A creamy kale chickpea vegan caesar salad, inspired by a salad available at my local grocery store’s deli counter – but not edible for me cause it’s full of cheese, and caesar dressing includes mayo+anchovies… so let’s make our own vegan caesar dressing, and make a meal-sized salad!!
This filling meal-sized salad recipe is part of the September meal plan calendar. Download the calendar, and then follow along with one delicious vegan recipe per day. Or go with your own flow, and jump in whenever suits you.
Meals+ club members can get the recipe pack + grocery lists for the month here.
Kale Chickpea Caesar Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups kale and/or lettuce shredded
- 1 bell pepper chopped
- 1-2 carrots grated
- 1 avocado chopped
- 1 1/2 cups chickpeas cooked (1 15oz can)
- 1 1/2 cups whole grain pasta bulgar wheat, couscous, quinoa, buckwheat, or any other grain you like
Dressing
- 1/2 cup non-dairy yogurt or another 1/2 cup nuts or 1/4 cup tahini
- 1/2 cup nuts or 1/4 cup tahini or another 1/2 cup non-dairy yogurt
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp capers
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 clove fresh garlic
- 1 tsp miso (optional), or a pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Make the dressing by pureeing all the dressing ingredients in a blender. Add a small amount of water if you want to make it thinner.
- Put the chopped kale, if using, in a large salad bowl, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and massage with your fingers until it softens and becomes slightly moist.
- Add the lettuce (if using), the other veggies, the chickpeas and whatever grain you like, then toss it all with the dressing.
Video
Interesting to compare the nutritional info between a regular caesar salad to our vegan one:
Regular Caesar Salad
474 calories, 38g fat, 6g saturated fat, 15g protein, 22g carb, 3g fiber, 42mg cholesterol, 1332mg sodium
OUR Kale Chickpea Caesar Salad
391 calories, 19g fat, 3g saturated fat, 17g protein, 48g carb, 14g fiber, 0mg cholesterol, 131mg sodium
+ 185% DV Vit A, 203% DV Vit C, 13% DV Calcium, 24% DV Iron
(I couldn’t find stats on the regular caesar’s nutrient value, but it definitely has some! likely more calcium due to all the cheese…)
