I can’t remember ever being into caesar salad that much to be honest, but this baby, is a whole other story.  I’ve always thought that caesar salad was kind of a pretend salad since it’s only salad-like ingredient is the lettuce.  Most caesar salads in restaurants have a ton of parmesan, croutons, bacon (or even worse, processed bacon bits) and a ton of heavy dressing.  It’s hardly a healthy choice, considering that romaine lettuce probably has the nutritional value of water.  It hydrates you, due to it’s high water content, but that’s pretty much all it does.  Not many nutrients there.  Oh did you think that caesar salad was healthy?  Sorry to burst your bubble there.  😉
Thankfully, I am here to provide you with a kick ass, super flavourful and nutritious caesar salad.
Meet your new friend with benefits: Kale. Â It is loaded with Vitamins, predominantly A and C, is an excellent source of potassium, calcium and magnesium, as well as iron and vitamin B6.
Add to that a ridiculously tasty, creamy dressing made with cashew nuts, lemon juice, dijon mustard and a bunch of other yummy ingredients, and you already have a great salad.
Now top it off with a toasted almond “parmesan”, smoked coconut, a perfect poached egg, a couple beautiful radishes and some capers, and you’re in business.  Au revoir, plain old boring caesar salad.
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast,
- 1/2 tsp gluten free tamari or coconut aminos
- 1.5 tbsp tahini
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup water
- sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup whole raw almonds, roasted
- 2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast, depending how "cheesy" you want it
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 large or 2 small bunches of kale (any type of kale works) removed from stems, chopped and massaged
- 1 lemon, juiced
- sea salt
- 2-3 tablespoons of caesar dressing
- 2-3 tbsp almond parmesan
- 1/4 cup capers
- smoked coconut "bacon" or actual bacon, your choice
- 1 poached egg
- watermelon radishes, julienned
- sauteed red onion slices, optional
- Drain and rinse the cashews and add to food processor. Blend with all other dressing ingredients (except salt & pepper) until smooth. Season to taste.
- Lay almonds on a baking sheet and bake at 350f degrees for about 10 minutes or until slightly toasted and fragrant. *this step is optional, I just prefer the flavour with the nuts being toasted.
- In a small processor or bullet blender, process almonds, nutritional yeast and sea salt until obtention of a coarse grind. Set aside.
- Wash kale leaves and pat dry with a towel or some paper towel. Remove from stems and chop into bite size pieces. In a medium size bowl, place the kale and cover with a few sprinkles of sea salt and the juice of 1 lemon. Massage the kale with your hands to allow the juice and salt to penetrate. Let sit for about 10 minutes. Grab the kale and squeeze it as hard as possible with your hands, until all juices are released. When the kale is nice and tender and a lot of juices have come out, the kale is ready. You can let it sit in lemon juice for longer if it needs it.
- Once the kale is ready and drained from it's excess liquid, place in a mixing bowl with the romaine and a few tablespoons of the dressing. Toss to coat the greens with salad spoons. Add a few tablespoons of the almond cheese and toss again to coat.
- Dish out the dressed kale mixture in individual plates or bowls. Arrange toppings on it to make it look pretty. Dish out your perfectly poached egg and place in the center (or a fried egg will do if you don't know how to poach, you can also watch a youtube tutorial).