Chicken Caesar salad with dairy-free cashew dressing
Caesar salad is one of my favourite salads ever. If you don’t eat dairy or want to top your salad with chicken, you may think it’s a no-no. Not any more! You would never know that dairy is missing from this delicious creamy dressing. The dressing makes 250ml and a salad for 4-6 people will need only half that. It lasts up to 2 weeks refrigerated so you can serve it again! It’s great with chicken, but you could also serve it plain or with grilled salmon or anchovies & sundried tomatoes Preparation: 30 mins, soaking time (overnight or at least 8 hours) Cooking: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS For the dressing:
150g cashews (soaked overnight)
6 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes (I use the brand Marigold)
8 tbsp light olive oil
7 tbsp water
Sea salt For the salad: ½ loaf gluten-free bread 3 tbsp olive oil
2 large heads of Romaine lettuce chopped To serve: Cooked chicken
METHOD:
● Put the cashew nuts in a bowl and cover with cold water to 2cm above them. Soak overnight (or at least 8 hours) then drain through a sieve and run under cold water.
● Place the nuts in a food processor with the yeast flakes, olive oil and water and blend. Taste, then add sea salt (if required) and blend again until a smooth consistency. Be careful not to add too much salt as the nutritional yeast flakes are salty. Check again for seasoning.
● Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan-assisted). Slice bread into 1cm thick slices then cut each slice into cubes. Spread the cubes out in a single layer on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and bake 5 minutes.
● While they are baking, whisk the olive oil, sea salt and black pepper.
Remove the croutons from the oven and drizzle with the oil mixture then toss to combine and raybake for a further 5 minutes. Take them out and move them around once more before baking 5 - 6 minutes longer, until golden brown and crisp. Set aside to cool.
● In a large salad bowl toss together the lettuce, half the dressing and garnish with croutons. Serve the extra dressing on the side and top with chunks of cooked chicken.