Cauliflower Caesar Salad with Crispy Broad Beans and Tahini Dressing
This vegan Caesar salad is packed with cauliflower and uses soy and paprika to deliver the salty, umami flavours synonymous with the original but without the use of anchovy.
From the book
The Whole Vegetable
Seasonal, veg-centric recipes
Simple recipes that happen to be vegan
Ideas for every occasion and every time of year
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Introduction
Inspired by a trip to California, where I discovered a deconstructed take on Caesar salad, I’ve created my own version for the spring months. It’s a hearty salad with a subtle hint of paprika that lifts it out of the ordinary.
Ingredients
| For the salad: | |
|---|---|
| 1 | small/medium cauliflower, in florets, stalks included |
| 1–2 tsp | smoked paprika |
| 3–4 tbsp | soy sauce or tamari |
| 4 tsp | dried oregano |
| 3 heaped tbsp | nutritional yeast |
| 3–4 slices of | stale bread, torn into small chunks |
| 2 tbsp | olive oil |
| 2 cloves of | garlic, crushed |
| salt and pepper | |
| about 200g | cooked chickpeas, rinsed |
| 1 | medium lettuce (butter, romaine, cos, iceberg) |
| 1 | small red onion, thinly sliced |
| 2 stalks of | celery, leaves included, thinly sliced |
| 2 tbsp | capers, drained |
| For the crispy broad beans: | |
| 1 tbsp | coconut oil |
| 180g | podded broad beans (inner skins removed) |
| 1 clove of | garlic, crushed |
| salt and pepper | |
| For the tahini dressing: | |
| 2 heaped tbsp | tahini |
| 2 cloves of | garlic, crushed |
| 3 tbsp | nutritional yeast |
| 2 tbsp | soy sauce or tamari |
| 1 | lemon, juice and zest |
| 2 tbsp | Dijon mustard |
| ½ tsp | paprika |
| 2 tsp | dried oregano |
| salt and pepper |
Method
Preheat your oven to 190°C fan. Put the cauliflower, paprika, soy sauce or tamari, oregano and nutritional yeast into a bowl and mix well to coat the florets. Roast for about 20 minutes, until tender and slightly crispy.
To make croutons, toss the torn bread with the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. They only need about 10 minutes in the oven, so you can put them in while the cauliflower is cooking.
To make the rest of the salad, put the drained chickpeas, lettuce, onion, celery and capers into a bowl. Set aside while you make the dressing and crispy broad beans.
For the broad beans, heat the coconut oil on a low heat. Add the broad beans, garlic and some salt and pepper. Stir to prevent them from burning and fry until the beans become a more vibrant colour with some slight browning. The outer part may start to shrivel slightly – this is normal.
For the dressing, whisk or blend together the tahini, garlic, nutritional yeast, soy or tamari, lemon juice and zest, mustard, paprika and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Add a little water if you want the dressing runnier.
To assemble the salad, add the roasted cauliflower to the bowl of chickpeas. Add half the croutons and half the broad beans. Pour in half the dressing and mix slowly, coating the salad. To serve, sprinkle over the rest of the broad beans and croutons and drizzle with the dressing. You can plate separately or serve in one big bowl.
Waste tips: These croutons are a great way to use up stale bread. They are ideal for salads, with roasted veggies, or even ground to garlicky breadcrumbs that’ll keep in the fridge for a few days. Broad beans do require a bit of effort if they are in their skins. The outer shells can be placed in your stock box, but have a slightly bitter taste, so be sure to have enough other ‘scraps’ in there before making a stock. As an alternative, you can use dried split broad beans. Parboil them first and then roast using the same method.
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