Creamy, garlicky dairy-free dressing is as easy as making a smoothie, with a little help from unroasted cashews and mellow white miso. So what’s the shake-up about? Coating the chewy kale and crunchy croutons is a snap: just pour everything into a big plastic container, cover, and shake your way to a hearty lunch or fast weeknight meal. Or just store all the ingredients separately for salads on demand!
1. Soak cashews in hot water for 30 minutes (or overnight, refrigerated and covered), then pour into a blender. Alternatively if you have a high power blender (like Vitamix or Blendtec) no soaking required, just pulse the cashews into a fine powder, add the hot water, and pulse again until very smooth.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth. Chill the dressing in a tightly covered container until ready to use, or at least 20 minutes for the flavors to blend.
Fast n’ Furious Caesar Dressing
1/2 cup unroasted, unsalted cashews
3/4 cup hot water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 clove peeled garlic
1 tablespoon shiro miso (white miso)
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1. Tear kale into bite-sized pieces. Wash and spin dry.
2. If you’re serving the salad immediately, place the dressing, kale, croutons, and nutritional yeast in a large plastic container with a tight fitting lid. Cover, then shake the container, occasionally flipping over to coat everything in dressing. Serve immediately.
3. Taking the salad to lunch tomorrow? In a large, wide mouth jar, pour an inch or two of dressing. Pack in the kale, then sprinkle with some nutritional yeast. Pack the croutons in a separate container. When you’re ready for lunch, dump everything into a big bowl and toss, or shake the jar, transfer to a bowl, then top with croutons.
Kale Caesar Salad
1 pound kale (ruffled, red, Lacinato, etc.)
4 cups plain croutons, preferably home made
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, and dried herb blend. Add bread cubes, toss to coat, and spread in a single, even layer on the baking sheet.
3. Roast for about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Bake until croutons are golden brown and crisp. Remove from oven and cool about 10 minutes before using. To store, cool completely before sealing in an airtight container.
Quickly Croutons
Makes about 3 cups
Time: 35 minutes
3 cups day-old bread cubes,
about 1/2 inch in diameter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon dried herb blend
Salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
