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Parsley Garlic Dressing

When I lived in Peterborough, New Hampshire, in the early 1990s, I had two obsessions. The first was the lettuce mix from organic farming pioneer Rosaly Bass, who charmed me so much I signed up for a subscription that let me pick what I wanted off her land all season long. (I tended to swing by at midnight after a long day as editor of the weekly Monadnock Ledger and shovel up carrots by moonlight.) The second was this powerfully sharp dressing, made by chef Hiroshi Hayashi at his elegant, health-minded Japanese restaurant, Latacarta. While Rosaly’s farm is still going strong, Hayashi long ago closed the restaurant and started the Monadnock School of Natural Cooking and Philosophy, but he still makes this vegan dressing. I use it to dress simple salads of butter lettuce with cherry tomatoes and carrots, taking care to slice the carrots into a perfect julienne the way I remember Hayashi did. The dressing also makes an excellent dip for crudités.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes about 2 cups

Ingredients

1 (12-ounce) block silken tofu, drained
1 large or 2 small cloves garlic
1/4 large bunch parsley (about 1 cup coarsely chopped leaves and stems)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup unseasond rice vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse kosher or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preparation

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Cover of Joe Yonan's cookbook Serve Yourself Featuring a cherry tomato and squid stir fry.
Reprinted with permission from Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking for One by Joe Yonan. Copyright © 2011 by Joe Yonan. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. Buy the full book at Amazon or AbeBooks.
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