Chickpea Caesar Salad with a Cheater’s Dressing
Who doesn’t love a classic Caesar salad? It’s crisp, refreshing and loaded with the good stuff—namely, croutons, Parm and a salty-creamy dressing. What we don’t love is whisking a homemade aioli until our biceps are burning. Plus, the whole raw egg thing means not everyone can partake.
Enter this Caesar salad recipe: It features roasted chickpeas for a boost of protein that happens to be cheaper than chicken, plus a magical cheater’s Caesar dressing that skips the raw egg and anchovies. (The secret is store-bought mayo…we won’t tell if you won’t.)
Ingredients
Crispy Chickpeas
One 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Cheater’s Caesar Dressing
½ cup mayonnaise
Juice of ½ lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, grated
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Assembly
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups cubed bread (such as sourdough)
Kosher salt
1 head romaine, chopped or torn into bite-size pieces
½ head radicchio, cored and chopped into bite-size pieces
Grated Parmesan cheese, to serve
Directions
1. Make the crispy chickpeas: Preheat the oven to 425°F. On a baking sheet, toss the chickpeas with a few tablespoons of olive oil, the paprika and salt until coated. Bake until the chickpeas are golden and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Make the dressing: Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, Parmesan, mustard, garlic and Worcestershire. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. If the dressing seems too thick (it should be about the texture of heavy cream), add a teaspoon of water and whisk to combine. The dressing can be made up to 1 day in advance and kept in the refrigerator.
3. Assemble the salad: In a large skillet, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the cubed bread and toss to coat in the oil. Toast until golden brown on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, season with salt and set aside.
4. In a large salad bowl, add a few spoonfuls of the dressing. Add the lettuce and radicchio and toss to coat, adding more dressing as needed. Top with the crispy chickpeas, croutons and more Parmesan cheese before serving.
557 calories
39g fat
40g carbs
15g protein
7g sugars