Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Has anyone ever used a blender instead of a food processor to make one of Isa's cashew based salad dressings? I have a cuisinart food processor and it’s great for everything except liquids. Anything liquid I put in it leaks out the sides. I have a newish blender with nice sharp blades im just not sure a blender will do the job of basically pulverizing those cashews into oblivion. Anyone ever tried?

Also im not going to chop the cashews in the food processor then make the liquid part in the blender ;-) I don’t want to make all those dishes. I would rather just wipe the drips off the sides. :-)

Depends on the strength of the blender and the thickness of the dressing. If the dressing is nice and fluid, I think most blenders would do great. Stuff like thick cashew cream requires a strong blender. Give it a try!

I make the caesar dressing from AFR in my magic bullet - it's the only blender I have. I usually soak the cashews first but sometimes I blend them for a minute with the liquid and then let it sit for about 15 minutes as a quick soak, then blend again.

I have tried, a couple of times after blending cashews with water in the m.b., running the liquid through a fine sieve after blending and it all passes through so it must be pulverizing them sufficiently.

i think ill try it this weekend. ill try the cashews first and see how it goes.
i want to make the cool slaw so that will be my test subject

I use my mini Cuisinart chopper for cashew dressings. You can boil the cashews for a few minutes first to make them extra soft, but I don't think that's usually necessary.

oh snap i think i have a mini chopper somewhere! i hadnt even thought of that!
technically it's still more dishes but it's so small i think that may actually be a work around if the blender doesnt work out.

thanks for the idea

Yep, it's a lazy way to do it! That's why I put up with ever so slightly gritty dressing instead of dealing with the massive, clunky, pain in the asparagus to clean Vitamix.

The problem I've run into with the Vitamix is that the 64oz container is way too big for dressings unless I'm cooking for an army. I prefer to use my immersion blender, either the normal way or with the little food processor looking attachment.

ive never thought to use my immersion blender for salad dressing.
hmmm.....

My immersion blender won't work for cashews. It's my go to for all other dressings though.

I use an immersion blender too, for small-batch stuff like salad dressing. All other liquids go in the blender, though. I have one of those small food processors that's just an attachment for my immersion blender, and it leaks like crazy for cashew cream and dressings. My blender is infinitely better for cashew stuff anyway (and it's not a fancy blender at all).