Growing up we had 1 salad dressing that my mother would make if we asked or if it was a special occasion, it was called Special Dressing (maybe eventually I’ll also get to special noodles). It was a blended mix of shallots, dijon, oil, and other ingredients that when blended, became emulsified and creamy. It was the only creamy dressing I remember ever having in the house. It is still referred to as special dressing.

For the past year, one of my roommates has raved about a dressing that she purchases at Wheatsville. It’s tasty. I’ve always thought I could recreate it. Here is my attempt. It is also a creamy dressing without the cream, hence “special dressing II”. My version is completely different from the store-bought, but so far we think it’s pretty delightful. We ate tons of salad last night and used it for dipping the carrots in as an appetizer too.

This is an approximation:
1.5 cups cashews
2-3 cloves garlic
1/4 (plus more to taste) cup apple cider vinegar
1.5-2 Tablespoons tahina
1/8 cup (plus more to taste) of wheat-free tamari
3/4-1 cup olive oil and/or grapeseed oil
hefty sprinkling of pepper and salt to taste
up to 5 Tablespoons water

Blend first 2 ingredients in cuisinart. Add vinegar and tamari, salt, pepper, and tahina. Slowly add grapeseed oil until it’s emulsified (looks nice and creamy). Add 1 tbsp of water at a time until desired consistency. It may look chunky and kind of separated until you start adding water: that’s okay! Just keep adding.