CREAMY NORI SUNFLOWER DRESSING

This is creamy rich dressing - based on a Caesar dressing, it’ll liven up a simple gem salad, or use it to create more of a main meal bowl.

The recipe makes a good amount of dressing, and it will keep well so you can use it throughout the week. If you have extra of the breadcrumbs and the crispy chickpeas they also keep for a few days and are quite versatile so if you’re making for fewer people, I would make the same amounts and keep for another meal. They both add great texture, and extra flavour.  

This baby gem salad is a fun green side salad, but add in a heartier leaf like kale, another veg,  a grain, and some beans and you have a main salad. One that you can easily prep in advance and pack for lunch too. 

I usually have precooked beans and grains in the fridge, or even make a bigger batch and freeze them. They’re so easy to double up on and so good to have to hand when you need a quick meal. Same as having a prepped dressing in the fridge, it’ll make it easy to create something really tasty really quickly if you have pre-prepped / cooked items in your fridge. I do this with nuts and seeds as well, always having some toasted and ready to add to whatever I’m making. 

I love the nori pieces in the salad, as well as in the dressing so if you can, don’t skip it. Seaweed is an amazing food to be eating more of. High in fibre and minerals, different seaweeds offer different benefits, but they also play an important part in regenerative aquaculture. If you’re interested in this at all, a  really fun but informative read and a good place to start is ‘Eat Like a Fish’ by Bren Smith. 

SUNFLOWER DRESSING

makes about 400g

50g sunflower seeds

5g garlic 

25g Lemon juice

30g apple cider vinegar 

15g dijon 

15g caper 

 1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

15g nutritional yeast

1 nori sheets, lightly toasted * 

75g olive oil 

175g water 

To make the dressing, place all the ingredients in a high speed blender and blend for a minute until smooth. 

SUNFLOWER AND TOASTED BREADCRUMBS

enough for 4 baby gem salads

50g sunflower, toasted

60g bread (this was 1 slice)

5g nutritional yeast

1 clove garlic, grated

Zest 1 Lemon

Pinch of salt and pepper

For the breadcrumbs, toast your seeds on low heat in a large pan until they start to pop. Remove from the pan and let them cool. Keeping the pan for the breadcrumbs.

Blitz your bread in a food processor until you have a rough crumb. Heat the frying pan, add oil, then the breadcrumbs and toast on medium low heat for about 15 minutes until crispy then grate in the garlic, give it a good mix and cook for another couple of minutes then add the lemon zest. While the bread is toasting, blitz the seeds in the food processor until you have a rough crumb. When the breadcrumbs are ready, in a medium bowl, mix through with the seeds, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Ready to serve straight away or store in a jar or airtight container for up to a week. 

CRISPY CHICKPEAS 

230g cooked chickpeas /   1  400g tin drained 

1 tbsp rapeseed oil 

½ tsp garlic granules 

½ tsp onion granules 

½ chilli powder

½ himalayan pink salt 

1 small clove garlic, grated

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan - I love this brand, Gondino 

Pre heat the oven 200c. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. 

Mix the top five ingredients with the chickpeas and transfer to a baking tray. 

Roast for  30 minutes or until crispy. Remove from the oven and while the chickpeas are still hot transfer to a mixing bowl with the grated garlic and nutritional yeast or parmesan and mix well. 

For the salad  : BABY GEM SALAD WITH CRISPY CHICKPEAS

Serves 4 as a side dish 

2 baby gem

30g breadcrumb 

40g crispy chickpea 

2 nori sheet toasted & torn into cm-ish pieces

30-40g dressing - depending on how heavily dressed you’d like it

To make the salad. Prepare the leaves by washing, cutting the ends and separating the leaves. Mix in a large mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients until the leaves are well coated. 

*To toast the nori sheets, using tongs briefly wave the nori sheets over an open flame. If you don’t have an 

open flame you could put these in the oven, on an oiled baking tray or line with baking parchment at 190c 3-4 minutes.