This popular vegan recipe takes the flavor of a caesar salad and puts it into a high protein sandwich.
Ingredients
- 2 (15-ounce) cans low-sodium chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 3/4 cup (180g) Caesar Dressing (recipe follows) plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt plus more to taste
- ½ cup (120g) finely diced red onion
- 16 slices bread of choice
- Optional toppings: any that you like I used cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and hemp hearts/sesame seeds
For the Caesar Dressing
- ¼ cup (60g) brine from a can of water-packed artichoke hearts
- ¼ cup (60g) fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons (30g) Dijon mustard
- 1 cup raw cashews 140g; see Note or ¾ cup sunflower seeds (112g)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt plus more to taste
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the chickpeas, dressing, and salt and mash until the dressing is evenly incorporated and the chickpeas are mashed but still have texture.
- Add the red onion and stir until mixed. Taste and add more salt, if desired.
- Depending on how salty (or not) your chickpeas were, it will affect how much salt you’ll need.
- Spread the chickpea mixture over half of the bread slices. (When assembling the sandwiches, I like to spread extra Caesar dressing on the bread like a “mayo” and as an extra boost of Caesar flavor.)
- Add any toppings you like and close the sandwiches.
For the Caesar Dressing
- In a high-powered blender, combine the artichoke brine, lemon juice, 1⁄4 cup (60g) water, the mustard, cashews, garlic powder, pepper, and salt and blend until completely smooth.
- It is a thick dressing, so you will have to scrape down the sides a couple of times to get it all to blend. Keep going until completely smooth.
- The dressing should be thick and creamy. Taste and add more salt, if desired.
If you do not have a high-powered blender (such as a Vitamix), you need to soak the cashews in a bowl of water to cover overnight. When ready to cook, drain and process in a food processor (which works better than a weak blender