It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a vegan caesar salad! Kale caesar to be exact. We’re salading with the best of ’em today, friends. I whipped up this vegan kale caesar salad back in December when I had all the ginger molasses and peanut butter cookies to share and sadly, this salad got temporarily put on the back burner. Not that salad isn’t worth celebrating! You folks now how much I love a meal-worthy salad. Not only do I require crunch, tang, and creaminess, but I also want a wicked and totally non-boring dressing to tie it all together. Mission accomplished! This gem is an ode to the vegan kale caesar we sell at our restaurant Alchemy, piled high with carrot ribbons, lemony roasted chickpeas, and crushed hazelnuts. Like my Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad, it’s locked and loaded with all the best textures. Crunch galore! I feel like no one has hazelnuts at home, so I swapped them out for super duper simple homemade rosemary croutons that will exponentially improve your salad game, guaranteed. They’re SO GOOD. If you’re anything like me, you always have a loaf or three of bread in the freezer just dying to become a salad topper. Orrrrr French toast. Or both! I wanted lots of bright, colorful, crisp veggies in this salad. I went with purple kale, red cabbage, and Brussels for texture but it’s super forgiving. Not a fan of Brussels or craving a more traditional caesar salad? Ditch the kale for crisp romaine! Just be sure to store the dressing separately. Let’s talk dressing details. This vegan caesar will likely knock your socks right off. The combination of creamy cashews and plenty of garlic paired with tangy capers, lemon juice, and Dijon make for an insanely satisfying salad dressing if I do say so myself. I mean if you don’t have garlic breath, did the caesar even happen?! We enjoyed this salad as a side dish paired with soup for lunch, but it can totally stand on its own and is perfect for a crowd because it gets better with age and holds up well in the fridge. For more oomph, feel free to add roasted chickpeas or whatever protein floats your boat. Your salad, your rules, boo thang.
1 bunch kale (I used purple), de-stemmed and sliced into ribbons 12 oz Brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved and very thinly sliced or shredded 1 ½ cups thinly sliced red cabbage or radicchio Optional add-ins: ½ cup toasted walnuts
For the caesar dressing:
¾ cup raw cashews 3 tbsp nutritional yeast 6 tbsp lemon juice ½ cup water (more to thin if needed) 1 ½ tsp dijon 4 garlic cloves 2 tbsp capers ½ tsp sea salt Lots of freshly ground black pepper
For the rosemary croutons:
1 heaping cup stale/crusty bread, cut into cubes (I used defrosted from frozen multigrain bread) 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil ¼ tsp each dried rosemary, garlic powder, and kosher salt
