Vegan Kale Caesar Salad (oil-free, nut-free)

Have you ever ever made a vegan kale caesar salad?

Maybe you’ve made a kale salad, and presumably many vegan caesar salads.

I’m going to point out you at present methods to convey the most effective of each into one, scrumptious and wholesome salad – that will develop into your new favourite salad bowl.

Let’s begin by speaking about kale.

There are a number of types of kale that we discover in grocery shops. Most typical are the black (dinosaur) kale and curly kale. Extra data on kale and leafy greens on this submit. You’ll have additionally seen purple kale.

Which to purchase? It’s actually your desire. Personally, I go for dino (black) kale most frequently. I like the feel and ease of prep. It’s simpler to scrub and cooks properly. However curly inexperienced kale works actually fantastically in kale salads, and on this kale caesar salad. As for purple kale, it has a stunning colour however it’s not my favourite. To me, it has a slight floral style so I want the curly or black kale.

Find out how to prep? I prefer to strip kale leaves away from their heavy stalks. See this video for extra:

You don’t have to do that, in fact, you need to use the stalks. However they are often fairly tough and hard to eat, particularly when eaten uncooked reminiscent of on this kale caesar. However for cooking, you would possibly select to make use of the stalks. Once more, your selection!

Uncooked vs Cooked? In fall and winter I virtually at all times cook dinner kale, simply briefly. My favourite solution to cook dinner kale is a quick sear in a big skillet, as you’ll be able to see on this video.

My different favourite solution to cook dinner kale is so as to add it to soups, stews, or scorching pasta simply earlier than serving. All you have to do is add the rinsed kale to the new soup or pasta a couple of minutes earlier than serving. Stir it via to wilt, then serve. That contact of warmth softens the kale making it simpler to eat and extra digestible within the winter months. In the summertime, nonetheless, as we go for much less cooked meals generally, I take advantage of kale in its uncooked type extra typically, in salad bowls and particularly on this kale caesar salad.

Kale Caesar Salad: The Dressing

You want an excellent caesar dressing. Full cease.

I’ve created quite a lot of oil-free vegan caesar dressings. The primary was nut-based.

Since then, I’ve developed a couple of different recipes, together with nut-free dressings. I’ve one in my Plant-Powered Dressings e book, and one other in Dreena’s Variety Kitchen.

Right this moment I’m sharing the nut-free oil-free vegan caesar dressing from Dreena’s Variety Kitchen. This one is particular as a result of it has a smoky essence – not from liquid smoke. I discover liquid smoke could be very robust and may overpower different flavors, and style somewhat synthetic.

The smoky essence on this caesar dressing comes from smoked paprika. I’ve talked about smoked paprika in different recipes. It’s a fantastic spice, and also you would possibly by no means return to common paprika when you strive it. It’s vital spice in your pantry (btw, in case you are inquisitive about a few of my different ingredient faves, go to this web page).

To make this dressing nut-free, I take advantage of pumpkin seeds. You may also use sunflower, however I personally want pumpkin. These sprouted pumpkin seeds are scrumptious (and so nice for snacks), if you wish to strive them – or you need to use uncooked pumpkin seeds. One other magical ingredient on this salad: cooked potatoes! I additionally use them in my extremely popular vegan ranch. Extra on that on this video.

Vegan Kale Caesar Salad: Elements & Recipe

Lastly, I choose to combine kale with lettuce in my kale caesar salads. Kale is sort of robust in taste, and likewise chewy. To tone down this bitter, robust kale taste, it’s useful to combine it with lettuce. Additionally, strive first searing the kale as I present on this video. You possibly can see the kale sauteed right here after which within the kale caesar, beneath.

For add-ins, strive traditional croutons (I’ve oil-free croutons in DKK) or strive my potato croutons (additionally in DKK). Or strive roasted chickpeas, as you’ll be able to see on this video.

Let’s get on to this scrumptious, wholesome, oil-free, and nut-free vegan kale caesar!

I hope you take pleasure in – share your favourite methods to take pleasure in a vegan caesar salad within the feedback. x Dreena