Leave It To Caesar

a nut-free dressing to rule them all

Caesar salad is one of my favorite things in the whole world. Even as a kid, I thought a Caesar salad piled high with croutons and crisp romaine was the height of luxury. If I could have eaten a Caesar salad in the back of a stretch limo while chatting on a car phone, I would have died. I could imagine nothing fancier as an 8-year-old. That’s Home Alone 2 levels of opulence.

Every single vegan Caesar salad I find on a menu gets ordered. Often, I’m disappointed. Restaurants seem to think lettuce dressed with garlic aioli and dry ass nooch sprinkled on top makes a good salad. It does not. A good Caesar dressing should be a lil creamy and a lil funky while it clings to the romaine instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl. Blegh. 

In a traditional Caesar, that funk comes from anchovies and/or Worcestershire and Dijon mustard. In a vegan Caesar, a classic sub for the fishy ingredients are capers. I’ve seen places use nori flakes, but that doesn’t really do it for me. Just give me a few briny capers (and maybe some more crispy ones on top from the fried caper recipe in Brave New Meal) and that’s more than enough.

I’ve published lots of Caesar-y recipes in my day: a classic Caesar dressing in the first book, a chipotle Caesar dressing in Fast as Fuck, and a Buffalo Caesar wrap on the site. All are delicious but I’m never satisfied. So this week I’m serving up a nut-free Caesar Panzanella. 

Caesar doesn’t belong in a box so it’s time to put it on everything. This dressing is perfect for everyone who can’t do nuts or just wants to mix it up. It’s in the running to dethrone the recipe from the first cookbook as my new favorite Caesar dressing. Tossed together in a classic panzanella, you’ll wonder why you don’t see this on more menus. It’s a perfect combo. If you want to make it a complete meal, add a cup of cooked quinoa to the mix. I still like to add one heart of romaine to the panzanella but more as a necessary flavor component rather than as a real garden salad. It’s just the right amount of bitterness to tie the whole thing together. Bring this out at your next dinner party and people will be impressed. Don’t tell them how easy it was.

Seedy Caesar Panzanella

A little over 1 cup dressing, enough salad for 4-6 people

Nut Free Caesar Dressing

½ cup plain, nondairy milk

¼ cup tahini

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoon raw hemp seeds

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Zest from ½ a lemon*

2 cloves of garlic

2 teaspoons Braggs Liquid Aminos or tamari

1 teaspoon ume plum vinegar or ¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard

2 teaspoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon capers and brine

½ a loaf of sourdough bread, cute into bite-size pieces, about 8 cups

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 Persian cucumbers, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 large beefsteak or heirloom tomato, cut into chunks

½ of a red onion, sliced

3 watermelon or regular radishes, sliced

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

¼ cup chopped fresh chives

1 cup cooked quinoa, optional

1 romaine heart, cut into ribbons, optional

Salt and pepper to taste

First you want to make the dressing. Grab a food processor or blender and throw in the nondairy milk, tahini, olive oil,  raw hemp seeds, lemon juice and zest, garlic, Braggs Liquid Aminos, plum vinegar, mustard, and nutritional yeast. Blend until you’ve got a nice smooth dressing. Add the capers and pulse until they are combined in but not entirely pulverized. Stick this in the fridge to thicken up while you make the rest of the salad. This will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge in case you want to make a large batch for the week.

Grab your largest sauté or braiser pan and warm up the olive oil over a medium high heat. Add the bread and toss it all together, stir often, until the bread is toasted, no more than 10 minutes. Let the bread cool while you chop up the rest of the salad ingredients.

Just before you’re ready to serve. Toss together the cucumbers, tomatoes, and radishes in a large bowl. Fold in the bread cubes and ¼ of the dressing and stir until everything is nicely mixed up. Sprinkle in the herbs, and quinoa and/or romaine and toss again. Taste and add more dressing or salt and pepper to get it where you like it.

Serve right away with extra fresh herbs on top.

*or one quarter of a preserved lemon, rind only

Seedy Caesar Panzanella

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Thanks for joining us here in the kitchen every week. Stay cool out there and make someone else do the dishes tonight, ok?