Caesar Salad Dressing [Vegan & GF]

My roommate/lover wanted Caesar Salad for his birthday, but our local stores didn’t have any vegan Caesar bottles in stock (typically, Caesar contains dairy, eggs, and/or anchovies). So, I used what we had at home to make something special! This quantity of salad fed 6 of us as an appetizer.

STUFF YOU NEED:

(yields a little over 1 cup)

1 cup vegan mayo 

3 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 

1 teaspoon molasses

1 teaspoon tamari (or soy sauce)

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper 

½ teaspoon kosher salt 

½ teaspoon powdered garlic

½ teaspoon ground mustard seed 

optional: a tiny inch of india black salt (seriously...make it tiny, about 1/32 teaspoon. Or else it will smell/taste like egg farts)

WHAT TO DO:

Just whisk well and toss into your salad mixing bowl right before you’re ready to serve! I like to use Romaine lettuce as a base, washed and rough chopped. With toppings, I try to keep it simple! To me, a good Caesar salad doesn’t need a lot on it.

Topping Ideas: roasted pepitas, roasted chickpeas, croutons, diced red bell pepper, avocado, vegan parmesan cheese, fresh-cracked black pepper.

Vegan Cheese Opinions

I tested two different brands of vegan parmesan cheese. I found that the Violife wedge (which I sliced into “shavings”) was ok, but was kind of crumbly, dry, and bland. The Follow Your Heart shreds were much softer, tangier, and overall had a better flavor with more hints of “true parmesan.” But that’s just like, my opinion, man.

If you enjoyed this recipe, you’d probably also appreciate my Cajun Caesar Salad Dressing recipe from The Cajun Vegan Cookbook!