Gluten Free Vegan Living

Salad dressings are probably the last place I would look for gluten — but I would be wrong.  If I found vegan salad dressings, often they would contain gluten and if they were gluten free, they would not be vegan.   So what to do for Vegan and Gluten Free Salad Dressings.  Here are some of my suggestions:

I finally resorted to making my own salad dressings.  I really like the creamy ranch style dressings, but, of course, knew they will full of dairy (and some had eggs).  Here is my simple recipe:

Gluten Free Vegan Ranch Style Salad Dressing

• Take a pint sized canning jar and fill it about 2/3 full of Soy Free or Grapeseed oil Vegenaize.
• Mix in 1-2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 1-2 Tablespoons of coconut aminos.
• Add 1-2 teaspoons of your favorite seasonings.  I especially like French Garden mix and Spinach mix seasoning.
• Place the cap on the jar and shake vigorous.  If the mixture is too thick (and it will thicken more in the refrigerator)  add a Tablespoon (or more) of water or milk alternative until it reaches the desired thickness.

If you are more inclined to prefer Italian style dressing, I also have this recipe (Personally, I feel this had too much sweetener, so I don’t use it as much as the other recipe above):

Gluten Free Vegan Italian Style Dressing

• Take a pint sized canning jar and fill it with 3/4 cup EACH of the following three ingredients: gourmet Italian (or apple cider) vinegar, olive oil and Xylitol (or your favorite sweetener)
• Place the cap on the jar and shake vigorously.

There are a few commercial Gluten Free Vegan dressings in certain stores — and I notice that the list is growing.  I have used a few of Litehouse Dressings (in the refrigerator section).

Jane Anderson, About.com Gluten Free expert has written an article about some of the Gluten Free salad dressings.   She lists several commercial dressings and also links to some homemade dressings.

Please  beware, that these may NOT be vegan, but just Gluten Free.

Gluten Free Salad Dressings

Salads are a great summer meal for a Gluten Free Vegan — but without a good salad dressing, a salad can be short of great.

Frustrated with the options available in the stores, I resorted to making my own dressing.  Actually, this is a short cut dressing — not complete homemade.  But I and my husband (along with others) love it.

Before I was Gluten Free and Vegan, Ranch was my favorite dressing, so I wanted something creamy.  Here is what I came up with:

• Fill a pint jar about 3/4 full with GRAPESEED OIL VEGENAISE (we are a soy free — or as close as we can get to soy-free — household, so prefer the grapeseed variety of vegenaise)
• Add about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• Add about 2 tablespoons of Coconut Aminos
• Mix in your favorite seasoning.  I like to add lots of herbs, onion, garlic, spinach flakes etc.
• Shake well.  If mixture is too thick, thin with a bit of water of milk substitute.   Mixture tends to thicken up in the refrigerator.

I have used this dressing on nearly ALL the salads I make whether they are leaf lettuce based salads or just mixed veggies.  It has always been a big hit at potlucks — even for non-vegan eaters!

For more Vegan salad dressings, check on the 25 recipes compiled by the Raw Vegan Power website.

The list here includes the following recipes:

1. Crunchy Green Salad with Lime Avocado Dressing
2. Creamy Tri-Pepper Dressing
3. Raw Ranch Dressing
4. Raw Red Pepper Caesar Salad Dressing
5. Raw Vegan Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing
6. SRV SuperHero Stacker with Lemon-Chia Dressing
7. Creamy Tahini Dressing
8. Almond Ginger Dressing
9. Spring Salad with Italian Herb Dressing
10. Creamy Herb Dressing
11. 3 ingredient pink dressing
12. Mango mustard dressing recipe
13. Ranch Dressing or Dip
14. Avocado Cilantro Dressing
15. Raw, Vegan Ranch Dressing Recipe
16. Fresh Dill Salad Dressing
17. Vegan Ranch Dressing Made from Cashews
18. Raw Vegan Roma Tomato and Tahini Dressing
19. Raw and Vegan Creamy Salad Dressing Recipe
20. Cherimoya Ranch Dressing
21. Raw Spinach Walnut Dressing Sauce
22. Vegan and Almost Raw Caesar Salad Dressing
23. Yeast Free Basil and Garlic Salad Dressing
24. Lemongrass Dressing
25. Creamy Lemony Garlicky Salad Dressing

Do you have a favorite Vegan Salad Dressing recipe you would like to share with us?