I plugged my headphones in and shut my eyes as the beautiful notes of the piano flooded into my ears. I felt my body relax immediately. I lived for moments like these where I could finally pause to breathe and to forget about the world around me. As the train came to stop, I turned to look at the magnificent green trees under the gloomy British skies alongside the pavement where a double decker red bus halted.
It was like a deja vu moment that flashed in my mind, as I recalled the train ride in Paris just 2 weeks before – dark grey buildings all packed together stretching out into the distance like a blur, only to be dwarfed by the magnificent Eiffel Tower. France was beautiful but so was every other country we had visited including Switzerland: A magnificent lake and in the distance, cottages dotted along the snow covered majestic mountains.
After 2 months of hopping across Europe from Amsterdam –> Berlin –> Switzerland –> Rome –> Paris –> London, I felt I was living a dream, living in paradise. My favorite will always be London – a place that I find familiar and close to my heart. I spent 2-3 weeks in London every summer for the past 3 years. I fell in love with the city that resembled my own home – Hong Kong. I thrived on the the freedom of traveling without a car and enjoying their diverse ethnic restaurants as well as healthy food products. Zoe and I both drew so much inspiration for new recipes!
One of the things I discovered in London was a Cashew based Vegan Caesar Dressing. Honoring my love for anything creamy and rich, I knew I had to recreate this back at home! Only 2 days after returning from London, Zoe and I have been in the kitchen attempting to remake a healthier and more nutritious version of this sauce. Although traditional caesar dressing is made with egg yolks, oil and anchovies, we managed to create a version using a secret ingredient – can you guess? TOFU! What I love about tofu is that it is cheap and accessible! Tofu provides body and creaminess like the original dressing.
Another important ingredient to make this recipe work is nutritional yeast! Nutritional yeast is not only rich in Vitamin B12 (perfect for vegans or vegetarians) that is usually found in seafood/eggs but also gives a “cheesy” flavor to the dressing. You can find these in most organic stores or even Amazon.
You might find this tangy dressing a little more complex than some of our recipes, but the range of ingredients here is crucial to getting the perfect balance of tanginess, creaminess and cheesiness. You can make a big batch of this and use in salads, serve with fish as tartar sauce, as hollandaise sauce on top of eggs Benedict, to dip your fries or even mayo in sandwiches!
We’ve taken over a year to perfect this recipe (which we often do). Using a one year of accumulated experience and knowledge, we have attempted as close to the original as possible! This is a delicious alternative to the original!
- Ingredients:
- ¾ cup cubed firm tofu (181g)
- ½ cup water
- 1 bulb garlic, roasted
- 3 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp maple syrup (we used Splenda)
- ½ tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp italian seasoning
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- Roasted Garlic: Preheat oven to 400F. Cut ¼ inch from the top to expose the cloves. Peel off the outer layer (still leaving the bulb intact). Place in a pan, sprinkle with water and roast for 40 mins.
- Add everything to the blender including the garlic. Blitz well.
- Taste and adjust seasoning. Fridge until ready to serve. This is best served cold!
- Ingredients:
- ¾ cup cubed silken tofu (181g) - in Asia, this is usually any tofu found in grocery stores
- ¼ cup water
- 1 bulb garlic, roasted
- 2 tbsp white miso paste
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
- 3 tsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp thyme/rosemary/oregano
- 1 tsp black pepper
- Roasted Garlic: Preheat oven to 400F. Cut ¼ inch from the top to expose the cloves. Peel off the outer layer (still leaving the bulb intact). Place in a pan, sprinkle with water and roast for 40 mins.
- Add everything to the blender including the garlic. Blitz well.
- Taste and adjust seasoning. Fridge until ready to serve. This is best served cold!
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