No-Oil Balsamic Dressing

Jan 18, 2011 by lanashabit

To decades later and I can finally say it’s my last first day of school! I rolled out of bed, threw on jeans and my favorate A&M sweatshirt, braved the mucky weather and was in class with time to spare (check out my resolutions post). My first class, Sound & Vibration Mechanical Measurement, had 10 graduate and undergraduate students in it. We sat in silence as we watched the professor, literally run in with sweat rolling down his forehead. He was 10 minutes late. Apparently we did not make the same New Years resolutions. He was flustered, unable to work an example problem and accidentally used a permanent marker to write on the dry erase board. OPPS!

Needless to say, I have permanently dropped that class. The rest of the day went much smoother. I attended my Senior Design class, a Statistics class and the Practices of Modern Engineering…those professors were on time, excited to teach and were able to erase the board.

Once home, I made the heavenly No-Oil Balsamic Dressing from the cooking class I took last week. The dates in this dressing act as an emulsifier and add the perfect hint of sweetness. This stuff is downright good. Pull up a salad chair, get comfy and let me show you how to make a bland salad more exciting.

No-Oil Balsamic Dressing
Yield: 1.5 cups
Recipe courtesy of Dan Marek, Whole Foods Healthy Eating Specialist

2 cups water
3 large dates, pitted
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3 T. reduced sodium soy sauce
3 T. nutritional yeast
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. onion powder
1 clove of garlic, minced

1. Boil the water in a small sauce pan. Dice dates (see pictures below), place them in a heatproof bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Set aside to soak for 15 minutes.
2. Place the balsamic, soy, yeast, mustard, onion powder and minced garlic in a blender.
3. After 15 minutes, drain and reserve the liquid from the dates. Transfer the dates and 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid to the blender.
4. Puree until smooth. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

In pictures:

To dice a date, you will first need to cut it in half and remove the seed. I sprinkle flour on the inside of date and on the knife before slicing. This way the date pieces do not stick to the knife.

Make a huge salad, pile high with roasted veggies, tofu, chickpeas, carrots and bell peppers…

and top with the No-Oil Balsamic Dressing!

What do you put on your favorite salad?

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