Kale Caesar

This is the best caesar salad ever! At least in my humble opinion it is.  For me, most caesar salads are too heavy, the caesar dressing for this sale is perfect and you can adjust the consistency by adding water during the blending process to make it to your liking.  Instead of bread croutons, the recipes calls for roasted chickpeas.  The chickpeas add more nutrients and protein than bread croutons and they add the perfect amount of crunch.

I got this recipe at a cooking class I did in Boulder a few weeks ago.  I drove down with of my favorite gal pals, Sandy Holmes and Chris Miller.  The class was held at the Food Lab, a great spot on Pearl St. that hosts chefs from the top restaurants in Boulder and Denver to share knowledge with those of us who LOVE food.  I highly recommend checking them out.

By: Casey Easton and Josh Onysko

Ingredients

FOR THE ROASTED CHICKPEA CROUTONS

  • 15 oz can chickpeas
  • ½ teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp garlic powder

FOR THE DRESSING

  • ½ cup raw cashews soaked for an hour or so
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • ½ tablespoon vegan Worchester sauce
  • 2 teaspoon capers (I don’t use them because they taste like mushy salt balls)
  • sea salt and pepper to taste

FOR THE NUT AND PARMESAN CHEESE

  • ¼ cup raw cashews
  • 1 tablespoon raw sesame seeds
  • 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
  • 1 tablelspoon nutritional yeast
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ tsp garlic
  • sea salt to taste

FOR THE LETTUCE

  • 1 small bunch Lacinto kale, de stemmed, about 5 cups
  • 2 small heads Romain lettuce, chopped, about 10 cups

Preheat the oven to 400F. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Place onto a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle on oil and roll around to coat. Sprinkle on the garlic powder and salt and toss to coat. Roast for twenty minutes, then roll them around for another 10-15 minutes, until lightly roasted. They will firm up as the cool.

For the dressing, add all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend until smooth. For the cheese mixture, raost the cashews until lightly brown, then add to blender, add all other ingredients and blend.