Description
Vegan Caesar Salad is full of garlicky flavour with crunchy cashew bacon, crispy chickpea croutons and a lemon tahini dressing. It’s dairy-free and gluten-free, and works well with kale or romaine lettuce. Enjoy it as a side salad or pot luck dish!
Ingredients
For the lemon tahini dressing:
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 4–5 tablespoons water
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 large lemon, juiced
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
For the cashew bacon:
- 3/4 cup raw cashews
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon reduced-sodium tamari
- 1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
For the crispy chickpeas:
- 1 1/2 cups crispy chickpeas (or use store-bought)
For the remainder of the salad:
- 8 cups fresh kale, packed, stems removed and torn
Instructions
- Prepare the dressing: Add all the dressing ingredients to a blender and blend on high until smooth. You should get about half a cup of dressing.
- Make the cashew bacon: Pre-heat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, add the cashews, maple syrup, tamari, oil, paprika and pepper. Stir until the cashews are well coated. Spread out in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes. Keep an eye on them as they start to burn quickly. Remove from oven and let cool fully on baking sheet. They get crunchy as they cool.
- Assemble the salad: Add the kale to a large bowl and massage with your fingers for a few minutes until it starts to reduce in size. Add the dressing, cashews and chickpeas and toss until well combined. Serve immediately.
Notes
- The dressing is garlicky. If you like it a little less garlicky, just use one clove instead of two. You can also add more lemon juice if you like, or use less water if you like a thicker consistency. Also, feel free to add more or less salt and pepper to taste.
- To prep this salad in advance, just prepare and store everything separately and assemble when ready to enjoy. Store the prepped kale and dressing in the refrigerator and the cashews and chickpeas in containers at room temperature.
- If you don’t have kale, you can use romaine lettuce or other hearty greens.
