I’ve been seeing a lot of recipes for vegan and paleo caesar salads lately and I recently had one at a restaurant here in Denver. It was delicious, and since I like to add avocado to my caesar salads, I thought I’d see what happened if I put the avocado in the dressing rather than on the salad. Turns out, it’s DELICIOUS.
No cheese, no dairy, no crappy oils. Just plant-based protein and healthy fats. I played around with a lot of different combinations of ingredients and the final result is a big fat WIN.
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/2 cup (2 oz.) cashews, soaked and drained (*see note below)
- 1 avocado (I also tried this with 1 cup of frozen mashed avocado and it worked!)
- 3 tablespoons hemp seeds/hemp hearts (tip: as with many nuts, grains, and seeds, they are cheaper to buy in the bulk section!)
- 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp. water
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 tsp. salt (more to taste)
- 1/4 tsp. pepper (more to taste)
Salad
- 2-3 heads romaine, washed and chopped (or a mixture of kale and romaine if you want to mix it up!)
Toppings – whatever you like on your salad!
- Grilled chicken
- Salmon
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Grilled veggies
- Tofu
- Quinoa
- Croutons (try making your own with hearty whole grain bread!)
Instructions
- Chop and wash romaine (I chop first and then throw it in a salad spinner.
- Drain water from cashews and put in blender or food processor with all other dressing ingredients (I love this mini chop processor for this and other dressings).
- Blend all dressing ingredients until smooth (it will be thick). Add salt and pepper as you like.
- Toss the romaine with the dressing
* To soak your cashews, just measure out the amount you need and put them in a small bowl. Add just enough water to cover and let sit. Allow them to soak at least 30 minutes, but they can sit overnight covered in the fridge.
I hope you like this dressing as much as we do. Give it a try and let me know what you think in the comments below!
