Kale Caesar Salad

I think my apartment is haunted. Some of my things have been showing up in really weird places lately and last night my bathroom light turned on by itself.  I'm not kidding.  I know that you will try and talk me into thinking that I just left the light on accidentally or that maybe my cat somehow learned to flip the switch.  No way Jose.  I'm not convinced.

In my ghost-paranoid sleep I got exactly 2.3 hours of sleep.  It was a bit of a rough night.  In order to keep myself from completely freaking out I decided to stay up the rest of the night and hide out in my kitchen.  Naturally, this led to me trying to figure out what to do with a loaf of day-old bread from the local bakery that was too amazing to toss out. What else can you do with day-old bread at 4 am than make warm, toasty croutons fresh from the oven?  These disappeared a little too quickly for my comfort, but luckily that was my fault and nothing paranormal.

So, my apartment is haunted.  And I learned to make croutons.  What is new in your world?

I've been on a big raw kick lately.  Lots of raw vegetables, raw salads, and raw salad dressings.  I was  excited this week at the prospect of making a raw kale caesar salad.  But then I decided that nothing could make a kale caesar salad better than fresh croutons.  Of course these croutons entirely defeated the purpose of making the salad dressing raw, but who am I to say what's what.  So, have your raw kale salad and eat your croutons too. 

Raw Caesar Dressing
Yield: 1 cup of dressing
Adapted from Choosing Raw

3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked several hours or overnight
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
juice from 2 lemons
1 pitted Medjool date
2 large stalks celery

2 - 3 raw garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kelp granules (optional)
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Soak the raw cashews in plain water for several hours or overnight.  Drain water.  Add cashews to a food process or blender.  Add the additional ingredients and process/blend until smooth.  Add more water if necessary depending on desired consistency. 

Croutons

Inspired by Good Life Eats

2 cups bread cubes from day-old bread

2 teaspoons olive oil 

1/4 teaspoon dried or fresh thyme

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Brush with olive oil.  Sprinkle with thyme and garlic powder.  Toast bread for 5 minutes.  Flip croutons and toast for an additional 3 minutes.  

Note: your bread may require more or less cooking time depending on how old it is.  

Kale Caesar Salad

Serves 4

1 bunch of green curly kale, stems removed, torn into pieces

Raw Caesar dressing 

Croutons

Coarse black pepper to taste

Add 1/4 cup of dressing onto kale.  Massage dressing onto kale with your hands.  (This will help to soften the kale and keep it from being tough.) Add more dressing if desired.  (Note: there will be extra dressing left over.  Reserve this for additional salads.)  Top with croutons and serve.