Vegan Caesar Dressing

Valentine's Day. As predicted, my office was a triage center for adolescent emotion. One girl cried because a boy didn't give her a card. One boy cried because a girl gave his card back. One kid ate eleven conversation hearts and threw up in the hallway. Wednesday was better. Thursday was normal. By Friday, Valentine's Day was forgotten and replaced by the eternal middle school question: what's for lunch?

Marcus received a Valentine from a girl named Destiny (not my Destiny from Set the Table — a different Destiny; Atlanta has approximately four hundred girls named Destiny). He showed it to me with the specific combination of pride and horror that only a thirteen-year-old boy receiving romantic attention can produce. He said, "She wrote 'you're cute.'" I said, "You are cute." He said, "MOM." He said "Mom" the way teenagers say it — one syllable, seventeen emotions, the word both a greeting and a restraining order. I backed off. He kept the Valentine. I noticed.

Jasmine made Valentines for everyone — her class, her choir, me, Marcus (who received his begrudgingly), Curtis (who will receive his Saturday and will put it on the refrigerator next to all the other art she's given him, because that refrigerator is a gallery of Jasmine's love). She made me a special one: a heart cut from red construction paper with the words "Mama, you are my kitchen." I don't know what that means, exactly. I know what it means, exactly. It means everything.

Cooked a Valentine's dinner for the three of us: shrimp scampi with garlic bread and a Caesar salad. Not Southern. Not Mama's. Something I saw in a magazine and wanted to try because the woman in the magazine was smiling and the shrimp looked like jewels and I thought: why not? Why not cook something beautiful on a Tuesday night for no reason other than the food deserves to be beautiful and my kids deserve to see me make something just because I wanted to? The shrimp were buttery and garlicky and the bread was crisp and the salad was cold and the table was set with the good plates and I lit a candle and Marcus said, "Are we being fancy?" I said, "We are always fancy."

That Caesar salad was not an afterthought — it was the cold, crisp contrast that made the whole table feel balanced, the thing that said this is a real dinner and not just shrimp over pasta. I’ve been making this vegan Caesar dressing for a couple of years now, ever since I realized I could get all that sharp, garlicky depth without the anchovies, and it has never once let me down. On a Tuesday night when I wanted my kids to see me choose beauty on purpose, this was the dressing I reached for.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 2 hours and drained
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon capers, drained
1 teaspoon caper brine
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
3–5 tablespoons water, to thin
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Instructions

Soak the cashews. Place raw cashews in a bowl, cover with cold water, and soak for at least 2 hours (or up to overnight). Drain and rinse well before using. For a quick soak, cover with boiling water and soak for 20 minutes, then drain.
Blend the base. Add the drained cashews, lemon juice, olive oil, capers, caper brine, garlic, Dijon mustard, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to a high-speed blender.
Add water and blend. Start with 3 tablespoons of water and blend on high until completely smooth and creamy, about 60 seconds. Scrape down the sides as needed. Add additional water one tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency — thicker for a dip or dressing dolloped on wedge salads, thinner for tossing.
Taste and adjust. Taste the dressing and adjust seasoning as needed — more lemon for brightness, more salt for depth, more garlic if you want it bolder. The flavor will mellow slightly once it’s on cold romaine.
Chill and serve. Transfer to a jar or sealed container and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before serving to let the flavors come together. Toss with chopped romaine, croutons, and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan. Dressing keeps in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Nutrition (per serving)

Vegan Caesar Dressing — The Salad That Made Our Tuesday Feel Like a Celebration