Description

Creamy, tangy, full of flavor, this healthy and oil free Vegan Blue Cheese Dressing is easy to make and totally delivers with dressing bliss. Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients, and gluten free.

Ingredients

Scale

Base Ingredients:

1 – [ 14 oz. package ] firm tofu, divided *
2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon tahini
¼ cup water
3 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar *
2 teaspoons ume plum vinegar *
½ teaspoon organic maple syrup
1 Tablespoon miso *
1 to 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast (+/-) *

Spice/Herb Ingredients:

½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon dried minced onions
1 teaspoon dried ground mustard powder
½ teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *

Optional Blue “Cheese” Crumbles:

7 oz. pressed firm tofu (from divided above)
Sprinkle sea salt
Sprinkle dried dill weed

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Instructions

Divide the 14 oz. package of firm tofu into 2 pieces. Place one half (7 oz.) directly in a high-speed blender. Take the 2^nd half (7 oz.) and place it on a thick paper towel covered plate, then place another thick paper towel on top of the tofu. Then place another plate on top of the stack and place a can of beans on top for weight. This creates weight to press and pull out the moisture in the tofu, often called “pressing the tofu.” Press for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, place all the other Base Ingredients and Spice/Herb Ingredients into a high-speed blender with the 1^st half of the firm (unpressed) tofu, blend on high until smooth and emulsified.
Taste test the dressing and add more seasonings, if needed.
Place the dressing into a bowl, then add the Blue “Cheese” crumbles (see recipe notes on how to season the pressed tofu) into the dressing to create the “blue cheese” like texture that Blue Cheese Dressing is noted for, stir well to combine.

Notes

*Tips for Success: Test the flavor of the dressing out on some lettuce to determine if you need to add more distilled vinegar and nutritional yeast. The determining factor really depends on how much salad dressing you typically like on your salad. If you tend use very little salad dressing, then you may need to pop the tang with some extra distilled white vinegar and nutritional yeast. We like to create a very tiny salad of lettuce (about one cup), then toss in some of the dressing, mix well to distribute, then taste test to determine if the dressing has enough flavor pop to it.

*Firm Tofu: Firm tofu is found in the refrigerated section. It typically comes in a 14 oz. package. Drain and discard the water. You may or may not use all the “tofu crumbles” from the 2^nd half (7 oz.) of pressed firm tofu. Our family was divided over how much crumbles to use. Some preferred more than others. You may have left over crumbles that you can add to salads or other dishes.

*Miso: We used Miso Master Organic Mellow White Premium Lite Miso, Certified Gluten Free. Miso really lends itself to balancing flavors when you don’t use oil. If you are going to live the Whole Food Plant Based lifestyle, then you will quickly find that miso is your friend.

*Ume Plum Vinegar: We used Eden Ume Plum Vinegar. Ume Plum Vinegar is perfect for this recipe as it has that deliciously tangy flavor which Blue Cheese Dressing is know form. It is relatively inexpensive. We use it quite frequently and it worth requesting it from your local grocery or ordering off of Amazon in our humble opinion. There really isn’t a great substitute for it. You can leave it out with the understanding that the flavor will be different.

*Optional Blue “Cheese” Seasoned Pressed Tofu Crumbles: After you have pressed the tofu, break it into small pieces about the size of a small pea. Then sprinkle a little sea salt and dried dill weed over the top. Press the seasoning into the tofu crumbles, then add to the Blue “Cheese” Dressing.

*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.

*Serving: Makes approximately 1 ½ cups of dressing (without the crumbles)

*Storage: Refrigerate and use within 7 days.