Salad Dressing

The best plant-based substitute for sour cream? Plant-based cream cheese. When blended, it best approximates the flavor and texture of sour cream. Top the bowl with crispy fried shallots for additional brightness and texture.

Silken tofu is the base of this dressing, creating a punchy sauce that's creamy and silky. Bryant Terry uses it to dress a hearty grain salad with celery, persimmons, and chopped nuts—but you can also drizzle it over grilled vegetables, or use it as a dip for crudités.

In Amy Chaplin's salads, the vegetables are in the dressing. This is just one version of the raw beet dressings from her book Whole Food Cooking Every Day, where she combines sweet beets with cashew butter and red chiles to create a rich, creamy sauce.

When it comes to vibrant whole food meals, dressings are the key to success. This is just one version of Amy Chaplin's raw zucchini dressings from her book Whole Food Cooking Every Day. The multi-flavored sauces are rich and creamy, and offer a fresh new take on standard dressings and vinaigrettes.

This is just one version of Amy Chaplin's raw vegetable-based dressings from her book Whole Cooking Everyday. Made by blending vegetables with herbs and citrus juice until creamy, they are light, super flavorful, and addictive.

Adding silken tofu to the base of this dressing both enriches it with a little added protein and lends it a satiny texture. You can adjust the amount of water added to create something thicker and dippable for crudités or thinner and drizzly for tossing into salads.

Turn any roasted or grilled vegetable into a picnic-ready cold salad by marinating it for a few hours in this sweet-tart vinaigrette. Stir in your favorite fresh herbs just before serving.

This simple dressing is wonderful as is, especially on a simple green salad, but it also makes a fantastic starting point for more elaborate dressings.

Heavy cream, alone or in conjunction with oil, can be added to vinegar and mustard, producing a vinaigrette that is excellent with delicately flavored salads. Because of its subtlety, creamy vinaigrette can be flavored easily with herbs such as mint, chives, or chervil. It is also excellent for showcasing a special vinegar.

Don’t believe the hype that every vinaigrette recipe should have one part acid to three parts oil. This more assertive ratio brings a lot more flavor to the table.