Everything in this vegetable-packed salad is homemade, including croutons spiced with herbes de Provence.
Ingredients
- HERBED CROUTONS INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups gluten-free bread, ½- to 1-inch dice
- 1½ teaspoons olive oil
- Scant ½ teaspoon herbs de Provence
- 1 pinch salt
- CAESAR DRESSING INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup raw, unsalted cashews, soaked overnight or boiled for 30 minutes
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk or regular milk
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 small cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- Salt and black pepper
- SALAD INGREDIENTS
- 2 bunches of Lacinato kale
- ¼ cup Parmesan shards
- Crushed black pepper, optional, for topping
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Place the diced bread on a cookie sheet and drizzle with the olive oil and season with herbes de Provence and salt. Toss to coat and bake until bread is golden brown and toasted, about 10 minutes, flipping once. Set croutons aside.
Place all dressing ingredients into a blender and blend until mixture is combined and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove the ribs from the kale stalks and chop the kale into bite-size pieces. Divide the kale into 4 portions and top each with desired amount of dressing, croutons, Parmesan shards and crushed black pepper, if using.
Cook’s tip #1: Parmesan shards are thin, triangular pieces cut from a wedge of Parmesan cheese.
Cook’s tip #2: For the croutons, gluten-free bagels can be used instead of bread.
Nutrition Analysis: 220 cal, 13 g fat, 5 mg chol, 400 mg sodium, 18 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 3 g sugar, 8 g protein.
Isadora Lassance lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband and their orange cat, Cheeto. A regular contributor to Gluten-Free Living, she also blogs about whole food and seasonal ingredients at shelikesfood.com.
