Vegan Broccoli Caesar Salad with Smokey Tempeh + Crispy Chickpeas

For a vegetarian, I don’t like salads all that much.

At least not in the traditional sense. I am not a huge fan of many leafy greens, other than kale and I’m the kind of person who finds myself starving an hour after eating the typical salad. But this is not your typical salad.

This salad has broccoli, cabbage, carrots, onions, tempeh, chickpeas and sunflower seeds! No leafy greens here. 

Now, you could use store bought caesar dressing if you prefer, but I promise this one is easy, vegan and only requires a blender and a few ingredients you probably have on hand.

All you have to do ahead of time is marinate your tempeh and soak your cashews (if you do this step) and the rest of this recipe is easy peasy. 

Cook your tempeh on the stove, roast or airfry your chickpeas, blend your dressing and chop up all your salad ingredients and combine it all together. You have a delicious side dish or a full meal. This salad will have you liking salads again!

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Vegan Broccoli Caesar Salad with Smokey Tempeh + Crispy Chickpeas

Yield: 2-4 salads

Author: Cristen's Creations

A crunchy take on a caesar salad for those times when you're not feeling leafy greens.

Ingredients:

Base

• 3-4 small heads of broccoli shredded or finely chopped
• 1/2 small head of cabbage shredded
• 2 carrots shredded
• 1/2 large red onion
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds shelled

Caesar Dressing

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup raw cashews soaked
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp capers
• 1.5 lemons juice
• 1 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp (optional) parmesan leave out if you want it to be vegan

Tempeh

• 1 block tempeh
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (or coconut aminos or tamari if GF)
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp Trader Joe's Mushroom Umami seasoning (optional)
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp sriracha or hot sauce of choice
• 3 cloves garlic

Crispy Chickpeas

• 1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute or any other spice blend of choice
• 1/4 tbsp cayenne

Instructions:

Tempeh

1. **2 hours ahead or overnight: slice tempeh length wise and then cut into cubes of whatever size you prefer. Add all ingredients for your marinade to a container, except the garlic. Add tempeh and marinate in the fridge for as long as you can.
2. Cook tempeh with all the juices from the marinade in a shallow pan on medium until all the juices are absorbed and your tempeh is golden brown in color.

Dressing

1. **2 hours ahead or overnight: Soak cashews in water and keep in the fridge. This is an optional step, but makes it easier on your blender if you do not have a high speed one.
2. Drain cashews and to a blender with the rest of the ingredients. Thin out with water to your preference.

Chickpeas

1. Drain and rinse chickpeas. Toss with oil and spices and place in the air fryer or oven at 400 for 20 minutes or until crispy. Toss about halfway through. Allow to cool - they won't be totally crispy until they cool all the way.

Salad

1. Chop broccoli, carrots, onion and cabbage to your preference (I did mine very thin, almost shredded). Add to a large bowl.
2. Add dressing to the mix, tossing to combine and allowing to sit for about 30 minutes before serving.
3. Top with chickpeas, tempeh and sunflower seeds.

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