Almond Sage Dressing

This is a nutty and tangy dressing that goes great with both salads and oven-baked vegetables. Ingredients 75 g (½ cup) whole almonds120 ml (½ cup) water2 tablespoons olive oil1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar1 tablespoon honey1 teaspoon rubbed sageSalt and white pepper, to taste Method Whizz all the ingredients together in a food processor until smooth […]

Sunflower and Lime dressing

This is a lovely creamy dressing, with a vibrant green hue. Tozen was intrigued and asked if it was either in the book or on the blog? I said it was barely out of my head and into my notebook! So he took a quick snapshot of my handwritten scrawly note just as he left […]

Cool Potato Salad

Tenkei first introduced me to this festive cold potato salad not long after I met him. He told me his mum often made it for summer parties. I imagine it was one of those post-war creations made on a budget? All you needed were potatoes plus whatever was at hand to mix through it. Sardines, […]

Curry Dressing

During an annual visit to Zen River Madrid sangha, I was invited to lunch with Emyo and Julio. We went to Benares, a beautiful Indian restaurant that served curried delicacies in the style of Nouvelle Cuisine. It was both elegant, beautiful, and fabulously tasty! A dainty salad arrived with a dressing that was so delicious, and Emyo […]

Lima-Lime Dressing

Lima-Lime dressing. A fusion of Peruvian, Japanese, and Arabian influences all coming together in one small bowl of dressing. Which got me thinking. Zen also feels like a fusion of so many influences. Take the robes that Zen monks wear for example. The first layer is often a western-style T-shirt or vest. The second is […]

Peanut Lime Spicy Dressing

The inspiration for this recipe came from tasting a salad that was served drizzled with a tangy, sweet, peanut dressing and was divine. So when the kitchen served this on the condiment trays during a sesshin about eight years ago, Ryusho was so enthused that I thought better write it down fast before I forgot! […]

Lavender & Nut Dressing

One day, a friend of ours came from Hawaii to visit Zen River and brought along a small sachet of culinary lavender. First we made lavender cake. Quite yummy.  Then I thought, hey, it might work well in a creamy, nutty salad dressing? It did. And if you enjoy the flavour, as well as the […]

Marmalade Dressing

For some reason marmalade, olive oil, and freshly ground black pepper are an awesome combination. One day, no doubt being influenced by our Spanish friends, I prepared myself some toast drizzled with olive oil instead of butter. Then by chance continued with marmalade and (heaven knows what made me do it) finished it off with […]

Pear Salad with an Asian Twist

We were making Japanese-style braised veggies for lunch (p.132 in the Z.R.C. if you’re wondering) and I needed a salad to match. There were lots of pears in the store-room, and pondered if a dressing made with some yuzu zest might just do the trick? If you haven’t come across it before, yuzu is a citrus fruit prized […]

Ponzu Bean Salad

Ponzu is a versatile citrus sauce that I first encountered as a marinade in a bottle in Japan. It’s a brightly flavoured sauce made with yuzu citrus fruit blended with soy sauce, rice vinegar, dashi, and mirin. It is often used to flavour all kinds of dishes in the Japanese kitchen. Nabe was one in […]