To celebrate Spring, we invited culinary experts across the country to share their favorite salad recipes for the season. Whether you’re looking for a fruit-forward salad to serve as a side or a veg-heavy powerhouse that’s an ideal main, these five options from Scouted chefs are bright, fresh, and exactly what we’re craving right now.

For a more Spring Salad recipes, read more at www.thescoutguide.com

Photo: Carolina Smith

Vegan Kale Caesar

“This salad is a nutritional powerhouse! Dark leafy-green kale, healthy fats from avocado, hemp seed, and olive oil, over 12 grams of protein from the chickpeas and tahini, and the nutritional yeast adds a boost of B vitamins,” Robyn Knowlan Cronin co-founder of Wonder Press in Denver and Boulder, explains. “The real star however is the homemade Caesar dressing. It’s so addictive we keep extra in our fridge to use as a dip.”

Yields 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

For the vegan caesar dressing

½ cup olive oil

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup tahini

¼ cup water

4 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

For the spiced chickpeas

1 15 ounce can of chickpeas

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

For the croutons

4 slices of bread

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced

½ teaspoon salt

For the salad

1 large head romaine

1 bunch kale (Lacinato, green or purple)

2 avocados

4 tablespoons hemp seeds (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

For the vegan caesar dressing

Place olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, water, garlic, mustard, nutritional yeast, pepper and salt in a blender and blend on high for one minute until creamy and smooth. Dressing will keep in the fridge for three weeks.

For the spiced chickpeas

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Drain and rinse chickpeas. Mix chickpeas, olive oil, paprika, cumin and salt together by hand in a bowl. Spread seasoned chickpeas out over a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring once after the first 10 minutes. Allow chickpeas to cool before adding to the salad. Roasted chickpeas will keep in the fridge for two weeks.

For the croutons

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Cut bread into ¾ inch cubes. Place bread cubes in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle bread with garlic and salt and mix together by hand. Spread seasoned bread out over parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes. Store croutons in an airtight container for up to two weeks. (Tip: this is a great opportunity to use up old bread that may be getting stale.) 

For the salad

Wash and dry romaine and kale leaves, chop into ½ inch strips. Wash avocados, cut in half and remove the pit. Spread hemp seeds out on a small plate and press each half avocado into the hemp seeds to coat the face of the avocado. Sprinkle seeds into the center of each avocado half to fully coat the avocado. In a large bowl, toss romaine and kale in approximately 12 ounces of the dressing and divide it on to four plates. Sprinkle spiced chickpeas and croutons, to taste, over the four plates and add one half avocado to each salad. Serve immediately with extra dressing on the side.

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