Caesar salad is one of the most famous American dishes with a mouth-watering sauce based on mayo as a key ingredient. Here is my vegan version, super simple!
In the recipe I roast the legumes (I use butterbeans, but you can use any other bean you have at home) and bread in the oven for an extra crunchy topping. This involve turning on the oven, the enemy of summer season. If you can’t be bother, don’t you worry! Buy croutons or crackers and eat the beans straight out from the can. The results won’t be the same, but the recipe will be even quicker and equally delicious!
I have always thought that the Caesar salad was the favourite dish of Julius Caesar as this guy was the only one I knew named Caesar (till I met the best friend of my husband – ciao Cesare!) but boy I was wrong! Similarly to ‘fettucine alfredo’, this recipe is completely unknown in Italy and very much American…but again this is also wrong!
While testing this recipe, I did a bit of research (I do love food history) and it turns out that one of the most beloved American dishes was actually invented in Mexico…now how is going to tell Trump?
The dish was invented by Cesare (Caesar) Cardini, an Italian immigrant that decided to move to Mexico from the US to escape Prohibition. On 4 July 1924, the chef had a lot of clients at his restaurant so much that he was running out of ingredients. The clever Caesar combined leftover ingredients, romaine lettuce salad + boiled eggs + chicken + the legendary sauce, to feed the guests. That day the iconic Caesar salad was born in Tijuana, Mexico!
Now we are just left with two questions: 1. When will you try my recipe, 2. Who is coming with me to visit Tijuana?
Have a lovely day and hope you enjoy my take on the traditional Caesar salad.
Vegan Caesar Salad
Course: Mains, SidesDifficulty: Easy2
servings40
minutesCaesar salad is one of the most famous American dishes with a mouth-watering sauce based on mayo as a key ingredient. Here is my vegan version, super simple!
Ingredients
400 g romaine lettuce
6 sundried tomatoes
- Roasted legumes
1 can of cannellini beans (around 230 g)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 spoon of extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
- Croutons
6 slices of brown bread
2 tbsp thyme or oregano
4 spoons of extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
- Dressing
60 g mayo
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
zest of one lemon
Juice of half a lemon
2 spoons of the sundried tomato water
Method
- Mix beans with paprika, garlic powder. pepper, salt and lots oil and roast for 30 minutes at 180 C.
- Make croutons with bread, thyme, pepper and salt and lots of oil in the oven as well for 15 minutes
- Soften sun dried tomatoes with hot water (around 4 spoons)
- Make the dressing with mayo, vinegar, lemon, and the tomato’s water
- Chop some romaine lettuce
- Combine it all and top with the iconic condiment and serve immediately
