Best Ever Creamy Vegan Oriental Dressing: Use in Salads, Burritos, or Rice Bowls

For this post, the dressing is really the star of the show.  On vacation recently I ate a lot of fish.  The fish in Hawaii is so fresh and AMAZING that I just couldn’t pass it up.  When the food is coming right from the ocean next door you can really taste the difference.  One of the restaurants we ate at was a cute little fish market that was really popular with the locals.  Locals know where it is at.  We ordered an Ahi burrito that was filled with brown rice, vegetables, and the most flavorful creamy oriental dressing.  It was the #1 item on the menu and I could tell why.

As with most foods that are amazing on vacation, it is really sad that you can’t get them all the time.  If only we could get them to deliver.  So, until that happens, the next best thing is to try to recreate these dishes at home.

I found a lot of recipes for creamy oriental dressing online but they all had mayonnaise in them.  Most store bought mayo contains refined ingredients and unhealthy vegetable or canola oils.  These oils are high in omega 6 fatty acids which can cause inflammation.  That is not what food should do.

My substitute for mayo is soaked cashews.  Soaking cashews allows them to blend up creamy and smooth just like mayo!  No refined anything here.

I have been using this dressing in burritos, on salads, and over rice bowls made with lots of vegetables and whole grains.  Perfection!  It reminds me of being on vacation and I can just picture the beautiful beaches right now.  What was your favorite food on vacation that you just had to recreate at home?

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Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings 4

Author Sara

Ingredients

• Dressing:
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 cup organic soy sauce
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/8 tsp white pepper ground
• 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 cup water
• Burrito:
• 1 cup brown rice cooked
• 1 cup mung bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup sliced red pepper
• 1/4 cup diced green onion
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 Tbsp black sesame seeds
• 4 tortillas

Instructions

1. For the dressing, cover the cashews in water and let soak for at least 1 hour. Drain.
2. Add the cashews, soy sauce, coconut sugar, pepper, and sesame oil in a blender and blend until cashews are broken up a bit.
3. With the blender running in the top slowly pour in the water until a creamy dressing forms. Let run for a couple minutes just to make sure the dressing is really creamy.
4. Build a burrito by putting some of each ingredients on top of each tortilla and drizzle with the dressing.
5. To make a salad just put the ingredients over lettuce instead of in a tortilla.
6. To make a rice bowl just put all of the ingredients in a bowl instead of in a tortilla.

Recipe Notes

* Choose organic ingredients when possible.