…maybe starving and yogaing all day really is good for you? Maybe I just had this whole yoga retreat thing figured wrong.
I was wrong. So wrong. About everything. Apparently, at this retreat at least, the classes are easy and relaxing. You’re allowed to talk as much as you want. And then there’s the food…
She raved about the food. Healthy food, but not of the healthy food=no food variety. More like healthy food=lots of the stuff I like…all vegetarian…the kind of stuff I blog about. I vowed to get my butt to a yoga retreat some time soon.
The food item that I heard the most about was the vegan ranch, which was apparently made from tofu. This called for some kitchen tinkering.
What I ended up with was most definitely ranch, but way healthier and better than any ranch I’d ever tasted. If you’ve ever had a low-fat variety of ranch before, you know that it’s lighter in consistency, but what’s removed is replaced with something…eh…artificial tasting. Think light ranch without that artificial taste and that’s what you’ve got here. Clean ranch, but still delightfully flavorful and creamy. The best part, I soon discovered after making this, is that you don’t really feel guilty about dousing your salad with it. It’s like “Oooohhh, I drenched my salad in tofu.” Big whoop. Enjoy.
Silken Tofu Vegan Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 lb. silken tofu
- 2 tbsp. fresh chives chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 tsp. onion powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/4 cup unsweetened unflavored non-dairy milk
- juice of 1 lemon about 3 tbsp.
- 1 tbsp. vinegar
Instructions
- Place tofu in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
- Add remaining ingredients and blend until completely mixed.
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