Serves 4
Total time: 15 minutes
I rarely put the word “vegan” into a recipe because that would get tedious. But the reason I’m using it now is that I want to stress that this is a classic vegan Caesar. Not a classic Caesar, but a salad that vegans have been making for as far back as, I don’t know, the 1980s? The legend goes that some vegan awoke from a long VCR’ed Dynasty marathon, with a yearning for garlic and nutritional yeast… and the vegan Caesar was born.
When translating a Caesar salad, you want to capture the tanginess, the creaminess, the umami and the garlickyness. Vegan versions are all over the map, I’ve even published several kinds of Caesar, but this one is three things that cooks love to hear: quick, easy and simple!
The tahini is the creamy base, lending also an irresistible nuttiness. Nutritional yeast and dijon mustard provide the umami tang, and if your mustard is whole grain you get some texture, too. And then there’s garlic! This dressing is kept easy so that there’s no need to break out the blender, just a coffee mug and a fork will do. Use my tip below for a very lazy method of garlic prepping.
As for accoutrement, well, avocado and chickpeas are certainly my go to. But you can do it up in a gazillion different ways. Here are some of my favorite additions: toasted pine nuts, capers, olives, a handful of cooked quinoa, sliced baked tofu (from a package is fine), sliced warm Chickpea Cutlets (or any chicken-y thing), garlicky sourdough croutons, vegan bacon, (deep breath…ok, proceed), tempeh (Chimichurri or Garlicky Thyme), grilled seitan, grilled asparagus, grilled portobello, roasted squash. See? It’s really fun and versatile. And it will get you totally excited about salad! So crimp your hair, protest Reagan and get ready for some classic vegan deliciousness.
Notes
~ If you’re feeling super lazy about peeling garlic, here’s a trick: Grate it on a microplane, with the skin still on. The skin should stay on top of the grater and fall away. You won’t be able to grate the whole clove, but hey, all in the name of laziness! Just be sure not to start at the nub side (you know, that rough spot at the top of the clove) since it’s too rough to grate.
~ And another garlic thing: You don’t have to waste time measuring garlic into a teaspoon, just eyeball it. Since this dressing comes together in a snap, you can adjust to your tastes very easily.
~ Sometimes tahini does this thing where it seizes and looks curdled and stiff when you add water. I don’t know why! I do know that if you give it a minute, it will go back to normal. (Have you ever experience this weird phenomenon?)
Ingredients
Dressing:
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup water (plus more for thinning)
2 teaspoons fresh grated garlic (see note)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 teaspoons whole grain dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
Salad:
8 oz romaine (2 hearts), chopped
Handful of baby arugula
15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 avocado diced
Fresh black pepper to taste
Directions
Stir together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, or a coffee mug. Use a fork to blend smooth. Add additional tablespoons of water to thin, as needed. Taste for salt and seasoning. It should be slightly salty, because the saltiness will subside when you dress the salad.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the greens with the dressing. Add the avocado and chickpeas. Serve with fresh black pepper sprinkled on top.
This was super delish! I made a half batch with the full batch garlic and the zest and juice of half a lemon since I’m a lemon and garlic freak. I now want to consume all the raw veggies in the house covered in this dressing 🙂
The very best caesar salad dressing I’ve ever tasted, and I’m not vegan… my daughter and husband are and they introduced me to this. It’s AWESOME goodness!!
Yum. I added some capers, a little caper juice and fresh lemon juice to the dressing, and I used white beans instead of chickpeas. So good, tastes just like Caesar!! Another tip: make the dressing in a jar. Just throw everything in and shake it up. Makes it super easy to mix and you can store extra in the fridge..
Sounds good!
Being a Nutrititarian, I used this recipe and added a fresh squeezed lemon, a teaspoon of Braggs Liquid Aminos, two teaspoons of red wine vinegar, and a half teaspoon of Mrs Dash no salt. Did not add any salt. An excellent tasting dressing!!
Add a little (olive/coconut/ macadamia) oil to tahini first. Then it doesn’t curdle when you add lemon juice/water (we use both)
I really thought this recipe was terribly bitter tasting and not easy to stir up at all. I ended up having to throw mine in the blender. To try to save it I added the juice of half a lemon and then about 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce and more salt. That made it edible and it was pretty decent once I dressed the salad with it and added pepper. Don’t think I will bother with making it again though. But I’m glad for the experience of trying it out…guess I’m on the way to developing a recipe around my own tastes 🙂
Does the dressing keep for a bit? Can i make it a day in advance?
I used an immersion blender in mason jar and had no issue with weirdness between water and tahini. Went with full amount of Nooch and wasn’t dissatisfied. To thin it a bit I used lemon juice and I think that adds an extra sparkle. Thanks Isa!
Making this for a work pot luck. I wanted something a) easy, b) tasty and satisfying, and c) healthy, and this fits the bill! Everyone else can gorge on flabby pizza nastiness; I’m content with crisp and delicious Caesar-y-ness. 🙂
This dressing is amazing thank you! I double the ingredients and blend it in my Blendtec which makes it extra creamy.
Lovely textures but the dressing begs for more acid. I tried adding some lemon juice and might add a shot of balsamic or vegan worchestire (is there such a thing?). Thank you again.
Grating fresh garlic is different than pushing it through a garlic press? But can I press instead of grate? Does grating impart some secret benefit?