Crunchy, Creamy Kale Caesar Salad

With crunch from the pepitas and the salty roasted chickpeas acting in place of the bacon, plus a super creamy cashew dressing, this Caesar inspired salad will fill all of your hearty health food dreams! It is perfect for this shoulder-season weather when you no longer feel like hearty curries and stews yet are not quite ready for the cold and zesty summer salads. This is our new favourite go-to. Give this simple recipe a try and you won’t be disappointed!

Serves 4

2 cans chickpeas

¼ cup tamari

1 tbsp. maple syrup

1/3 cup pepitas

1 tsp. cumin

5 tbsp. olive oil, divided

1 bunch curly kale (10 large leaves)

Juice 1 lemon

1 avocado, cut into cubes

4 slices GF sourdough

2 garlic cloves, crushed

4 eggs (optional)

150g (1 heaped cup) cashews

150mL almond milk

Juice ½ lemon

2 tbsp. nutritional yeast

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1.     Preheat the oven to 200C and line two oven trays with baking paper. Drain the. chickpeas and rinse them thoroughly. Pour them onto one of the lined trays and drizzle over the tamari and maple. Stir until well-coated. Place into the oven to roast for 5 minutes without the oil to allow them to absorb some of the sauce. After 5 minutes, drizzle over 2 tbsp. olive oil, toss to combine, spread into a single layer and return to the oven for about 15 minutes, stirring halfway to ensure they don’t burn. They’re ready when they’ve absorbed the sauce and are crispy on the outside.

2.     Toss the pepitas with the cumin, 1 tbsp. olive oil and some salt before placing into the oven to roast for 5 minutes with the chickpeas.

3.     Remove the large stems from the kale leaves and roughly chop them before placing them into a large mixing bowl. Squeeze over the juice of the lemon and rub it into the leaves to soften them.

4.     If using eggs, remove them from the fridge to bring them closer to room temperature. Fill a small saucepan with water and bring it to the boil (do not add the eggs yet). Prepare a medium bowl with water and some ice cubes. Once the water is boiling, remove it from the heat and carefully lower each egg in with a spoon. Return to the heat and turn it down to medium-high. Allow the eggs to boil for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain the water and place the eggs into the ice bath to stop cooking. This will give you a lovely, jammy yolk. Peel once cooled and cut each egg in half.

5.     To make the dressing, place all ingredients into a blender and process until very smooth and creamy. Pour over the kale leaves and stir until all leaves are coated.

6.     Drizzle the bread slices with 1 tbsp olive oil and place under the grill to toast. Once golden, flip and drizzle the other side with the remaining tbsp. olive oil and scatter over the garlic and some sea salt. Pop back under the grill to toast lightly. Remove and cut each piece into bite-sized squares.

7.     To serve the salad, divide the creamy kale between four plates. Sprinkle ¾ of the chickpeas over kale and then sprinkle over the avocado and ¾ of the pepitas. Top with garlic croutons, eggs and remaining chickpeas and pepitas to finish. Enjoy!