Kale & Carrot ‘Bacon’ Caesar Salad

We love ‘veganising’ popular dishes and this kale & carrot ‘bacon’ caesar salad has been in the works for a while now.

It’s crunchy, it’s creamy and it’s fresh. There’s a lot to love about this recipe!

We use chickpeas, seasoned with paprika, as croutons. Then we roast slices of marinaded carrot to replace bacon.

There are a few different components, but we’ve tried to make it as simple as possible while capturing as much flavour as possible!

Enjoy!

Roxy & Ben

Kale & Carrot 'Bacon' Caesar Salad

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 large carrot
• 1 tsp soya sauce
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• 2x 400 g tinned chickpeas
• 1/2 cup cashews
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 tsp English mustard
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp capers
• 1/2 cup soya milk
• 1 large cos or Romaine lettuce
• 2 large handfuls of kale
• 2 tsp paprika
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil

Servings: 4 people Ingredients 1 large carrot 1 tsp soya sauce 1 tsp maple syrup 2x 400 g tinned chickpeas 1/2 cup cashews 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 1 garlic clove 1/2 tsp English mustard 1 tbsp nutritional yeast 2 tsp capers 1/2 cup soya milk 1 large cos or Romaine lettuce 2 large handfuls of kale 2 tsp paprika salt pepper olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
2. To soften the cashews, transfer them to a small bowl and cover with hot water. Set the cashews aside until they’re needed later in the recipe.
3. To make the carrot bacon, peel the carrot then thinly slice it using a mandolin or a knife.
4. Place the sliced carrot in a small mixing bowl. Add the maple syrup, 1 tsp olive oil, soya sauce, a pinch of salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Set aside and leave to marinate.
5. Drain, rinse and dry the chickpeas. Then transfer the chickpeas to the baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with a pinch of salt. Use your hands to combine. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the lettuce and kale by rinsing and drying the leaves. Then remove the stem from the kale and roughly chop the leaves into bite-size pieces.
7. To prepare the dressing, drain the cashews and place in a blender. Add the lemon juice, garlic, mustard, nutritional yeast, 2 tbsp olive oil, capers and soya milk to the blender. Blend until smooth and creamy.
8. Once the chickpeas have finished roasting, remove the baking tray from the oven and toss the chickpeas in the paprika. Push the chickpeas to the top half of the baking tray and lay the carrot slices on the bottom half. Place the baking tray back into the oven for a further 15 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, toss the leaves with the dressing until fully combined and plate up by dividing the leaves across four plates.
10. Remove the baking tray from the oven and sprinkle each portion with a quarter of the chickpeas and a few slices of carrot bacon.