This cashew based kale caesar salad is creamy and delicious and only takes a few minutes to make! You will never buy store bought dressing again.
Caesar salad has always been a comfort staple food of mine. It is a go to when I’m trying to be healthy but also want something comforting and delicious.
This kale caesar salad is healthy, easy to make, and has so many wonderful layers of flavor.
And what is a good caesar salad without garlic bread?! I have always been a sucker for carbs, with garlic bread being at the top of the list. It’s so easy to throw together your own garlic bread and is an easy side to this vegan kale caesar salad.
How to Make Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing
I am a huge advocate for making things from scratch as much as possible. This salad dressing is so so easy to make, it’s a no brainer to make it at home!
Start by soaking cashews in boiling water for 10 minutes. By using boiling water it speeds up the process.
Once the cashews have been soaking for 10 minutes, you can drain off the water.
Add the soaked cashews, water, olive oil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, capers, soya sauce, and minced garlic cloves to blender. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
While the dressing is blending I will wash the kale. I also ensure it is dry so the dressing sticks to the leaves better. Then chop the kale off the stem of the leaf. Kale steams are very chewy, bitter, and research suggest they are actually not healthy for you raw!
Lastly I love to fry some capers for a wonderful crunchy, salty, peppery addition to the salad! It might seem like a strange addition at first, however once you try them you will never make caesar salad without them again!
How to Make Homemade Garlic Butter
Like with the caesar salad dressing I like to make garlic butter from scratch. Garlic butter from the store can contain significantly more sodium, preservatives, and MSG.
First, start with softened butter. Often I will use vegan Becel which does not need to be softened before use. If using a hard butter, place in microwave for 30 seconds at 50%, checking every 5 seconds until soft BUT not melted!
Add the minced garlic, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. And just like that you have homemade garlic butter. I recommend tasting it before smearing on the bread so you can make adjustments to your taste (truthfully I tend to add an extra garlic clove or two but I like it crazy garlicky!).
Any bread can be used to make garlic bread however my all time favorite is ciabatta followed with a traditional french loaf.
Kale Caesar Salad
Ingredients
- 8 cups torn kale stems removed
- ¼ cup olive oil plus additional drizzle
- 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 lemon juiced
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add a drizzle of olive oil to the 8 cups of torn kale and massage into kale.
- In a mason jar, combine olive oil, parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire, garlic and lemon juice. Shake until well combined. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Toss massaged kale with dressing.
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