I’m thrilled to introduce my friend and fellow plant eater, Cindy Ford of Silly Little Vegan as this month’s guest blogger! Cindy and I connected last year on Facebook and became quick friends after meeting in person this past summer in New York City. She’s seriously one of my favorite people. Even though we live almost all the way across the United States from each other, we’ve stayed in close contact since our in-person meet up and have been scheming on our next vegan crusade! Cindy is a wife and mother of two adorable young girls, works part-time (at a raw vegan restaurant!) and still has time to create delicious food for her family to enjoy. After following Cindy’s blog and social media posts for many months, I’m in total awe and inspiration. I often wonder how she has the time to do it all, but somehow she does! I just know you’ll thoroughly enjoy the recipe below. It’s easy, delicious, nutritious and vegan of course. Give it up for Cindy (aka Miss Silly Little Vegan)!
Yeehaw, Kayle xo
Everyone should have one great go-to salad recipe. For my family, that would be our Vegan Caesar Salad. We eat it several times a week, and we also bring it along to any potlucks that we are invited to. The fun thing about serving this salad at gatherings is that it’s typically the first dish that’s finished. This happens at both vegan and non-vegan outings. How about that for a great salad?
A traditional Caesar salad is made with egg yolks and anchovies, but this recipe bypasses those ingredients and creates a rich briny flavor with the use of vegan Worcestershire sauce. The creaminess comes from the parmesan which is made from cashews that are crumbled in a blender. This entire dish is extremely easy to make and can be put together in less than ten minutes.
The ingredients to make Vegan Caesar salad dressing are relatively available at most stores. If you cannot find a store that carries vegan Worcestershire sauce near you, it can be ordered directly from Amazon for about four bucks.
Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing
Dressing Ingredients
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon vegan Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3-4 grinds of fresh ground pepper
Salad Ingredients
2 heads romaine lettuce chopped
1/4 cup vegan parmesan (recipe below)
sliced onions
black olives
Preparation
Pour all dressing ingredients in a glass jar with a lid. Shake to mix. Drizzle dressing over the romaine lettuce. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup of parmesan over the salad, and mix well. Dress the salad with onions and black olives. When serving, add a touch more parmesan to each bowl. Enjoy!
Vegan Parmesan
Vegan parmesan is one of my all-time favorite recipes! It’s quick and easy to make, and all of the ingredients come directly from the pantry. Think parmesan in a can, only better. This recipe will satisfy your desire for something rich, fatty, and salty while still being healthy. It’s gluten-free and made from whole foods and can be made in under a minute. Use it on pizzas, pastas, garlic bread, and, of course, salads!
Ingredients
1 cup raw cashews
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation
Place all of the ingredients in a blender. Pulse blender until there are no whole pieces of cashews, and it is crumbly in texture. Do not over blend. You do not want cashew butter. This can be used immediately. Store any unused parmesan in a glass container in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks. Enjoy!!!
Cindy Ford is the creator of the blog, Silly Little Vegan. She is a veg parent of two, a home cook, and a health and wellness enthusiast and enjoys writing about all things vegan. She was born and raised in Chicago, the daughter of a Taiwanese mother. Cindy grew up eating a combination of traditional Chinese dishes and classic Midwestern food which has inspired her to never shy away from incorporating all kinds of ingredients and flavors in her own dishes. Her love of animals led her to a B.S. in Zoology and a M.S. in Entomology, but her studies revealed a deeper understanding of how humans exploit all living creatures. Her hope is to inspire people to live compassionately one meal at a time.
You can follow Silly Little Vegan on all the social media sites as well as on her blog. Stop on by and tell her that the cowgirl sent ya. Yeehaw!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sillylittlevegan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SillyLilVegan
Instagram: http://instagram.com/sillylittlevegan
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sillylittlevegn/
very cool! looks delicious!
Thanks Jessica! I hope you try it.
YAY!!!… Thanks so much for allowing me to contribute to your site!… Love ya!
You bet! So so happy to have Silly Little Vegan here on my site! XooX & yeehaw!
This looks wonderful, I must make it for hubby soon! Thanks!
Indeed! Let me know how you like it. Take a pic and share if you’d like! <3
Great work. TY for sharing.
Mmm mmm. Love all of Cindy’s food and this looks as easy as delish!
I too love all of Cindy’s creations! Wish she and I lived closer so that I could share meals with her more often!
This looks great. Always looking for a good vegan Caesar salad recipe. I might add some dulce flakes to give it a “fishy” taste.