Grilled Romaine Plant-Based Caesar Salad
Caesar Salad. One of the great classic American appetizers made with key ingredients including egg yolks, anchovies, and parmesan. It is rich, creamy, lemony, and garlicky all at the same time. It’s comfort food that soothes the soul.
This recipe is our take on a great American classic and we hope you love it as much as we do. Use the dressing on grilled romaine or baby gem lettuces and it might forever change your mind about using regular romaine. Oh, and don’t forget the croutons.
INGREDIENTS
For salad
2 romaine hearts (or romaine bunches with outer loose leaves removed)
Plant-Based Caesar Dressing
100g raw cashew
200g water
75g lemon juice
35g coconut aminos (optional, but gives complexity/depth similar to Worcestershire sauce)
15g nutritional yeast
10g miso
7g salt (or to taste)
½ clove garlic (or 1 full clove if you really love a garlicky Caesar)
Black pepper (to taste, but we like a lot)
50g parmesan crumble (see recipe)
Lemon wedges (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat grill pan or grill on medium-high heat.
- Combine all ingredients except for the parmesan crumble in a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Add parmesan crumble at the end after blending to give texture to the dressing.
- Rinse romaine or gem lettuce and cut in half length-wise. (Pro tip: use romaine hearts without the loose green leaves as they will hold up better on the grill. The loose leaves will otherwise wilt and char quickly giving the romaine an otherwise bitter flavor.) Lightly oil the cut side (helps with getting the grill marks) and add a light sprinkle of salt.
- Place the romaine cut side on the hot grill. After 2-3 minutes, check for grill marks. If not, leave for an extra 1-2 minutes until desired grill marks. You only want to grill the one side to get the char without fully cooking the romaine lettuce. The char will add a dimension and depth of flavor while the rest of the romaine remains fresh.
- Transfer to a plate, add desired amount of the caesar dressing, and more parmesan crumble, black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice, if you prefer. Add croutons, and you're ready to eat.
