My New Favorite Caesar!

It's starting to heat up here, today is in the mid 90's, and it is salad time. One of my family favorites is Caesar, but a vegan Caesar? I have honestly never had one. When I purchased Alicia's book I also purchased Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source with More Than 200 Recipes for a Healthy and Sustainable You. It is vegan, though she doesn't like the label, and organized by season. I think Alicia's book is better for getting into the lifestyle of being vegan.

Clean Food has a recipe for Caesar that I tried today. I would have tried Alicia's, but I didn't have the ingredients. We also made homemade croutons. My 9 yr old son actually cut them and seasoned them. He also helped mix the dressing and chop the veggies. It's so important if you have kids to get them involved in the process. He devoured two huge bowls of salad for lunch, chatting the whole time about how easy it was to make. I highly recommend Clean Food as an additional source of yummy vegan recipes.

Caesar Salad w/homemade Croutons

Homemade Croutons

1/2 whole wheat baguette

sea salt

dried oregano

extra virgin olive oil

Cut bread into cubes and place in large bowl. Drizzle lightly with oil and toss. Lightly sprinkle with salt and oregano to taste. Spread out onto a cookie sheet. Broil on highest rack in oven for 2-3 min or until golden brown. Stir croutons and put back under the broiler for 1-2 min more. Be careful and watch, this will burn easily! Let cool completely and serve with salad.