Caesar Salad with Almond ‘Parmesan’

Caesar-salaatti ja manteli ‘parmesaani’

Before summer is over, I have to share one of my favourite salad recipes.  Caesar salad is a classic, but can be hard to recreate without the egg, parmesan and anchovies.  I am not a huge fan of processed vegan parmesan and prefer to use almonds and nutritional yeast to add the ‘cheesey’ parmesan taste and texture.   Some of you may not be familiar with one of the ingredients listed.   Kala namak, or black salt, has a sulphurous smell and flavour that mimics boiled eggs and adds the eggy taste usually found in a caesar dressing.  Don’t worry if you find it, the salad will still taste perfectly good without.  On a final note, the recipe will make more mayonnaise and parmesan than you will probably need.  The mayonnaise can be kept for up to a week in the fridge and the parmesan should be good for a couple of weeks in an air tight container.

Caesar salad with almond ‘parmesan’

For the caesar mayonnaise:

3 tbsp aquafaba

5 tsp djon mustard

3/ 4 tsp salt (make up with a pinch of kala namak if you have it)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

a good squeeze of lemon juice

2.5 dl/ 250 ml vegetable oil

 

For the almond ‘parmesan’

1 dl whole almonds

5 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/2 dl/  50 ml hemp seeds

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

 

For the croutons

2 – 3 slices of thick sliced bread, a little stale works better (gluten free if necessary)

1 clove of garlic

olive oil

 

Romaine lettuce, purple kale, sprouted peas, sliced cucumber and avocado to serve

Start by making the mayonnaise.  Add all the ingredients into a jug and use a stick blender to whizz them up into a thick mayonnaise (it will come together really quickly).  Place in the fridge to chill.

Meanwhile make the ‘parmesan’.  Add the almonds to a food processor and pulse to a crumb like texture.  It shouldn’t be too fine, but not so rough that it is still crunchy and nut like.  Stir in the hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder.  Store in an airtight container, until ready to use.

Next you can move on to the croutons.  Heat up a griddle or frying pan.  Cut the garlic clove in half and rub over both sides of the bread to impart the flavour.  Brush over a little olive oil and griddle/ fry on both sides until golden and crisp.  Cut into crouton sized cubes.

When you are ready to serve,  wash the kale, pat dry and rip into small pieces.  Mix with the romaine lettuce, your sliced avocado and cucumber, the sprouted peas and the croutons.  Drizzle with a generous amount of the mayonnaise sauce and finish with a good amount of the almond ‘parmesan’.