Vegan Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons (Gluten-free)

Last month it was my turn to host book club.

I served Vegan Lasagna with Basil Cashew Cheeze (cuz it’s awesome), Caesar side salads and sliced baguettes with dipping oil. This was my first attempt at making a vegan Caesar salad and I was really happy with the result.

The book club gals are either good liars or they really did enjoy the food. Their plates were clean, which is a good sign. Hubs got to have some of the leftovers and also gave it two thumbs up.

The dressing, which is made with Vegenaise, is rich and creamy. It doesn’t have an exact Caesar flavor, but it’s close and personally, I really like it. After blending the dressing ingredients as instructed, I tasted it and added more lemon juice to balance out the flavors.

So be sure to taste it before pouring it out of the blender. You can add more lemon juice, caper juice, capers, or Worcestershire sauce as you see fit. When tossing the lettuce, dressing and croutons together, start with adding just half of the dressing. You may find that’s plenty.

It’s better to start off with too little than too much. For a parmesan-like texture (and extra protein), I also added shelled hemp seeds. Or you could try a vegan, gluten-free parmesan such as this.

By the way, I found this recipe on Vegan Cooking with Love. Founder, Michelle Johnson, offers a variety of vegan recipes. What’s unique about her site are the short, friendly videos that accompany most of the recipes. The videos are well done and often include a tip or two.

Speaking of tips, here’s a little tip in regards to capers. In the grocery store, they are often found in the same aisle as artichoke hearts, olives, pickles, anchovies and other pickled food items. Usually, you can find a little tiny jar of them for some ridiculous price.

BUT!, if you go to the Mexican aisle, you will find a jar about two or three times as big, for half the price or less.

Oh, and make sure to check out my small salad spinner review to get your lettuce to absorb as much of that delicious dressing as possible! ;)