If were to guess what my diet was like based on my blog postings, you’d probably graph my cheese consumption similar to cosine this week. I started out cheese heavy on Monday, delved into some sweet vegan treats on Wednesday, and then rounded my week out with a cheesy Caesar dressing. Well, you’d be wrong. My cheese consumption was more like a straight line, graphed somewhere around 85% of my diet. Okay, 85% is a little high, but I was definitely cheese heavy.
I love, love, love Caesar salads, but the unfortunate truth is that most Caesar dressings are not vegetarian as they contain anchovies. The anchovies add only a subtle flavor, though it’s very obvious when it’s missing. My solution? Soy sauce. It brings the umami flavor of anchovies without the actual fish. It does mean that you need to tone back on the added salt, so keep that in mind.
Another problem with Caesar dressing is its overall lack of nutritional value, couple with the fact that the salad you add it to is usually just croutons and extra Parmesan. I bumped up the protein by using Greek yogurt as the base. The salad pictured only has tomatoes added, but I like to throw in some kalamata olives and you could even add some warm chickpeas to round it out. If you’re feeling extra fancy, make some homemade croutons out of my olive and feta rolls.
Tagged with: Egg Free • Gluten Free • Nut Free • Soy Free • Vegetarian
[…] day, I was visiting Hidden Fruits and Veggies … and Kelly shared a recipe for homemade Caesar dressing! I coulda reached through my screen and hugged […]
This looks like a great recipe for a ceasar dressing! I love making my own dressings, usually it tastes so much better than the store-bought kind, plus you know exactly what’s in it!
I love how simple this is, yet it look so so delicious! You can never go wrong with a little parmesan cheese in a salad! 🙂 I also love the idea to use the dressing in a sandwich! That sounds delicious as too!
I’m not sure how you did it … but I was JUST going to look for a Caesar dressing recipe. Using Greek yogurt. How did you know????
I’m so excited to try this! Thanks for the awesome recipe!!
Let me know how it turns out! This is probably the first (maybe 2nd) dressing I’ve ever made, let alone developed a recipe for, so I’m extra impressed with my timing!
Nothing wrong with a little (or a lot) cheese here and there! I do love Caesar salad and I’m so happy this dressing is vegetarian!
Love your version of Caesar dressing – one of my favorites! Great idea to use soy sauce!
I love Caesar dressing, but I don’t like to use raw egg. Anchovies maybe, but no egg! I love how your version sounds with the Greek yogurt too!
I usually don’t order caesar salads because I know the dressing has anchovies which grosses me out and like you said, it isn’t vegetarian. I love your version!! It sounds so yummy and totally worth the extra cheese consumption.
I love that this is vegetarian! I find it so hard to find a good caesar dressing that doesn’t contain anchovies!
I eat a lot of salads and always like trying new dressings. This one looks great!
I had my first vegan caesar dressing recently and I think they used soy sauce as well – great substitute! Have a good weekend 🙂