Blueberry Salad with Orange Cashew Dressing

There are only so many salad dressings that can be made with oil and vinegar but using nut and seed butters opens up a whole new world of flavour possibilities without making the process any more tedious. Cashew butter is delicately creamy and slightly sweet, making it perfect for dressing a salad featuring tender summer leafy greens and berries. This version combines it with orange juice, dijon mustard, olive oil and maple syrup for a dressing that’s sweet, citrusy and has a bit of a kick.

Adding in another ingredient high in protein can make a light salad like this way more filling and take it from a starter or side dish to an entree. Two low maintenance options are smoked salmon or beans to keep it vegetarian. Beans with more subtle flavour like chickpeas or white beans are best and canned versions are the ultimate in healthy fast food. Ideally choose options that state there is no BPA in the can liner and rinse the beans well before using them. Wild salmon is a good food to consume regularly because it is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids- an essential nutrient that we don’t get enough of in typical Western diets. While it only takes around 2o minutes to bake and doesn’t need much flavouring, getting smoked salmon cuts out all the prep and cooking time. There are basically two types of smoked salmon- hot and cold. Cold smoked is also sometimes called lox and is served with bagels and cream cheese or on bread or crackers as an appetizer. Hot smoked is what I used here, it is denser, meatier, drier and has a crisp outer coating. It can have a sugary, maple or peppery flavour if the brine used added that extra element. Peppery versions are especially nice in salads like this, they balance out the sweetness well and a standard serving size, equal to a deck of cards, goes a long way.