Almost everyone loves Caesar, but the whole anchovy and raw egg thing is debatable for some. Luckily, this Mexican Kale Caesar with Lime Caesar Dressing has all the flavor of a traditional caesar, but is sans anchovies or egg. In fact, it is 100% vegan!
I’ve been making variations of vegan caesar salad and caesar dressing for years. The salad is often romaine and/or kale, sometimes croutons, or sometimes roasted chickpea “croutons” such as these.
The “cheese” is sometimes vegan cheese such as Just Like parmesan. And sometimes I like to make my own, using cashews or brazil nuts, nutritional yeast, garlic and in this case, smoked paprika.
All of these ingredients combined make a delish vegan smoky cashew “cheese” and an overall umami flavor bomb of a salad.
A salad is only as good as the dressing, so pack the flavor!
A salad is only as good as your dressing…
Facts. You can have the best and freshest ingredients, but if you don’t have a kickass dressing, what’s the point?
I have not bought a salad dressing in about 20 years. That is the honest truth. It is so easy to make your own, even if you are just whisking a little vinegar, evoo and honey or dijon.
For this dressing, I go heavy on the garlic. Like 4-5 cloves heavy, but it mellows in the acid. You can cut back if you are garlic shy.
The dijon gives the dressing some tang, helps thicken, and also acts as a binder. Nothing worse than a non-emulsified salad dressing!
I go heavy on the garlic but it mellows
To substitute the sea-like flavor that anchovies add to a traditional caesar dressing, I like to use Sea Seasonings sea salt with kelp and dulse. Plus, you get a good dose of iodine with the sea vegetables. But roll on with just plain sea salt if you’d rather, it’ll be just as good!
The greens…
I love the romaine and kale combo. For this recipe I went with lacianto (aka tuscan kale). Feel free to use green curly or just do all romaine.
The trick to getting any salad to hold together and maximize the flavor is to thoroughly dry your greens after washing. This way the dressing sticks to the leaves, which it cannot do as well if water is still on your lettuces.
I use this oxo salad spinner regularly and it works like a charm. Then I even go the extra step and blot dry with a paper towel.
The cheese…
For the smoky parmesan you will need:
- raw cashews
- nutritional yeast
- garlic powder
- smoked paprika
I use raw cashews here because they are more neutral in flavor than roasted. Normally you should always toast your nuts for max flavor.
The nutritional yeast give it a cheese-like flavor. Bonus, it’s a good source of protein and B vitamins for vegetarians/vegans.
The garlic powder give it extra umami, and the smoked paprika… is just too good for words!
Just toss the cashews in a food processor with the other ingredients and whiz a few times til a crumbly texture.
Tip: massage the dressing into the greens
Get in there…
The secret to any good salad is to get in there with your hands and massage the dressing into the lettuces. This is especially true of hearty greens such as kale, romaine, etc. Doing so breaks it down a little and gets into the little nooks and crannies.
So, to assemble, massage a little of the dressing into the greens, toss with some of the smoky parm, then add a little more dressing or parm on top to serve.
And that’s it! Mexican Kale Caesar with Lime Caesar Dressing, vegan style done right! Veggivores: Serve it with veggie tacos or enchiladas. Omnivores: serve it with grilled chicken or fish tacos!
If you try this recipe be sure to tag me on Instagram or comment below so I can see what you create!
Like salads as much as I do? Peep these recipes…
Taco Salad (vegan, GF)
Chopped Mango + Avocado Salad (vegan, GF)
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
|
- 1 head tuscan kale rinse, dried well & chopped
- 1 head romaine lettuce rinse, dried well & chopped
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp fine pink salt
- 4 - 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 4 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- to taste sea salt with kelp (or pink salt) + pepper see blog post for salt notes
Ingredients
Salad ingredients
Lime caesar dressing ingredients
|
|
- make sure greens are well-dried and place in a large bowl
- make cashew “cheese”: in a small food processor or blender add cashews through salt and pulse until a parmesan-like texture is achieved, set aside
- make dressing: in same food processor or blender, combine all dressing ingredients, adding one tablespoon of water, season to taste with salt & pepper
- to serve: massage part of dressing into greens, then toss with desired amount of cashew cheese, add a little more cheese on top, then serve right away
Salad serves 2 as a main salad, 4 as a side salad
Dressing yields 1 cup
Cashew “parmesan” yields 2/3 cup
Original recipe created by Jerran Boyer
www.healthnutchefs.com
This site is a great resource for cooking.
Thank you!