Vegan Chickpea Caesar Salad with Croutons
Ingredients
Chickpeas
- 2 x 400g chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tsp garlic infused olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
Croutons
- 1/2 loaf sourdough bread, cut into 1cm cubes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
Dressing
- 1 cup raw macadamias, soaked 4 hours in water
- 1/4 cup garlic infused olive oil
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1-2 tsp maple syrup
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 2 tsp capers, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup grated vegan parmesan or nutritional yeast
Salad
- 2 heads baby cos lettuce, leaves removed and rinsed
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180C fan forced.
Dry the chickpeas and add them to a bowl with the garlic infused olive oil, salt, cayenne pepper, and smoked paprika. Mix well and pour onto a baking sheet.
Add the sourdough bread to the bowl along with the olive oil and salt. Use your hands to squeeze the oil and salt into the bread, then pour onto a second baking sheet and spread out.
Once the oven is hot, place both baking trays in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then remove the croutons.
Toss the chickpeas and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, drain the macadamias and place them in a blender with the garlic infused olive oil, lemon juice, salt, maple syrup, freshly ground pepper, capers, and vegan parmesan. Blend until very smooth and set aside.
Chop the baby cos lettuce into 1cm wide ribbons and add to a large salad bowl with the croutons, chickpeas, hemp seeds, and nutritional yeast.
Add half of the dressing and toss to combine. Serve immediately, adding extra dressing as desired.
Notes
Soak chickpeas overnight and cook until very soft to ease digestion if using dried chickpeas.
