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.
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
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.