Green Goddess Salad with Cashew Basil Dressing

Name: Green Goddess Salad with Cashew Basil Dressing
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: ½ cup raw cashews; ¼ cup packed fresh basil; ¼ cup + 2 tbsp filtered water; 1 garlic clove (, peeled); 1 tbsp nutritional yeast; 1 tbsp lemon joice; 1 tsp light miso; ¼ tsp sea salt (, plus more to taste); 1 cup frozen peas; 5 kale leaves (, stems removed and roughly chopped); 4 mini cucumbers (, thinly sliced); 2 green onions (green and white parts) (, sliced); Microgreens; Black sesame seeds (, optional)

Print recipe

Spring, Summer

GF OF RSF

25 mins Prep: 20 mins Cook: 5 mins

Serves 2

Bright, aromatic, and packed with vitamins, this salad is lovely as a lighter lunch or dinner, but can also be enjoyed with other more filling ingredients such as tofu, chickpeas, tempeh, rice or quinoa.

Ingredients

Creamy Dressing

½ cup raw cashews
¼ cup packed fresh basil
¼ cup + 2 tbsp filtered water
1 garlic clove , peeled
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp lemon joice
1 tsp light miso
¼ tsp sea salt , plus more to taste

Salad

1 cup frozen peas
5 kale leaves , stems removed and roughly chopped
4 mini cucumbers , thinly sliced
2 green onions (green and white parts) , sliced
Microgreens
Black sesame seeds , optional

Recipe

Step 1
Add cashews to a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 20 minutes.
Step 2
Add water and peas to a small saucepan. Turn heat to high and cook until the peas are bright green and tender.
Step 3
Drain and transfer the peas to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.
Step 4
Prepare dressing by draining and rinsing the cashews.
Step 5
Add cashews to a high speed blender along with basil, water, garlic, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, miso and salt.
Step 6
Blend until smooth. If you are having a hard time blending all the ingredients together, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water and blend again.
Step 7
Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.
Step 8
Transfer kale to a large bowl. Add dressing and massage using your hands for 5 minutes.
Step 9
Assemble the salad by dividing the kale and peas between two bowls. Add cucumbers, green onions add microgreens.
Step 10
Top with black sesame seeds (if using). Enjoy immediately.

Common Questions & Swaps

Can I use another nut or seed instead of the raw cashews? I find that cashews are the nuts that result in the smoothest, creamiest dressings so I would not substitute them.
Can I use coriander instead of basil? Yes, totally. The flavor of the dressing and salad will be different, but it will be delicious.
Other swaps include:
- Using edemames instead of frozen peas.
- Using spinach instead of kale. In that case, no need to massage the greens.
- Adding in smoked tofu for extra protein.

Green Goddess Salad with Cashew Basil Dressing surrounded by cucumbers, green onions and sprouts

Green Goddess Salad with Cashew Basil Dressing

Green Goddess Salad with Cashew Basil Dressing with dressing being poured

When planning my content for the month of March, I was reminded (by our dear friend Google!) that this month we would be celebrating St Patrick’s Day. I have never personally celebrated this holiday in the past and am not sure what are its culinary traditions, but I thought it would be the perfect occasion to create something GREEN.

Since spring is just around the corner, incorporating veggie packed raw salads is becoming much easier. That’s why, a salad would the IDEAL St. Patrick’s Day recipe to share with you.

I must admit, I am not much of a salad person… I tend to prefer eating my vegetables cooked, in smoothies or in sandwiches. However, this spring, I got really inspired by some incredible content creators on Instagram that create insanely beautiful salads! Some of my Instagram discoveries this month include:

These lovely ladies are so creative with their use of various veggies to create delicious looking salads, packed with tons of veggies and never lacking flavor! Make sure to check them out.

Overhead of Green Goddess Salad with Cashew Basil Dressing

Coming back to this salad. We all know that a good dressing can take ordinary vegetables to a whole new level & let me tell you that this dressing does just that! The cashews make this dressing wonderfully creamy and rich, while the basil adds a wonderful fresh and slightly sweet aroma. I also decided to add some nutritional yeast and a bit miso to give this dressing a delicious umami flavor that really complements the kale, peas and cucumbers.

This salad is lovely as a lighter lunch or dinner, but can also be enjoyed with other more filling ingredients such as tofu, chickpeas, tempeh, rice or quinoa.

On that note, I hope you give this recipe a try and if you do, make sure to comment down below and let me know how you found it and share your creation on Intagram by tagging me (@muriellebanackissa).