Leela is having a rough night parked in front of the fireplace.
Can’t blame her, it’s been chilly here in the mornings and evenings, I had to find a little extra motivation to get out of bed this morning in the cold and dark. And I had a serious case of the Mondays yesterday after a busy day at work. Thank goodness for lentil stew leftovers from the night before. And lots of leftovers, I forgot how much kamut berries expand when cooked!
Instead of reheating a serving in the microwave, I jazzed it up by julienne slicing a zucchini and chopping more tomatoes to add to the stew.
And reheated the mixture stove top in a wok with additional seasonings.
It turned out to be a fun remix of leftovers, almost like a tangy lentil noodle dish that was hearty and hot on a chilly night.
Tonight I was ready to put a little more effort into dinner and was craving dill. So I converted a traditional raw creamy zucchini dill soup into a creamy dill hemp seed dressing of course!
Creamy Zucchini Dill Dressing
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- 1/2 cup shelled hemp seeds
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. of miso paste
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tsp. dried dill
- 1/2 cup of water, as needed
Place all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend to a smooth and creamy texture. Makes about 4 servings.
It’s a simple creamy dressing that comes together in minutes, perfect weeknight recipe for me.
But it’s also a thick and creamy dressing with a ranch-like texture, but with a more savory and tangy flavor and better ingredients. I coated a simple salad of grated carrots, chopped tomato, and chopped pepper in the dressing.
And topped it with parsley and nutritional yeast for a colorful side dish to go with steamed spaghetti squash.
The flavor of the dressing is punchy, smooth, tangy, and has a nice dill flavor with a garlic kick. But still mild enough not to overpower a salad when coated with the dressing as I love to do with veggie and hemp seed-based dressings. :-)
Hemp seeds tend to be really pricy at Whole Foods and other local stores, too pricey for me. Lately I’ve been buying this Nutiva 5 lb. bag of Organic Shelled Hemp Seeds from Amazon about every 6 months and storing them in an air-tight container in the freezer. They can be used directly out of the freezer for blender recipes, no defrosting or soaking needed! Another reason why I prefer them over cashews and many raw nut-based recipes along with hemp seeds being a better source of protein and omega fatty acids.
Anna @ On Anna's Plate says
Sweet pup– she definitely has the right idea!!! ;-)
christine says
Very true, especially this cold and rainy morning here! :-)
Kristi @ My San Francisco Kitchen says
Haha, such a cute pic!! This reminds me of me in the mornings!! This dressing sounds really good, I will have to try it!
christine says
Aw thanks, that’s how I’ve been the last few chilly mornings here! :-)