Caesar Salad is one of the most popular salads in the world and rightfully so. What makes it so unique and popular is its lively flavors and creaminess that it brings to your mouth. You will be lying to yourself if you are saying you have never craved a well-made Caesar Salad. When you add this with collard green beans, it tastes heavenly.
A lot of people don’t ever get to taste the perfect Caesar Salad because of poor kitchen practices in most restaurants. Still, you would be surprised at the taste of a well made Caesar Salad.
For this recipe, we will be focusing on the most essential part of the recipe, the dressing. If the dressing is right, the taste of the Gluten-Free Caesar Salad will follow.
Now, you might ask if this gluten-free recipe can bring out the same result as the classic Caesar Salad. The answer is, yes, because I have been experimenting with this recipe for some time now, and although it took me a while, it was worth it. Because now vegans or people living a gluten-free lifestyle don’t have to miss out on the fantastic taste of Caesar Salad
So, here is the recipe of Gluten-Free Caesar Salad in all its glory of amazing, familiar flavors.
Ingredients for the dressing:
- Four and a half tablespoons of light gluten-free tahini
- One and ¼ tablespoons of olive oil
- Two and a half teaspoons of gluten-free mustard (most popular brands of mustard are gluten-free)
- Gluten-free tamari to your taste as the substitute of soy sauce
- ¾ clove of fresh garlic
- Two and a half tablespoons of Greek yogurt
- One and a half lemon’s juice
Ingredients for the salad:
- One and a half tablespoons of pure canola oil
- One and ¼ can of drained chickpeas (400 grams)
- Unwaxed zest of a medium-sized lemon
- Five little gem lettuce heads (you can use romaine lettuce as a substitute in enough quantity)
- Sea salt according to your taste
- Freshly ground black pepper according to your taste
Ingredients for serving:
- Half a cup of rennet-free Parmesan (50 grams)
- Some fresh parsley leaves
Equipment you will need:
- An electric oven
- Immersion blender
- An pan with raised ridges
- Baking sheet
You can substitute the immersion blender with a food processor or a normal blender, but keep in mind that if you are using a blender you should be aware of not putting too much pressure on it when making salad in bulk.
Instructions to make the dressing:
- Firstly, shred the ¾ of close garlic in a fine manner into your immersion blender.
- Then pour all the other ingredients of the dressing into the immersion blender with eight tablespoons of water.
- Blend everything until it looks buttery smooth.
- Add salt, lemon, pepper, tamari according to your taste to the mix.
The dressing is the most crucial part of my Gluten-free Caesar Salad recipe because it will bring the original taste of Caesar salad to life.
Instructions to make the salad:
- Prepare your oven to 240-degree Celcius.
- Put the pan over the stove in high heat.
- While the oven and the pan are being heated to the perfect temperature, you can cut the lettuce heads in half.
- Then take the baking sheet and toss to it the seasoned (with the canola oil, salt to taste, and pepper) chickpeas.
- After the oven is ready, put the chickpeas with the baking sheet in for 25 minutes. Make sure to put it exactly in the middle and shaking it now and then.
- Keep an eye on the chickpeas after it starts popping. Take it out as soon as it looks crispy enough for the salad.
- The half lettuce heads must be grilled in low heat for a while until each side of the heads is ready to be used. The grilled color of the lettuce heads will start popping up when ready.
- The charred lettuce heads then should be put on the platter you are gonna serve on.
- Scatter the lemon zest over the chickpeas once it’s fully baked.
- They must be drained on a paper towel before you can serve it to make sure they are brittle from the outside.
- Toss the lettuce heads in the dressing then put them into the platter. The chickpeas should be spread over the lettuce evenly.
- Pound the Parmesan cheese and spread it over the platter.
- Finally, serve with more dressing and seasonings to your familiar taste.
Tips:
- Use an immersion blender or food processor for better results.
- You should start preparing the dressing while the chickpeas are being baked and lettuce heads are on the pan.
- You can freeze this salad for over a week and the taste won’t change even for a bit.