kale and romaine caesar
ft. crispy chickpeas and "parm"
Welcome to mamaeats, a twice-weekly newsletter (Tues. & Sat.) inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. I’m a mother of three, avid reader, gardener, and home cook who focuses on nourishing, whole food meals focused on plants. This newsletter is my labor of love, and it means so much that you are here—thank you for reading. If you are not already, and are able to do so, please consider becoming a subscriber to support my work. This enables me to keep writing for you, and gives you access to all the archives and recipes (find the recipe index here), as well as cook-along videos which come with most recipes.
Today I’m resurrecting a recipe from the archives to share with you— a kale and romaine caesar salad, which has been a household staple for many years. If you have been with me a long time, you will know this salad! We make it regularly at home and also bring it with us to dinner parties, potlucks, picnics, and packed in lunches. It’s always a hit no matter the audience. It is half deep green kale, half light and crunchy romaine with a very creamy tahini caesar dressing and satisfying crunch coming from the roasted chickpeas. It packs in quite a bit of fiber, nutrients, and healthy fats while also being absolutely delicious to eat. We often have this as a side for pizza on Friday nights, (roast the chickpeas along with the pizza) and it’s equally at home with a nice plate of simple spaghetti, or just with toasted garlicky bread (split baguette down the middle, broil, rub with garlic clove, drizzle with a little olive oil and flaky salt).
kale + romaine caesar with crispy chickpeas
notes: I much prefer traditional tahini to the type you find in health food stores, such as Artisana. I buy Sadaf brand from my local Middle Eastern fruit stand, which is very smooth and runny, with a pleasant toasty flavor. The nutty parm is essential here, do not skip it. It only takes a few minutes to make, and will make extra to keep in the fridge- it lasts ages in there, and goes great on just about anything savory. You can, of course, add croutons to this instead of, or in addition to, the chickpeas. Just cube or tear the bread and treat it the same as the chickpeas- tossed with oil and salt and roasted.
for the chickpeas:
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 tbsp olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt, to tastefor the dressing:
1/3 cup tahini
3 tbsp capers, drained and chopped
zest of a lemon + 1/4 cup of lemon juice
1/4 cup water
3 cloves garlic, crushed to a fine paste with 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp dijon mustard
salt + freshly cracked black pepperfor the salad:
one bunch tuscan kale
one medium head romaine lettuce
crumbly parm, recipe below
Preheat the oven to 400f / 200c. Drain, rinse, and pat dry the chickpeas to ensure maximum crispiness. On a large baking sheet, toss the chickpeas with the garlic powder, oil, and salt. When oven has preheated, put in the chickpeas and roast for 15-20 minutes, until crisp.
At this point, make the parm if you don’t have it already on hand (see recipe below).
In the bottom of a large bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Taste and adjust as needed with more water, lemon juice, salt, or pepper. It should be on the strong side- remember, we are going to toss this with lots of unseasoned greens.
Chop the kale into thin strips or ribbons (I leave the stems in for ease, less waste, and extra crunch) and add to the bowl, tossing with the dressing until well coated. Roughly chop or tear the romaine and add that in too, tossing again to coat.
Take the chickpeas out of the oven and add them on top of the salad. Sprinkle liberally with the parm and serve.
crumbly “parm”
notes: this crumbly, nut based parmesan is an excellent salty garnish for pizza, pasta, soups, roasted veggies, salads. I almost never make this recipe verbatim. I use whatever nut/seed combo I happen to have on hand. Literally everything works (except chia and flax). The onion/garlic powder is not strictly necessary but it does add deeper flavor.
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup raw cashews (or walnuts)
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (or hemp seeds or pine nuts)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2-3 tsp salt**
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
** You want it to be salty- just like real parmesan is quite salty. This is meant as a garnish and not eaten on its own. As all salt varies in how salty it tastes, start with the smaller amount and adjust from there.
Place all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks fine,
but still crumbly. Don’t over-process or leave the processor running because the nuts will turn into butter if you do. Transfer to an airtight container, such as a jar, and store in the fridge. It will last for months.
For paid subscribers, here is a cook along video for the caesar salad. Thank you for subscribing! xx A