Serves 8
Total time: 45 minutes || Active time: 45 minutes
Photo by Vanessa Rees
“Put some quinoa in it.” It’s almost become my motto. I mean, why not? Everything needs quinoa! Even Caesar Salad. This one really is a meal and it makes a ton because I love it as leftovers. It tastes great the day after and, honestly, still pretty darn good on day 3. But feel free to half it if need be. I am in love with the dressing; it’s creamy, garlicky, briny and tangy and just the kind of stuff you want to stick your face in.
In the video, I’m making it with breaded tofu. There’s another version in Isa Does It with tempeh croutons (pictured), but you can make it even easier (Isa-er?) by simply throwing some chickpeas on top. It’s definitely an entree salad, so pick your additional protein and have fun with it!
Notes
~I highly recommend making the quinoa a day in advance so that it’s easy to pull together on a weeknight. Soak the cashews all day so that you can just come home and whip up the dressing.
~For the roasted garlic, you can either roast a head of it a day in advance or buy some. Often big fancy places like Whole Foods will have roasted garlic cloves for sale (there are about 15 in a head) or you can even nab some from the salad bar. But honestly, although it adds another dimension of garlicky sweet deliciousness, you can forego it if need be.
Ingredients
For the Breaded Tofu:
3/4 cup fine storebought breadcrumbs (I use whole wheat)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed between your fingers
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed between your fingers
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
14 oz extra firm tofu, sliced into 8 slabs widthwise
3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
For The Briny Caesar Dressing:
1/2 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours and drained
1 head roasted garlic (about 10 cloves, see tip)
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/4 cup capers, with some brine
3/4 cup water
Several dashes fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
For the rest:
6 cups cooked and cooled quinoa
8 oz chopped romaine
4 oz baby arugula (or chopped arugula)
1 avocado, cut diced into 1/2 inch pieces
Directions
Make the Breaded Tofu:
Preheat a large non-stick pan, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat. On a dinner plate, use your fingertips to mix together the breadcrumbs, dried herbs and garlic. On a separate plate, pour the soy sauce.
Place a tofu slab in the soy sauce, and toss to coat. Then dredge them in the breadcrumbs, tossing to coat. (Use your dry hand to handle the tofu in the breadcrumbs, otherwise you’ll get a crumb mitten on your hand.) Put coated tofus off to the side of the plate and continue until all tofu is coated. Put a thin layer of olive oil in the pan, and then transfer tofu cubes to the pan. Let cook for a few minutes then flip, using a thin metal spatula so that you don’t scrape off the breading. Cook for about 7 minutes total, adding a little extra to the pan as needed, and flipping occasionally until browned on most sides.
Once browned, remove from pan and slice on a bias into 1/4 thick pieces.
Make the dressing:
Simply add all of the ingredients to a small blender or food processor, and puree until smooth. Scrape down the sides every now and again to make sure you get everything. Thin with a little water, if necessary. Keep tightly sealed and refrigerated until ready to use. Keeps for up to 5 days.
Assemble:
Assemble the salad in a very large mixing bowl. Toss the greens with the quinoa, and then add the dressing. Serve topped with tofu and avocado!
Isa, despite my many, many years of vegetarianism, I’ve never been a big salad eater. But this salad, and particularly the dressing, is SO GOOD, that I can say I’ve become a little obsessed with it. I’ve even come to crave it, and it’s a much healthier craving than my usual! I was using the fermented black garlic Trader Joe’s had for a while for this, which was easier than the roasted garlic and very delicious. Thank you for adding this to my repertoire. We miss you in blog land and hope you’ll be back with more deliciousness of this scale soon!
Love this video – so glad I discovered this site. You are awesome!
I’ve been meaning to make this since I first binge-watched all of your Make it Vegan episodes and I’m so glad I finally got around to it. It’s been abnormally hot weather in Portland this week and my family and I wanted something cool and refreshing and this was just perfect! I knew it was going to be good while I was making it but had no idea it would turn out THIS good. My mom (not vegan but eats everything I cook for the family) declared it my best dinner yet and my dad (meat lover) was literally shocked that the breaded tofu was actually tofu. He seriously had no idea. I didn’t change a single thing about the recipe other than cutting 12 slabs instead of 8 which I do recommend and omitting the oil from the dressing which didn’t seem to affect it whatsoever. Also I used firm tofu that was frozen and thawed which gave it the absolute best texture. I’d recommend using low-sodium tamari/soy sauce since the rest of the dish is fairly salty enough.
I honestly can’t describe the deliciousness of the caesar dressing. So good I could just die! Thanks for another excellent recipe.
love the video!
Always an inspiration! I´ve learnt so much from you. I bought three books and like to watch the videos, because in Germany we can´t see you in TV. Thi video is just excellent! Please go on, you do a great job!
“is that chicken?”
“No!” (SLAP)
Going to try this tonight. The salad, that is.
This is REALLY REALLY good! I didn’t have any roasted garlic, so I’m not sure what the diffence would be there. But we really enjoyed the dressing and absolutely LOVED the herb breaded tofu!
Wow…thank you for this amazing recipe! This salad made me so happy 🙂 You are a brilliant and creative artist!
Holy smokes! Super good–and I was super skeptical about the dressing. Thanks a million!!!! I’m going back for more recipes. 🙂
I am loving this salad with the tempeh croutons. Before this salad, I was convinced that tempeh was something my vegan lifestyle could live without. Now… I admit I was wrong. Tempeh croutons should be on all my salads!
Made this for dinner. Yummy!
Just made this and dear God, I have breath that would scare a nun away- but it was worth it.
This is my favorite vegan caesar, and I’m pretty sure my husband’s favorite salad. It’s perfect. The most recent time I made it I added homemade baked croutons and the chicky seitan from Isa Does it (grilled it) and it was amazing. Thanks as always Isa 🙂
Wow, this was great! The video was helpful.
Oh my gosh, so happy i came across your website! Ive started eating vegie now and im europian so I love the stuff you wanna stick you face into.. as you say, they hearty food, and tangy tastes. You play with herbs and spices and have a cashew cream as well i can make! im so happy! Just wanted to thank you 🙂
Thank you, Ie just been searching for information about this topic for a while and yours is the greatest Ie discovered till now. But, what in regards to the conclusion? Are you sure concerning the supply?
I’m so happy I discovered your website!You are awesome!
I made this recipe yesterday and I really love this salad and in particular the dressing.
Thanks Isa for this recipe!
This dressing is awesome… but I may have ruined it. For some reason my garlic was spicy at first but the next day it’s so hot and spicy I can’t eat it! Do you have any suggestions on how I can salvage it, I don’t want to waste all the awesomeness. Thanks!
oh. my. this salad was fabulousness!!! My husband is a HUGE Caesar salad fan… he doesn’t think of this as caesar (his words.. b/c of the flavor parm cheese adds)… but it’s fabulous… He just ate a 6 serving equivalent! Thank you Isa!!!!
You are so awesome in your videos!
Thank you for this delicious recipe!
This dressing recipe is absolutely outstanding. Made the salad as-written except for the tofu (served as a side with lasagna) and got rave reviews from my mostly non-vegan family. Thank you Isa, another fabulous recipe!
I really love the vegetable salad! The way you shows in the video, its really great to watch. Thanks for the up work really i will try it tonight.
Accidentally bought jarred green peppercorns instead of capers. Used them anyway. It was still really good.
Made this salad for a family gathering today, and it was a hit among non-veg/plant-based food eaters I seasoned the quinoa with a bit of lemon juice and sea salt, and also added some toasted pepitas for crunch, and thin carrot strips for some pop of color. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks,
sharing Quinoa Caesar Salad
I tried it.It is good & tasty. Quinoa seeds are very healthy for a body
It has a rich amount of fiber, antioxidants, and iron
we provide the Organic Quinoa Seeds.so let’s start to buy Quinoa seeds at Nourish you
https://nourishyou.in/superfoods/quinoa-seeds/
This looks marvelous and am going to make it tonight..! Thank You. 🙂
~lea
I made the version from Isa Does It with the tempeh croutons and really really enjoyed it. I loved it so much that I ate it for both lunch and dinner on the same day! I blogged my experience https://nimbleveggies.wordpress.com/2022/02/12/vegan-quinoa-caesar/