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  • Asparagus, Chickpea, & Kale Salad with Caper Dressing

    30 minutes

    quick-mealvegangluten-free

    A satisfyingly crisp and flavorful salad made up of kale, curried chickpeas, and sauteed asparagus with a homemade caper dressing. This salad and dressing recipe is quick and easy to make.

    Save kale, chickpea, and asparagus salad with homemade caesar-like caper dressing

    Asparagus, Chickpea, & Kale Salad with Caper Dressing

    This zesty, wholesome salad is pretty simple to make and is a great way to change up or jumpstart your salad routine. The creamy caper dressing for this salad is easy to make and vegan. Though I won’t go as far as calling this a vegan Caesar dressing, it does remind me a bit of Caesar dressing. Capers are key in this recipe and can usually be found in a small jar near artichokes and pickles in the canned goods area of the grocery store. I was using capers long before I really knew what they were. In fact, I had to research specifics again for this post. Capers are the unripened flower buds of the Capparis spinosa plant. Most often pickled, they are salty, tangy, and delicious! Sauteed asparagus sprinkled with garlic salt and chickpeas sprinkled with curry powder adds even more depth of flavor to this salad.

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    Asparagus, Chickpea, & Kale Salad with Caper Dressing

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    Yield: 2 Servings
    Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes

    A satisfyingly crisp and flavorful salad made up of kale, curried chickpeas, and sauteed asparagus with a homemade caper dressing. This salad and dressing recipe is quick and easy to make.

    Ingredients

    • For the Salad:
    • 1 bunch of Lacinato kale (dinosaur kale), 6 cups chopped and loosely packed or 4 cups massaged and packed
    • 1/2 lb. asparagus
    • 1 cup canned (or cooked) chickpeas
    • 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
    • 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
    • 1 teaspoon curry powder (I use Madras Curry Powder

    • For the Dressing:
    • 1 tablespoon capers
    • 1 tablespoon caper brine (the liquid in the jar of capers)
    • 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 clove garlic, minced
    • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

    Instructions

    1

    Heat half tablespoon of olive oil in a cast iron skillet (or skillet of choice) over medium heat.

    2

    Snap the tough ends off the asparagus, rinse, and chop into one-inch pieces. Add chopped asparagus to the hot skillet, sprinkle with a half teaspoon of garlic salt, and saute for about five minutes. Asparagus will be slightly softened, but still crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside. Keep heating the skillet.

    3

    Add the chickpeas to the hot skillet and then sprinkle with one teaspoon of curry powder, stirring to evenly coat. Saute the chickpeas for about 5 minutes and then remove from heat.

    4

    Prepare the salad dressing by combining all the ingredients in a food processor and blending until smooth.

    5

    Next, rinse and de-stem the kale and chop or tear into bite-size pieces. Spin or pat to dry, and then massage. Massaging kale is the process of scrunching and releasing handfuls of kale, repeating over and over until the kale has softened to your liking.

    6

    Assemble the salad by first drizzling the kale with dressing and tossing to coat. I use about half the dressing quantity for two salads. Top with asparagus and chickpeas.

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 1 salad
    • 325 Calories
    • 49g Carbohydrates
    • 9.5g Fat
    • 9.4g Fiber
    • 15.5g Protein
    • 5.6g Sugar
    Estimated per-serving amount

    Notes

    • The caper dressing keeps well in the refrigerator.

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