Vegan Kale Pasta Caesar Salad
This vegan kale and pasta caesar salad is a twist on a traditional caesar salad with pasta, kale, and chickpea croutons topped with vegan parmesan cheese.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 259kcal
Ingredients
Salad:
- 2 bunches kale stemmed and cut into bite sized pieces (approximately 4 cups)
- 2 cups whole wheat bow tie pasta gluten free pasta works just as well in any preferred shape
- ½ large red onion cut into slivers
Chickpea Croutons:
- 1 can chickpeas drained (but do not dry them)
- 1 Tablespoon garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Caesar Dressing (makes ¾-1 cup):
- ½ cup raw cashews soaked overnight
- ¼ cup +2 Tablespoons water
- 3 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 small garlic clove you can add another if you like it super potent
- ½ tablespoon vegan Worcestershire sauce I use Annies brand
- 4 teaspoons capers
- ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt and pepper or to taste
Vegan Parmesan:
- ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon raw cashews
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Extras (Optional)
- Lemon wedges
- Capers
Instructions
Dressing:
- Soak raw cashews overnight (if you don't soak them, you can use raw cashews; you just need to blend longer and may have to add more water)
- Drain cashews (if soaked)
- Put all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
- Refrigerate.
Vegan Parmesan:
- DO NOT rinse cashews overnight.
- Place cashews in a small food processor.
- Grind nuts on pulse mode until granules form (powder-like)
- Remove cashews and add other ingredients, and stir)
- I store in a container in the refrigerator.
Chickpea Croutons:
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
- Mix all seasonings together
- Drain chickpeas from a can, but leave them wet.
- Add chickpeas and seasoning to a large ziplock bag.
- Shake seasoning and chickpeas in the bag until chickpeas are covered.
- Place the chickpeas on a pan with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Bake for 30 minutes until crisp.
- Remove from the oven.
- Let cool
- Add to the salad before serving to avoid soggy croutons
- Keep extras in an airtight container for a snack or another salad
Salad:
- Wash and remove the stems from the kale.
- Cut or tear the kale into bite-sized pieces.
- Cut red onion and mix with kale
- Cook pasta according to box directions (mine was 11-13 minutes)
- Immediately drain pasta and run cool water over the noodles to stop cooking.
- Make sure noodles are rinsed and cool before adding to the salad
- Toss pasta with kale and onions.
- Add half the dressing and toss (you may do this hours before serving, as the kale will not wilt)
- When serving, top with chickpea croutons, vegan parmesan, capers, and a lemon wedge if you prefer.
- I also serve with additional dressing and vegan parmesan for those who want more.
Notes
As someone who plans meals in advance, I always make more than I plan to eat and prepare lunches in advance to take to work during the week. Although I usually meal prep on Sundays, I also just double recipes for dinner during the week, I plan to eat again for lunch.
Even if you aren't a fan of leftovers, there is a lot to be said for prepping food in advance and being creative so you don't eat the same food every day.
Nutrition
Calories: 259kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 889mg | Potassium: 483mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 4361IU | Vitamin C: 46mg | Calcium: 141mg | Iron: 4mg