This Vegan Grilled Caesar Salad is the perfect summer salad – romaine is given a quick char then topped off with roasted chickpeas, homemade croutons and tahini caesar dressing.
So, if you’re like me, you probably always thought of Grilled Caesar Salad as a super weird concept. I mean, who likes soggy, cooked lettuce in their salad?
But I am here to tell you, that we (or maybe it’s just me) have been thinking about Grilled Caesar Salad all wrong.
The goal of a grilled caesar is not to cook the lettuce all the way through. It is just to get a nice (and quick) char on one side. That’s it. The other side is still going to be crunchy and raw.
I’m telling you people, this is an amazing way to eat a salad!
And because we couldn’t just make this a plain old vegan caesar salad, we needed to up our game by adding roasted chickpeas and homemade croutons.
If you made my Kale Caesar Salad, then you know that making croutons at home is SUPER easy. Get some crusty bread, a little olive oil and some seasonings. Toss it all together and bake it up. Easy.
The roasted chickpeas are just as easy AND they can cook up on the same baking sheet as the croutons. WIN!
Lastly is the Tahini Dressing. It is super simple and is honestly shocking how much it tastes like traditional caesar dressing. I’m telling you, tahini is a magic sauce.
Now all you have to do, is layer everything and get to eating.
Vegan Grilled Caesar Salad
This Vegan Grilled Caesar Salad is the perfect summer salad – romaine is given a quick char then topped off with roasted chickpeas, homemade croutons and tahini caesar dressing.
Ingredients
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1.5 tsp garlic powder separated
- salt & pepper to taste
- 3 large slices crusty bread cut in bite-sized pieces, I used sourdough
- olive oil
- 3 heads romaine hearts
FOR THE CAESAR DRESSING
- 1/3 cup tahini
- 1-2 lemons juiced, to taste
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic diced
- salt & pepper to taste
- water as needed
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Combine the chickpeas, 1 tsp of olive oil, smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp of garlic powder and a pinch of salt & pepper in a bowl. Stir to combine.
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In a separate bowl, combine bread, 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of garlic powder and toss to combine.
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Spread the chickpeas and the croutons out on the baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.
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While those are baking, prepare the dressing. Combine the tahini, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper to bowl or mason jar. Stir to combine, adding water until desired consistency is reached. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
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Once you remove the chickpeas and croutons from the oven, heat the grill. Cut the romaine hearts in half (lengthwise) and brush the cut sides with olive oil (you can also use an olive oil spray).
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Once the grill is hot, use tongs to place the romaine on the grill – cut side down. Once grill marks appear (approximately 3-4 minutes), remove the romaine from the grill and place on a serving dish.
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To assemble, layer the romaine with chickpeas, croutons and a drizzle of caesar dressing.
Recipe Notes
*If you are making this ahead of time, prepare everything except for the romaine – do not grill the romaine until right before serving.
**You are not trying to cook the romaine. You just want to get some nice grill marks on the cut side, but the other side should still be nice and raw/crunchy.
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