Eccentric Caesar Salad

PreparationTo make the dressing: Combine the cashews, oil, lemon juice, yeast, mustard, garlic, salt, curry powder, and pepper in a food processor and add 1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp/75 ml warm water. Process until the mixture is very smooth, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. To make the salad: Toss the romaine with 1/2 cup/120 ml of the dressing. Add more to taste if desired. Divide the lettuce among six plates, and top each with some of the croutons, avocado, hemp seeds, and capers. Serve immediately. Note: Nutritional YeastNutritional yeast has a delicious, savory, cheesy flavor that’s especially welcome in many dairy-free recipes. It’s also extremely nutrient dense, packed with amino acids, B-vitamins, folic acid, selenium, zinc, and many more important minerals. It gives our Caesar salad dressing a yummy, cheesy flavor, and we also love it sprinkled on popcorn, soups, beans, and pasta. Many people add it to vegetable juice to enhance the nutrition. It comes in both flake and powder form (we prefer the flakes for our recipes) and is available in natural food stores, both in bulk and in cans. Note that nutritional yeast is different from baker’s yeast, and it’s also not the same as brewer’s yeast (which is a by-product from the beer industry). Nutritional yeast is made from a single-celled organism called Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is typically grown on molasses and then harvested, washed, and dried with heat to deactivate it. It should be stored in a cool and dry place in an airtight bag or container.1 Serving (using ½ cup of dressing): Calories: 390, Fat : 26g, Carbs: 30g, Protein: 13g, Sodium: 830mg, Dietary Fiber: 32%, Vitamin A: 80%, Vitamin C: 40%, Thiamin: 15%, Riboflavin: 10%, Folate: 35% Nutritional analysis provided by Chronicle Books Reprinted with permission from Straight from the Earth: Irresistible Vegan Recipes for Everyone by Myra Goodman, Marea Goodman. Copyright © 2014 by Myra Goodman, Marea Goodman. Published by Chronicle Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

PreparationTo make the dressing: Combine the cashews, oil, lemon juice, yeast, mustard, garlic, salt, curry powder, and pepper in a food processor and add 1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp/75 ml warm water. Process until the mixture is very smooth, 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. To make the salad: Toss the romaine with 1/2 cup/120 ml of the dressing. Add more to taste if desired. Divide the lettuce among six plates, and top each with some of the croutons, avocado, hemp seeds, and capers. Serve immediately. Note: Nutritional YeastNutritional yeast has a delicious, savory, cheesy flavor that’s especially welcome in many dairy-free recipes. It’s also extremely nutrient dense, packed with amino acids, B-vitamins, folic acid, selenium, zinc, and many more important minerals. It gives our Caesar salad dressing a yummy, cheesy flavor, and we also love it sprinkled on popcorn, soups, beans, and pasta. Many people add it to vegetable juice to enhance the nutrition. It comes in both flake and powder form (we prefer the flakes for our recipes) and is available in natural food stores, both in bulk and in cans. Note that nutritional yeast is different from baker’s yeast, and it’s also not the same as brewer’s yeast (which is a by-product from the beer industry). Nutritional yeast is made from a single-celled organism called Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is typically grown on molasses and then harvested, washed, and dried with heat to deactivate it. It should be stored in a cool and dry place in an airtight bag or container.1 Serving (using ½ cup of dressing): Calories: 390, Fat : 26g, Carbs: 30g, Protein: 13g, Sodium: 830mg, Dietary Fiber: 32%, Vitamin A: 80%, Vitamin C: 40%, Thiamin: 15%, Riboflavin: 10%, Folate: 35% Nutritional analysis provided by Chronicle Books Reprinted with permission from Straight from the Earth: Irresistible Vegan Recipes for Everyone by Myra Goodman, Marea Goodman. Copyright © 2014 by Myra Goodman, Marea Goodman. Published by Chronicle Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.