Cilantro Lime Avocado Dressing

 

Cilantro, limes and avocados are three of my favorite things. I find that I use them a lot, either together or with other recipes when I am on a healthy eating trend. I've been making this for a while, but had neglected to really measure out ingredients to blog about. Now, after a few requests, I'm spreading it all out to share.

 

I did this two ways. I made my original base dressing for one batch that is non dairy and then a second batch that uses heavy cream.

 

Cut the stems off of 3 bunches of cilantro (It doesn't have to be perfectly cut, it's all getting blended anyway. Or you can be really OCD and cut off each individual cilantro leaf, but that would just take too long. A little stem has never hurt a homie, I swear.)

 

Add 3 to 4 cloves of garlic. If you don't like garlic so much, add less, but I'm a garlic lover so I added 4. Also, if you want a little spice, add a jalapeno (I did not for this particular batch).

 

Quarter a red onion and add it to your blender.

 

Zest and Juice 3 limes.

 

Add the juice and the zest to your blender full of cilantro goodness.

 

Add a teaspoon of salt. I would say add less, but it really does need the salt.

 

Next up, you need to combat the tart of the lime with a little sweet. I used a teaspoon of honey. You could probably add regular sugar too, but this is a clean recipe, so I stick with the honey. Agave would work too.

 

Add pepper to your taste (I like a lot, about a teaspoon).

 

Now it's time for avocado. If you don't like avocado, don't add it. I think avocado sort of calms the lime and cilantro down a little, plus I could take a bath in avocado in general and be happy forever.

 

Add 1 cup of olive oil. There are two pictures of me doing this. I don't know why.

 

Add two cups of white vinegar. Rice Vinegar works too, I just had white in my fridge so, there ya go.

 

Finally, add about half a cup of coconut milk. The milk and the avocado make it a little creamy and help balance out the tartness of the limes.

 

Give it all a really good whirl in your blender. I have said this before, and I will say this again, I freaking love my Ninja Pro Blender.

 

And this is the final product! Yummy!

 

Now, if you want something a little more creamy and even more yummy, reserve about half of your mixture from above and add about a cup full (or more if you think it needs it) of heavy cream and blend again.

 

Man alive, I will tell you that I love this, but if you want to keep it non dairy, add a can of coconut cream (usually found in the Asian food section). You may need a little more coconut milk to lighten it up some. I like the heavy cream, there are few carbs and I don't want the taste of coconut with the lime to be too strong. Either way tastes good.

 

I think it's just a pretty color for a dressing, don't you?

 

So, here ya go. Dairy and Dairy Free cilantro Lime Dressing. If you don't really like the idea of coconut milk or heavy cream, don't stress, it's fine without it. I've done it without any milk, and it came out great.

 

Suggestions, this is good on salads, especially on a salad that has some meat on it like steak or chicken, and it works great as a dipping sauce for veggies. If you want to make it thick for a dip, add more avocado. I like it on a kale salad the most. You really can't go wrong.

 

Enjoy it!