Crowd-Pleasing Vegan Caesar Salad
Try this Crowd-Pleasing Vegan Caesar Salad recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Crowd-Pleasing Vegan Caesar Salad recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons capers
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1 (15-oz) can chickpeas (or 1.5 cups cooked)
- 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup raw cashews soaked overnight
- 1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 small garlic clove (you can add another if you like it s
- 1/2 tablespoon vegan worcestershire sauce (i use wizard's gluten-
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt and pepper or to taste
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 1 tablespoon raw sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons hulled hemp seeds
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
- fine grain sea salt to taste
- 1 small/medium bunch lacinato kale destemmed (5 cups chopped)
- 2 small heads romaine lettuce (10 cups chopped)
- Carbohydrate 8.01828850008797 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 14.5803803322476 g
- Fiber 1.00435333336405 g
- Protein 3.70487133316963 g
- Saturated Fat 2.57857203317052 g
- Serving Size 1 1 -6 small bowl (94g)
- Sodium 19562.5975717738 mg
- Sugar 7.01393516672391 g
- Trans Fat 0.576728133289071 g
- Calories 169 calories
Step-by-step
- Soak cashews in a bowl of water overnight, or for at least a few hours. Drain and rinse.
- Roast chickpea croutons: Preheat oven to 400F. Drain and rinse chickpeas. Place chickpeas in a tea towel and rub dry (it's ok if some skins fall off). Place onto large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle on oil and roll around to coat. Sprinkle on the garlic powder and salt and toss to coat. You can add a sprinkle of cayenne pepper if you like it spicy. Roast for 20 minutes at 400F, then gently roll the chickpeas around in the baking sheet, then roast for another 10-15 minutes, until lightly golden. They will firm up as they cool.
- Prepare the dressing: Add the cashews and all other dressing ingredients (except salt) into a high speed blender, and blend on high until the dressing is super smooth. You can add a splash of water if necessary to get it blending. Add salt to taste and adjust other seasonings, if desired. Set aside.
- Prepare the Parmesan cheese: Add cashews into a mini food processor and process until finely chopped. Now add in the rest of the ingredients and pulse until the mixture is combined. Salt to taste.
- Prepare the lettuce: De-stem the kale and then finely chop the leaves. Wash and dry in a salad spinner. Place into extra large bowl. Chop up the romaine into bite-sized pieces. Rinse and then spin dry. Place into bowl along with kale. You should have roughly 5 cups chopped kale and 10 cups chopped romaine.
- Assemble: Add dressing onto lettuce and toss until fully coated. Now sprinkle on the roasted chickpeas and the Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.
Why is my cashew dressing grainy instead of silky? That texture issue usually stems from using a standard blender rather than a high-speed model, or skipping the crucial overnight soaking step for the nuts. Raw cashews need that hydration window to soften adequately so the blades can shear them into a completely smooth emulsion. If your blender struggles to catch the mixture, add water one tablespoon at a time through the lid opening, stopping to scrape down the sides frequently. When preparing the chickpea croutons, drying the legumes thoroughly in a clean tea towel is non-negotiable. Residual surface moisture creates steam in the 400 degree oven, preventing the skins from crisping properly during their twenty to thirty-five minute roast. Watch them closely toward the end of the baking time, as they can burn quickly once they turn golden. For the plant-based parmesan topping, pulse the ingredients in a small food processor rather than running the motor continuously, which quickly turns the nuts into nut butter instead of a flaky, cheese-like crumble. Massaging or chopping the lacinato kale finely is equally important for breaking down its tough cellular structure before it meets the crisp romaine lettuce. While this recipe is inherently dairy-free and egg-free, you can easily swap the hemp seeds in the parmesan blend for sunflower seeds if you need to accommodate nut and seed allergies in your dining group.
