Caesar Salad with Zuchovy

Serves 4

At Sadhana Kitchen, when we spiralise zucchini to make our Zoodles or zucchini ‘pastas’, we use the left-over zucchini cores to make a dried ‘zucchini anchovy’ — or ‘zuchovy’, as we like to call it — to sprinkle over our caesar salads. (The ‘anchovy’ component is actually dulse, a red seaweed that tastes of the sea.)

This amazing salad is creamy, filling and a meal in its own right. If you know anyone who doesn’t eat salad, give them this and they might just change their mind.

Zuchovy

130 g (4½ oz/1 cup) zucchini (courgette) cores, left-over after spiralising zucchini, chopped into 5 cm (2 inch) pieces

1 tablespoon cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon caper brine

1 tablespoon dill tips

1 teaspoon dulse flakes

1 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt or Celtic sea salt

Dressing

80 g (2¾ oz/½ cup) activated cashew nuts

3 tablespoons pine nuts

4 tablespoons lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, peeled

2 teaspoons brown rice miso paste

½ teaspoon dulse flakes

2 tablespoons chopped dill

2 large medjool dates, pitted

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) filtered alkaline water

Salad

200 g (7 oz/4 cups) shredded cos (romaine) lettuce

140 g (5 oz/2 cups) shredded kale

To serve

3 tablespoons pine nuts

• Toss all the zuchovy ingredients together in a bowl and leave to marinate for 20 minutes.
• Place the zuchovy ingredients on a dehydrator tray lined with a non-stick sheet and dehydrate at 40°C (105°F) for 4 hours. (If you don’t have a dehydrator, place the zuchovy on a baking tray lined with a non-stick sheet and leave in the oven on its lowest setting, with the door slightly ajar, for 15 minutes.)
• When the zuchovy is done, blend all the dressing ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth. Pour into a large mixing bowl. Add the lettuce and kale and massage together until thoroughly covered with the dressing.
• Divide the mixture among four bowls. Top with the zuchovy and pine nuts and serve.

tipA spiraliser is a handy kitchen gadget that cuts fruit and vegetables into long ‘noodles’ or pasta shapes. Depending on the blades you attach, your pasta can be tubular like spaghetti, or flat like fettuccine. They are fairly inexpensive and great for achieving a variety of textures in your dishes, making raw pasta and noodle dishes very quick and easy to prepare.