Melissa Raimondi - Plant Based Dips n’ Dressings: Raw Vegan Gluten Free Dips, Dressings, Condiments & sauces

PLANT BASED
DIPS N' DRESSINGS Written, Photographed and designed by Melissa Raimondi.
Copyright October 2017 HELLO LOVELY FRIEND, I'm passionate about eating a plant based diet, and mine is specifically a raw vegan one. In this book you will find all of my creations and inspired dips, dressings, sauces, spreads, condiments and toppings. The table of contents is on page if you want to browse recipes by fat content or need to find one that you want to make again. I have split this book into four sections: 1 ~ The no-added fat recipes. With ideas for those looking for the "no overt" fat dressings. 2 ~ The low fat recipes, which includes dips and dressings made with seeds and fresh young thai coconut. 2 ~ The low fat recipes, which includes dips and dressings made with seeds and fresh young thai coconut.

Best for lunch salads as you move later into the day. 3 ~ The higher fat recipes. These ones you might want to make sparingly, share or save a half for the next day. These are made with varying fats including nuts, seeds, coconut, olive and avocado. I reserve these recipes for dinner-time and normally eat them with plenty of dark leafy greens in my salad.
prefer to keep my higher fat recipes to later in the day as they are heavier and comforting. 4 ~ The toppings recipes.

I added 8 recipes for you to top your meals with. There are both low and high fat options; I have added the category on top of each recipe so you can decide if it is appropriate for your salad. Whether you are raw vegan, standard vegan or even just looking for more plant based options, this recipe book is full of delicious ideas to enhance your daily salads and help you to eat more of them. The goal is to help you fall in love with whole plant foods in their raw form. Eating more, and crowding out the other stuff Don't forget to take your potlucks and get-togethers to the next level with epic dips and dressings. ~ Much love, LissaTIPS & HOW TO USE THIS BOOK As a raw vegan, there can be differing opinions on certain ingredients.

Some things are not legitimately raw, like cashews, nutritional yeast and most powdered or dried spices. If you are concerned about the "rawness" or "non-toxicness" of certain ingredients, perhaps leave them out or find replacements. If you aren't sure if your spices were dried at the acceptable temperature of 115F, then you can always make your own in your dehydrator or in the sun with fresh organic herbs. I still include certain things in my diet that may be controversial but they keep me eating near fully raw. These ingredients would be garlic, onions, dried and powdered herbs, cashews and other nuts that are pasteurized to prevent any contamination, nutritional yeast and coconut aminos, My motto is, "If it bothers you, don't eat it. If it helps you to eat the highest amount of raw food as possible, then by all means enjoy it!" Dips and dressings are easy to change up.

If you want a dressing to be thicker for a dip, just use less water and the same goes for turning a dip into a dressing. Add a little more liquid and voila, you have a nice dressing to use for a salad instead of a dip. For the serving sizes in this book, I have not included them because for the most part, I consume all of the dressings I make. The only ones that I save half for another day (or split and share with friends and family) are the higher fat recipes. You are more than welcome to eat as much of the dips and dressings that you desire based on your personal diet needs. If you are doing a lower fat diet, eat plenty of fresh produce with the portion you choose to eat to help balance the fat percentage down.

As for the no- fat and low fat options, I do consume the entire amount that I make with each salad. I need to keep my calorie count high, and these dressings do that job well without adding too many fats to my day. These dressings should hold for the next day if the portion in the recipe is too large for you. At the end of each recipe, I offer suggestions of what to eat with the dressing, but you are the creator and you can use any ingredients you wish for your salads and what you choose to dip with. You will need a high-speed blender for most of the recipes in this book. I highly recommend a Vitamix blender, but anything that is high speed will work just fine.

If using your Vitamix to warm up sauces, make sure that you have your salad or veggie noodles made and ready to go. You will also need a dehydrator for a tew of the recipes. I have indicated under the recipe title if one is required or only suggested. If it is required, then you must use the dehydrator to get the desired outcome. If it is only suggested, then the main goal is to either warm up the sauce or evaporate some of the liquid to intensity the flavours of the ingredients. If you do not have a dehydrator, you may use your oven.

Turn on the oven to the lowest temperature and before putting in your creation, turn off the heat and allow the oven to cool a little bit. If the temperature is too hot for your hands, wait a little longer. Place your creation in the oven and just let the heat warm it up. I rarely use my dehydrator to fully dehydrate items as I prefer to have still have some of the natural water content. I do not follow strict food combining rules. If you do, please adjust and modify dressings as you see fit.

I find the only fruits that are okay with fats like seeds and young coconut are dates and berries. Try to keep your heavier fats away from fruit if possible. In regards to using spices: They are normally not recommended on a natural hygeine style diet, but I do still include them for myself so I have added them to this recipe book. I have found that living in a northern climate, warming spices help to keep me warmer and I would rather have spices in a raw dish than a typical cooked meal. It's nice to have an assortment of new flavours that allow me to enjoy my raw vegan meals just that little bit more. You can replace most dried herbs with fresh ones which would be preferred but the powders are more concentrated in flavour and you can find a larger variety.

Always start slowly with spices and only add to your taste preferrence. You can also make your own dried herbs with your dehydrator, and crush traditionally with a mortar and pestle. If a spice bothers you, please find an alternative or leave it out of the recipe. Included in this book are 117 of my creations. 39 of them are older classics from my other recipe books but they have been updated and tweaked with slight changes. I have indicated on each page if it is a new recipe or an old classic.

Of the 117 recipes, 48 are no-added fat, 24 are low fat, 37 are higher fat and 8 are toppings with various fat levels. INGREDIENTS: RARE FINDS I tried to keep the ingredinets as easy to obtain as possible but there are a few special ones I would like to mention before we go any further. KALA NAMAK: For the Vegg Salad recipe on page 237, you will need some Kala Namak (otherwise known as Indian Black salt). It's not coloured black - it's actually a white salt and is not at all salty compared to pink, grey or even table salt. The reason I use this salt in this specific recipe is because it is very high in sulfur, thus creating the sulfuric eggy smell and flavour. You can typically find this salt at specialty spice merchants and some asian grocery stores, as it is used mainly in South Asian cuisine.

I order mine online from a local Canadian spice merchant: www.silkroadspices.ca COCONUT AMINOS AND NECTAR: Used in many of my recipes. It's basically fermented coconut tree sap and has the flavour of sweet soy sauce. Most health food stores carry it now and even some grocery chains. It has become a great option for those wanting to avoid soy and excessive salt. I used a product called "Cocominos" by Naked Coconuts.