Avocado Caesar Salad

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Avocado Caesar Salad is made with a lemony, tahini caesar dressing. It's full of crunchy fresh veggies, creamy avocados and a delicious pita crunch! Trust me, this will be on a regular rotation it's one of the BEST salads I have ever had. Hearty, garlicky and all around addictive.

Prep Time20

Total Time20

Course: lunch, Salad

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings:

Author: Bailey Rhatigan

Equipment

baking sheet
food processor

Ingredients

Crunchy Pita Crumbles

1 pita bread, roughly torn
¼ cup walnuts or almonds
1 tsp olive oil

Lemony Tahini Caesar Dressing

¼ cup tahini *well stirred
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup parmesan, grated or pecorino
1½ Tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1-2 tsp anchovy paste capers will also work
4 Tbsp water *more if needed to thin the dressing
½ tsp salt & pepper

Caesar Salad

1 15 oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
8 cups green leaf lettuce, chopped
1 medium avocado, cubed
4 radishes, thinly sliced
4-5 pitted dates, diced
extra parmesan for garnish optional

Instructions

Crispy Pita Bread Crumbs

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a sheet pan with foil or parchment paper.
In a food processor combine pita, walnuts, and 1 tsp. olive oil. Pulse until the mixture is coarse and crumbled together a bit. Spread the pita mix over prepared pan.
Bake until crispy and lightly browned, 7-8 minutes. Set the crumbs aside to cool.

Lemon Tahini Caesar Dressing

In a small food processor or in the same food processor used for the breadcrumbs add the tahini, olive oil, parmesan, lemon juice, water, garlic, anchovy paste, salt and pepper.
Blitz the dressing until it's well blended together, if you want to thin it out a bit add 1-2 more Tbsp of water. If for some reason it's too thin, you can add 1-2 more Tbsp of tahini.

Caesar Salad

In a large salad bowl, add the lettuce, garbanzo beans, avocado, radish, dates and half of the breadcrumbs. Add 3/4 ths of the dressing, mix well.
Top with the rest of the breadcrumbs and more dressing if desired, garnish with parmesan (optional)

Notes

Toast the pita and nuts well for extra crunch. I like mine a little more browned for extra crisp.
Make sure you wait to add the breadcrumbs until just before serving! This will keep them crunchy.
Taste the dressing before serving. You may want a little more anchovy or fresh lemon (or lime).
Add more water to the lemon caesar tahini dressing if you want it a bit more thin and spreadable. Just add 1-2 Tbsp at a time.
This salad is best served fresh! If you have leftover they can be stred in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.

Nutrition