cashew tamari dressing

Just over two months ago, I hinted that I'd be blogging this recipe for my favorite salad dressing. (I was pretty obvious.) Favorite salad dressing, you say? Salad dressings aren't usually the kind of thing people tend to talk about with the same reverence as, say, a good brownie recipe or anything involving cheese. (Or is that just my group of friends?)

Until they've tasted this dressing.

It's that good.

I seriously love this stuff. I went on and on about it in my previous post, but I'll just reiterate here how amazingly delicious this stuff is. You know how when you bake a cake or cookies or brownies you maybe lick all the batter or dough off the spoons and bowls even though you know you shouldn't because of the raw eggs and stuff? I do the same with this dressing. I'm not even kidding.

(As a side note, when I was a little kid I always thought you weren't supposed to eat the raw batter because of the baking soda. I thought it was something like how your stomach is acidic, so don't eat raw baking soda...like how vinegar and baking soda react? I thought you'd have a volcano in your tummy. Yeah. Kid logic!)

Anyway...dressing! I was first introduced to a version of this dressing at Mother's in Austin. I tried the house dressing on a whim, I hadn't actually heard anything about it, and it was delicious! It may have been the first restaurant salad I had ever completely devoured. This is the only salad dressing I have ever craved. I tried to find a way to buy it when I moved away, but alas, none was found. I googled and googled but had trouble finding anything I could definitively identify as that dressing. So I gave up on it for a while. Another google search after many months finally resulted in finding that there are actually a few different semi-well-known "cashew tamari" dressings. But oh how different they were! I found a few recipes that sounded like what I wanted and ended up with this one.

Give it a try. You won't regret it!

Our humble ingredients...

cashew tamari dressing
adapted from somewhere though I can't at this point remember where

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup unsalted cashews
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons tamari

Combine all ingredients in a blender or in a cup for an immersion blender. Blend until emulsified but don't make cashew butter out of it! It will only take a few seconds. There should still be bits of cashew visible. Drizzle over salad. Enjoy.

You can adjust the amount of tamari to change the level of saltiness. I like things pretty salty. You may need less! Another note on salt - do not use salted cashews. Not unless you REALLY LIKE SALT.

Mmm...tamari...

Note: I have an immersion blender that came with a cup that has measurements on it - makes measuring out the oil and cashews super easy! Just add the 1/4 cup oil first, then dump cashews in until the liquid rises to 1/2 cup.

Our humble ingredients...combined but not blended...

See the bits? You may like your bits larger! I wouldn't go any smaller or you'll have cashew butter. Though if that's how you like it...

Yum.

Comments

[Leah Crowe]

this sounds so yummy.. I will definitely be trying it soon! thanks so much for the recipe. :)

[Kristy]

I'm similarly addicted to the cashew tamari dressing that can be found at Mother's in Austin, TX. I actually recently found out that you can have bottles shipped to you from Mother's! Go the Mother's website and send them an email for more information. I believe it's $5/bottle, and an order must include a minimum of four bottles.

But I'm going to give this recipe a shot as well! :)

[clothespin]

Is there anything other than basalmic vinegar to use? I'm allergic to grapes! But, this sounds really yummy otherwise...

[Sara]

I tried this today using raw unsalted cashews and it was really salty - I almost couldn't finish my salad! I'm thinking that Mother's might have forgotten that they add a little maple syrup or something....?

[Laura]

I tried to do that and nobody ever got back to me! That's what finally prompted me to try to make my own. This way is cheaper anyway - which is always a plus for us. :)

[Laura]

Mother's may indeed add something else - I did not get the recipe from them, this is just the best approximation I could find! You can adjust the amount of tamari to change the saltiness - I like salty - but maybe try adding less?

[Laura]

I've never tried it using something else...but I just searched for a balsamic substitute and I found something that said to use 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar plus 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. It's worth a shot!

[Sheila]

I make mine without the vinegar, turns out great!

[StinkyGorilla]

I can't wait to try this out. If this comes remotely close to the Mother's recipe, I am just going to confess my undying love to you right now :)

I dream of this dressing, its just so good!

Thank you in advance.

[StinkyGorilla]

Also, if you buy the Mother's dressing, the following ingredients are listed on the bottle:

Canola Oil
Wheat-free Tamari
Cashews
Balsmic Viengar
Soy Lecithin

Just didn't have the measurements! I think the Soy Lecithin as the emulsifier might also balance out the saltyness that someone was commenting on earlier....

[Jennifer]

My daughter just sent this to me and if this ends up tasting like Mother's, I'm also going to owe you my undying gratitude!!

And since one good turn deserves another, here's a recipe that will make you love kale just as much as you love this dressing. I have been known to eat an entire bunch of kale on my own with this recipe, but hey, since it's kale, isn't that okay?

Kale with Cashew-Tamari Dressing

-one bunch kale
-cashew tamari dressing
-slivered almonds (unsalted)
-dried cranberries

Steam one bunch of kale in about 1/4 C. water for five minutes, covered. You want it to be bright green and not super-limp. It should look all fresh and beautiful, but now edible.

Pile kale onto a plate. Top with slivered almonds, dried cranberries and cashew-tamari dressing. Eat until you can't move. Bask in the kale glow...

[Amy Poehler]

Yes I know but I think this is from Mothers It is wonderful I take at least 1 bottle when I leave from visiting Austin although I rarely do

[Brooke Monfort]

Although you buy your cashews raw, I think the crew at Mother's roasts their cashews before making this and THAT is why is has that extra special earthy/nutty flavor. Roasting nuts brings out their flavor. You might want to try it next time. I live in Austin and it's still hard to find suppliers for this dressing in my part of town, but I agree, this is the best salad dressing EVER. Thanks for this thread!