Orange Maple Vinaigrette with Hazelnuts and Lime
This zesty Orange Maple Vinaigrette with Hazelnuts and Lime was inspired by my Cuban Pork series. I used it in both the Salad and Tacos. It’s delicious with any salad and wakes up your tastebuds in winter quite effectively. Also nut based means it’s nutritious, can fit into the Nutritarian diet, if made without salt and lower calorie than oil based. What’s not to like?
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Why You Will Love This
Nut Based
I started making nut based dressings during my weight loss journey and found them so delicious, I switched to them for most of my salads. While I wasn’t following the Nutritarian diet* closely, as it would have meant omitting salt for example, I did learn a lot from the book on nutrition and how to use whole plants for their benefits.
Nut based dressings were frankly a revelation, as it means using less oil, yet getting more nutrition from nuts used as healthy source of fats.
The benefits of nut based dressings are, that they are easier to absorb for the body, add healthy fats, have more fibre and different nutrients than just oil. Also, a more complex flavour, which is always good. They tend to add a creamy consistency, but less calories. Win/win really.
Cashew tends to be a firm favourite, as it gets super creamy, but in this one I’m using Hazelnuts for variety. The hazelnuts don’t get as creamy, but I loved the favour they added and due to the crunch from the coleslaw, the remaining texture in the dressing wasn’t really noticeable.
Super easy to make
If you have any sort of high speed blender like Nutribullet* or Vitamix* you can make this in minutes. If not, use nut butter.
Fruity
Personally I adore fruity-sweet flavors in my salads and this Orange Maple Vinaigrette with Hazelnuts and Lime adds just that. The orange juice and maple syrup work together beautifully to create an irresistable combo. It gets elevated further by zingy lime juice and aromatic herbs and garlic.
The Ingredients
The list here is very short:
- Hazelnuts, soaked in water overnight
- Orange for both zest and juice
- Lime for zest and juice
- Maple Syrup to add another layer of sweetness
- Fresh garlic to add savory depth
- Herbs like cilantro and oregano, to give this a decidedly Mexican touch
The Process
I’m using soaked hazelnuts here, which I then throw into my Nutribullet*. You could use other nuts too. Cashews or Almonds make an even creamier dressing.
If you don’t have a blender, you could just use any nut butter and add a bit more water. The flavour will change depending on what nuts you are using. Tahini would work too here.
The nuts are blended with water, orange and lime zest and juice, cilantro and garlic, sweetened with a bit op maple syrup. This mimics the Cuban marinade I used for the pork and adds incredible flavour.
Meal Prep
The Orange Maple Vinaigrette with Hazelnuts and Lime can be prepared ahead of time and will keep in the fridge for about 4 days in a jar with lid.
What to use this on?
I have used this for the coleslaw in my Healthy Leftover Pulled Pork Tacos and my Cuban Pulled Pork salad. But since it’s orange and lime based, it works well with most salads.
Here are the full Cuban Pork Shoulder Series that I created this for:
Slow Roasted Cuban Pork Shoulder
Healthy Leftover Pulled Pork Tacos
Peach BBQ Sauce with Single Malt
Looking for more unusual dressing ideas?
Chinese Duck Pancake Salad with Plum Dressing
Black Garlic Cashew Ranch Dressing
Now I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Have you tried this? Did you enjoy it?
What other recipes would you like to see?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please share. It helps me a lot.
Orange Maple Vinaigrette with Hazelnuts and Lime
Equipment
- 1 High Speed Blender such as Vitamix. Or
- 1 Bullet Blender like Nutribullet
Ingredients
- ½ cup hazelnuts. Soaked for 1h in hot water or overnight in cold. Drained.
- ¼ cup water
- 2 limes zest, and juice
- 1 orange zested and juiced
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro
- 1 clove garlic minced.
- 1 tbsp oregano fresh, finely chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
- If using pre-soaked nuts, add all dressing ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until creamy. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
- If using nut butter, just stir everything together in a little bowl or shake in a jar until creamy. Add more water, until it reaches your desired consistency. Season to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
Orange maple vinaigrette with hazelnuts and lime is delicious I am going to make it again.
Thank you, so happy to hear.
First time I made vinaigrette with hazelnuts, and absolutely loved the sweet and citrusy flavours you paired with it. Used it to dress Santa Fe Salad, but I can see it being extremely versatile. Another great recipe – thank you!
Thank you, that’s so kind!
And now I had to look up Santa Fe salad. That looks delicious!
This dressing was DELICIOUS. Easy to make and worked well with my salad.
Thank you! So happy it worked well for you!
SO easy to make, and this dressing was delicious on a simple green salad!
Thank you! So happy to hear. 🙂