Vegetable

SUPERFOOD BROCCOLI CAESAR SALAD

February 21, 2019
5
1 Ratings
Photo by Cathy Menees
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Makes about 2 cups of dressing
Author Notes

A girl’s gotta eat! When I’m on my own (i.e. no guys in the house) I love having a flavor-and-nutrient-packed salad for dinner. My homemade Caesar dressing delivers healthy fats and loads of flavor, and when you pour that over a bowl full of broccoli, spinach, and colorful lettuce leaves, topped with toasted pumpkin seeds, chickpeas and parmesan cheese, well, it’s satisfying on all levels – taste, texture and health!
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RECIPE HACK 1: a proper Caesar dressing uses raw eggs, but that means you have to consume the dressing that day else risk a nasty tummy/food poisoning. I replace raw eggs with yogurt and pine nuts to create a creamy dressing that will keep for weeks in your fridge, so a restaurant-level Caesar salad is always at hand!
RECIPE HACK 2: a proper Caesar dressing uses anchovy paste, which I never have, but because I do a lot of Asian cooking, I always have Thai Fish Sauce, and that does the trick to give this Caesar dressing that complexity and depth of flavor you get in a proper restaurant…and it’s useful in other recipes.
RECIPE HACK 3: use oven-roasted chickpeas (or straight out of the can) in place of starchy, empty-calorie croutons. You get texture and taste as well as protein and fiber. Winner! —Cathy Menees

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Ingredients
  • Salad Dressing Ingredients
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3-4 cloves garlic (to your taste)
  • 2 teaspoons pine nuts
  • 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 teaspoon thai fish sauce
  • SALAD VEGGIES - as much or as little as you like of the following
  • handful broccoli florets
  • handful fresh spinach leaves
  • a bit of sliced red onion
  • a few toasted pumpkin seeds
  • a bit of grated parmesan cheese
  • a few chickpeas/garbanzo beans
Directions
  1. Blend all of the DRESSING ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Add desired amount of broccoli, spinach, lettuce leaves and red onion to a bowl.
  3. Pour desired amount of dressing over your veggies, mix well and further salt to taste
  4. garnish with pumpkin seeds, parmesan cheese and chickpeas to taste.
  5. Store remaining dressing in an airtight container and refrigerate until you crave this salad again. :-)

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1 Review

Glendi March 29, 2020
Thanks, hate croutons. Needs anchovies though. I always have them. Great caesar salad revision.