Caesar Salad with Roasted Garlic Croutons
Submitted by Terry
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| prep time: 15 minutes | cooking time: 20 minutes for croutons | makes 4 |
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From Veganomicon. The creamy, bold, garlicky classic salad that eats like a meal. In our version, ground almonds provide a texture similar to grated hard cheese and capers bring on an essential briny flavor. The fresh, homemade croutons bathed in roasted garlic and olive oil really make it so don’t substitute lame store-bought ones, and be sure to roast a bulb of garlic in advance so that you can get on with the crouton recipe. Be generous when applying the dressing to the salad, as this dressing recipe makes a lot.
We like adding a little spinach and arugula to this Caesar salad—the rich dressing contrasts perfectly with these bitter greens—but you may leave it out if you want. Make an entrée out of it by tossing cubed, grilled tempeh or tofu and grilled mushrooms, asparagus or leeks. Other optional add0ins include roasted red peppers, shredded red cabbage, shredded carrot, steamed or roasted green beans, or slivered toasted almonds. |
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Equipment:
Ingredients
For the croutons:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves roasted garlic
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 medium loaf French or Italian bread (little less than 1 lb.), stale and torn or sliced into bite sized pieces
¼ teaspoon salt
Caesar dressing:
1/3 cup blanched, slivered or sliced almonds
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3/4 lb. silken tofu (fresh, not vacuum packed is best)
1⁄4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 heaping tablespoon capers
4 teaspoons caper brine
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
salt to taste
For the salad:
1 large head Romaine lettuce, chopped
Freshly cracked black pepper
Handful or two of spinach and arugula, torn into bite-sized pieces
Directions
Prepare the dressing:
In a food processor or blender, pulse the sliced almonds till crumbly. Empty ground almonds into an air tight container that you’ll be using to store the finished dressing in. Place garlic, tofu and oil in food processor or blender and blend until creamy. Add lemon juice, capers, caper brine, sugar, dry mustard powder and pulse until blended. Adjust lemon juice and salt to taste. Pour into container with the ground almonds and whisk to combine. Cover and allow dressing to chill in the refrigerator for a minimum 30 minutes, optimally 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
While dressing is chilling prepare croutons. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl combine olive oil, roasted garlic and lemon juice. With a fork or immersion blender mash or blend the roasted garlic till creamy. Add torn bread and toss to coat each piece with the garlic/oil mixture. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with salt if desired and bake for 12 to 14 minutes until golden brown. Toss the croutons twice during baking. Remove from oven and cool croutons on baking sheet.
To assemble salad, pour 2-3 cups for each individual serving (depending if it's a side or entree) of lettuce/greens--and if using--vegetables, tempeh, etc. into a large bowl. Ladle on about 1/3 cup dressing (or more or less to taste), and use kitchen tongs to toss greens and coat with dressing. Add warm croutons, toss again and transfer to serving plate. Sprinkle with a little freshly cracked pepper. If not serving right away, warm croutons in 300 degree oven for 5-8 minutes before adding to the salad. |
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