I love salads. But, while I’m all for a traditional salad with organic romaine lettuce, veggies, and raw macadamia nut oil dressing… I’m also a fan of chunky-n-creamy salads. You know the kind… Waldorf Salads and the like. I’m a texture gal. Problem is that those usually require some sort of mayonnaise and to be honest, I’m not really into soy or processed-icky-oil type mayonnaises that you buy in the store. No. I like to make my own mayo-type goodness that’s fresh and healthy.
And, I like to make them quickly.
And, I don’t always want them made from nuts.
I know, seems like I’m picky. Yeah, sometimes I am.
Well. :) I have two awesome vegan mayo recipes that really take no time to make if the goods are on hand. But, in all fairness, although I call them mayo recipes, truthfully, they’re not really mayo recipes. But, they serve to replace the mayo in a mayo-loving-salad. Make sense?
Unique Vegan Mayo Recipe #1
Avocado + Mustard + Lemon = Creamy and tangy goodness that is easy to mash into your salad yielding a mayo-like experience. Here’s what I do. I get a big mixing bowl and put my salad ingredients in it.. usually chopped veggies and non-sweet fruits like carrots, celery, red bell pepper, cucumber, and the like – raw sauerkraut makes for a great addition. Add a diced avocado, a couple big dollops of organic mustard (my favorite here), and a squeeze of fresh citrus such as lemon, lime, and/or orange. Mash/Mix it all up. No nuts needed. No soaking needed. Just easy peasy n dreamy n creamy. (Obviously, season with salt and pepper as desired.)
Unique Vegan Mayo Recipe #2
Sweet Potato + Mustard = Creamy and low fat deliciousness that adds velvety mayo-like texture, vibrant color, and nutrition like it’s no one’s business. The clincher here, however, is having 1-2 cooked sweet potatoes on hand in your fridge already. If you’re like me, this is a common item in your fridge (read more here). Okay, so same drill as above… Get a big bowl out and add your favorite salad veggies and foods. Put 1 to 2 peeled (cooked and cooled) sweet potatoes on top, add a couple dollops of mustard, and smish smash it up. Season as desired. When I made the salad and served it to Greg, he came out of his office exclaiming (unsolicited, I might add), “Wow, this is a 10 out of 10!”
All in all, these two options are great healthy replacements for the next time you need mayo in your salad. They add creaminess, nutrition, and flavor which is really what you’re after. Pro-Tip… (good quality) mustard makes everything better.
I’ve really gotten into the video mood, can you tell? Are you enjoying them? Are they useful? I hope so!
In this video I decide to totally wing it and make a dressing I’ve never made, while doing it on camera. My plan was to post the video no matter what because I figured 1) we’d all learn something anyway (I learn a lot from failed recipes) and 2) it’d be kind of funny if the dressing sucked seeing as I was doing it on camera. I still don’t have the ingredients written down so I can’t add them here to the post yet, but I remember… water, oranges, grape tomatoes, garlic, salt, raw almond butter, basil??? I think those are the ingredients. When I find time, I’ll come back and add the ingredient list.
Spoiler alert...Turns out, it was so good! Easy to throw together as you’ll see… and mega fresh. I loved it on fresh lettuce and I also gobbled it up on cauliflower. If a dressing makes you enjoy raw cauliflower, then you know it’s darn good.
Enjoy the show! (By the way, as you know by now I’m still in a video making mode – I suspect I will be for a long time – so check out my popular Cinnamon Brownies post I wrote a while back because I put up a video showing you how easy they are to make here!)
Water …. Big bowl of Breakfast Kelp Noodles (my latest recipe)
Water …. Kale salad …. Sandwich from True Food (part raw: avocado, tomato, lettuce and part cooked: bread, hummus, tempeh) …. Raw choc mint pie …. Supplements
Super Spicy n Sweet Green Yogurt Bliss (coconut water, raw vegan yogurt, banana, 1/2 mango, 1/2 habanero, vanilla powder, spinach)
Here’s a great recipe for the brave hearted. It’s got some mega kickin’ heat and it’s super duper delicious! (If you must, you can tone down the heat by omitting the habanero or using only a bit of it, same goes for the cayenne pepper). This recipe is great for romaine salads, veggie salads, zucchini or kelp pasta, and I recently used it over cabbage for an awesome slaw. I’ll bet it’d be fun dehydrated on kale for spicy kale chips.
You’ll see that I use cashews in the recipe instead of olive oil which my original recipe calls for… not only was I out of olive oil, but thought it’s a great way to share how you can swap them in some recipes. This recipe, and many other super raw salad and dressings, can be found in my book, Easy Raw Vegan Salads & Dressings. Enjoy :) (Updated food journal post below video)
Food Journal 2/26/12 (Mostly Raw)
Spicy Veggie Juice: romaine, parsnip, brussel sprouts, dill, basil, celery, carrots, beet, spicy purple radish sprouts, zucchini, cucumbers, red bell pepper, kale, dandelion root, and habanero pepper! Whew! This bowl made about a gallon of juice with our Norwalk Juicer.
Pint green juice …. 3 cups green smoothie (water, apple, sunflower sprouts) …. Tea
Kale salad …. Sandwich …. Tea
2 brazil nuts …. Raw choc mint pie
Nettles blend tea (this stuff is super great for helping allergies… interesting story... my allergies have been non existent this season so far, but Greg’s and mom’s have been pretty bad. I just counted my lucky stars. However, I had a sandwich as you see above and it had two slices of bread, hummus, and tempeh on it. Although the rest of my diet is still basically raw, that was the first meal I had where something was cooked in it. Guess what? Within an hour my allergies kicked in and I was sneezing. I wonder if the stellar raw diet was keep them at bay? Anyway, nettles tea is great for helping them.)
I made a kickin’ dressing for my salad. I say “kickin’” because it has a little spicy kick to it. And, would you believe that this dressing has prunes in it? Personally, I don’t think prunes get the respect they deserve so I’m determined to change that. I use them in dressings, desserts, chopped up on my salads, and just snack on them plain. I love them because they’re not “too” sweet. Step over dates, it’s time for something a little less sweet. Prunes (a dried European plum) have an impressive nutrient profile (one source I found claimed that prunes have more antioxidant activity than any other fruit… more than twice the antioxidant capacity or blueberries!).
The Goods On Prunes: High in fiber (constipation is not the sexiest topic, but hey, fiber helps reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, among other things, and THAT is sexy!) Vitamin A Vitamin C Potassium (helps maintain normal blood pressure and heart function) Iron (better absorbed due to the vitamin C in prunes) Loads of antioxidants (notably neochlorogenic acid and chlorogenic acid) And much more
Creamy Kickin’ Dressing Yield 2 cups
2/3 cup water, or more 1 avocado, pitted and peeled(an amazing, nutrient-packed whole food) 2 prunes juice of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon Mexican Seasoning 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan crystal salt 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Blend until creamy and enjoy this thick, creamy and kickin’ dressing over your next salad or with chopped veggies. It’s sooooo good!
I'm Kristen, and welcome to my blog. I'm a wife, mom, author, and I love to eat so food is usually the topic of my blog posts. I'm a former (almost decade long) vegan turned back omnivore who enjoys reading, rebounding, coffee, and dark chocolate. More...
I'm Kristen, and welcome to my blog. I'm a wife, mom, author, and I love to eat so food is usually the topic of my blog posts. I'm a former (almost decade long) vegan turned back omnivore who enjoys reading, rebounding, coffee, and dark chocolate. 
