Kale Caesar (from scratch) with Chickpea Croutons
Recipe & Photos by Corynn Fowler
Nothing ever beats home-made, and this is especially true for Caesar salad dressing. This classic dressing recipe is revitalized here with fresh curly kale leaves, crispy roasted chickpea croutons, and of course flakes of shaved parmesan cheese. If you haven’t fallen in love with Kale Caesar Salad yet, now’s the time to jump on the bandwagon with the rest of us. Enjoy this new age take on a classic. Serves 4.
DRESSING
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 5 anchovy filets
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- 4 Tbsp parmesan
CHICKPEA CROUTONS
- 1 can cooked chickpeas
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- salt to taste
SALAD
- fresh curly kale
- parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS
Begin by baking the chickpeas. Turn the oven on to 350°F, then rinse and dry your chickpeas. Patting them dry is key to getting crispy croutons. Toss them with olive oil and cook on a baking sheet for 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and toss with the smoked paprika and salt to taste. To make your dressing, combine the oil, anchovies, garlic, egg yolks, lemon, mustard, pepper,andparmesaninablender.An immersion blender also works well for this. Pulse to chop up and combine the ingredients. Occasionally, this dressing doesn’t emulsify in a blender. If this happens, simply pour it into a measuring cup and mix by hand with a fork until it emulsifies.
Wash the kale and remove the stems. Roughly chop the leaves, and mix in a large bowl with the Caesar dressing. Add the crispy chickpeas and toss one more time. Top with slivers of shaved parmesan.
