Rule #102: A little love goes a long way.
This easy salad has been on serious repeat over at our little casa! The trick to this Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad with Roasted Chickpeas is oh-so-simple: give it a little love. And by that, I mean a little lemon love! Massage some lemon juice into the kale leaves and let it rest for a bit. This little act of love will take away that bite that good ole kale sometimes has. Pair that with these amazing roasted chickpeas, and you’ve got one helluvah salad!
Roasted Chickpeas
So, first things first, we roast our little chickpeas. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas (their fancier, high-fallootin’ name is Garbanzo beans). Then, thoroughly dry the chickpeas on a paper towel. Getting them bone dry will yield the best texture when we roast ’em later!
Now, combine your dried chickpeas with some olive oil, lemon zest, garlic powder, and salt ‘n peppa.
Roast at 375 for about 45 minutes, until your chickpea friends are nice and crunchy. Set these bad boys aside until later. BONUS: these guys last for about a week, covered, in the fridge.
Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad
And now, we make ze salad. I really like the combo of the kale and romaine lettuces in this salad. It makes for a really great texture with a ton of good ole vitamins for your good little body.
Like I said before, the secret to this salad is this little act of love. Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon all over your lettuce.
Using tongs, toss and massage the lettuce so the lemon juice gets evenly distributed. Then, let it rest for about 10 minutes to kind of “cook” the kale.
Now, we talk salad dressing. You can always make your own (here’s a great recipe), or you can buy yours. We’ve used Marie’s Caesar in the past, but recently we got into this Caesar Yogurt Dressing that has far less fat and calories than traditional Caesar dressing. It tastes great, too!
So, now we pour in a little Caesar dressing (a little goes a long way). Massage the dressing into the lettuce and let sit another 5 minutes.
Next, we add the King of Cheeses: Parmesan. Sprinkle on a bit and give ‘er a toss.
Now, you add in the piece de resistance: the Roasted Chickpeas. Add as many or as few as you’d like. I usually just grab a biggo handful and make it rain crunchy, lemony chickpea goodness. We love to have our Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad with Italian Meatballs, Lemony Boiled Shrimp, Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Meatballs, and Roasted Chicken with Goat Cheese and Lemon.
Kale and Romaine Caesar Salad with Roasted Chickpeas
Ingredients
Roasted Chickpeas
- 1 15.5-oz. can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, and dried
- 1 tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
- Pinch garlic powder
- Pinch Kosher salt
- Pinch black pepper
- Zest of 1 lemon
Caesar Salad
- 2 cups kale leaves
- 2 cups Romaine lettuce
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup Caesar dressing we love Bolthouse Farms Caesar – low calories and low fat
- 2 tbs. shredded Parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375. Make sure the chickpeas are thoroughly dried before you roast them; this is how they get that amazing texture! Combine all ingredients for roasted chickpeas in a shallow oven-safe dish. Roast at 375 for 45 minutes, until chickpeas are crunchy. Set aside.
- Place kale leaves and Romaine lettuce in a large serving bowl and drizzle lemon juice all over. Massage salad with tongs to evenly distribute the lemon juice. Let sit for 10 minutes. Add Caesar dressing. Toss to combine and let rest another 5 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan and roasted chickpeas (as many as you’d like) all over. Serve immediately.
- Roasted chickpeas will last in the refrigerator, covered, for about a week.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary, and Pineapple House Rules makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.