Vegan Caesar Salad

My husband never believes me that this Vegan Caesar is actually vegan. He’s always convinced I added grated parmesan to the dressing because the favor is deeply complex and the texture is creamy and satisfying. Even today as I was writing this post, he protested, “But there’s parmesan in there!”

I developed this Vegan Caesar Salad dressing with a secret umami ingredient. I’ve read numerous Vegan Caesar recipes that use seaweed to replace the sardines. Seaweed is not my style, and is too fishy for me and for this salad. Instead of conjuring the ocean, I went in a pure umami direction. The answer is Garlic Confit. You might recall my earlier post about making batches of Garlic Confit as a kitchen secret for salad dressings, dolloping on pizza, this fabulous potato salad, and other umami boosts. This salad is one of my very favorite uses for garlic confit.

Garlic confit sounds fancy, but is dead easy. You basically place a few herbs in a small baking dish, top with a pint of peeled whole garlic cloves, cover with olive oil, then bake until golden. I always keep a jar of garlic confit in the fridge, and I hope this recipe convinces you to as well. It’s like roasting garlic except you get a bonus of a jar full of garlic-infused oil in the process. You can find the recipe here, but I’ve also included it in this recipe to make it easier. The garlic confit recipe makes a few cups, but for this recipe you’ll only use 3 cloves of the garlic confit plus 1-2 teaspoons of the garlic confit oil. Ideally, you would make the garlic confit in advance so the salad itself can be a quicker process.

The Vegan Caesar dressing has several other building blocks which create the complex umami flavor and creamy texture. Lemon juice, whole grain mustard, and good quality olive oil add brightness, depth, and balance. Raw cashews are a classic vegan ingredient for blending to create a creamy consistency.

Now let’s talk about the rest of the salad. I usually use arugula because it’s my favorite salad green, but romaine is more traditional. Your choice. You could also add a handful of thinly sliced cabbage for more crunch. I like adding a handful of fresh basil leaves to the greens if I have them around. Not necessary but delicious.

Caesar Salad needs something crunchy. The classic addition is croutons. These are best when homemade. Just toss cubes of bread with olive oil and salt, then bake until crunchy.

In addition to the homemade croutons, I also add a batch of crispy chickpeas for a second punch of crunch. I often add crispy chickpeas to salads these days. The protein turns a salad into a complete meal. Most recipes for crispy chickpeas call for roasting them in the oven, but I generally use the air fryer because it’s faster. I also like that the air fryer makes the chickpeas crunchier and more dried out, almost like corn nuts. My husband however prefers chickpeas roasted in the oven because he likes the centers a little soft. You can choose your own heating method.

Vegan Caesar Salad

I developed this Vegan Caesar Salad dressing with a secret umami ingredient. Garlic Confit adds an umami depth, balanced out by lemon juice, whole grain mustard, and good quality olive oil. Blending these ingredients with raw cashews creates a creamy texture.

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Ingredients

  

For the Garlic Confit

• 1 pound peeled garlic cloves
• 12 thyme branches
• 3 bay leaves
• about 2 cups olive oil

For the Vegan Caesar Dressing

• 1/3 – 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 -1/3 cup water
• 3 garlic confit cloves
• 1-2 teaspoons garlic confit oil
• 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
• juice of 1/2 – 2/3 lemon
• 3-4 tablespoons good quality olive oil
• big pinch salt
• freshly ground black pepper

For the Crispy Chickpeas

• 15 ounce can of chickpeas
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 big pinches of salt
• few big pinches of dried red pepper or Tajin
• 1/2 teaspoon nutritional yeast

For the Salad

• several cups arugula or romaine
• 3/4 cup croutons, preferably homemade
• sliced green olives such as castelvetranos, optional
• handful of basil leaves, optional
• 1/2 cup shredded purple cabbage, optional

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Instructions

 

For the Garlic Confit

• Heat the oven to 350F.
• Place the bay leaves in the bottom of a small baking dish. Arrange the thyme branches on top of the bay leaves. Then arrange the peeled garlic cloves on top of the thyme. Pour olive oil on top to cover, about 2 cups or so.
• Bake for 45-60 minutes, until the cloves are soft and starting to color. Let cool, the carefully decant into a jar. Keep it refrigerated.
• For this recipe, you will only use 3 cloves of garlic confit plus 1-2 teaspoons of the garlic confit oil.

For the Dressing

• You can soak the cashews in the water to 30 minutes if you want the dressing smoother.
• Combine all of the dressing ingredients (cashews, water, garlic confit cloves, garlic confit oil, whole grain mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper) in a blender or mini blender. Blend then taste for seasoning.

For the Crispy Chickpeas

• Drain the chickpeas. You might want to save the aquafaba (liquid from the can of chickpeas) for cocktails or baking.
• Rinse the chickpeas well. Pour them in a medium mixing bowl. Pour a splash of olive oil, then sprinkle on the salt, red chili or Tajin, and the nutritional yeast. Use a spoon to stir well.
• If using the air fryer, add the chickpeas to the basket of the air fryer and bake 15 minutes at 400F. Toss halfway though cooking.
• If using the oven, arrange the chickpeas on a baking dish. Bake at 425F for 20-30 minutes.

For the Salad

• Arrange the arugula or romaine is a big salad bowl.
• If using fresh basil, tear them or slice in a chiffonade. To create a chiffonade, stack the basil leaves on top of each other, roll them into a tight cigar, then thinly slice crosswise. Add the basil to the salad greens.
• Add the croutons, optional olives, and chickpeas. Dollop the Vegan Caesar dressing over the salad and toss well.

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