Healthier Caesar Salad with Healthy Caesar Vinaigrette

Today’s recipe is a simple one, but gives you an idea on how to make salad a healthy component of your dinner.  The classic caesar salad can be a healthy salad choice, as long as you don’t douse it with tons of fatty caesar dressing, and add the cheese and croutons sparingly.  So I took the classic caesar salad and made some adjustments, as well as a light caesar vinaigrette recipe, to give you a healthier caesar salad option!

Sometimes people think ordering a salad at a restaurant is a healthier option while dining out.  It can be….if you do it right.  However, if you order a salad straight off the menu, with tons of cheese, bacon and dressing, you probably would be better off just ordering a hamburger.  Don’t believe me?  Then click HERE to see!

Okay now that I have blown some of your minds, lets get healthy!  I lightened up the classic caesar dressing for this salad, since that’s where the bulk of the calories come from in a caesar salad.  Yes, my vinaigrette is not as creamy as the classic version, but healthier is what we are going for, remember?

To amp up the healthiness even more for this salad, I added Barlean’s Digestive Seed Blend on top of the salad.  You just sprinkle the seed blend on top!  Barlean’s sent me their Digestive Blend to try, as part of #RecipeMakeover.  The Digestive Blend has Omega-3’s, dietary fiber, antioxidants, probiotics and protein to help support digestive health and fuel your body!  Barlean’s makes being healthy easy!  If you want to try out Barlean’s Click HERE.  This is an easy way to sneak in nutrients to your kids’ diet, without them really noticing!

The lighter caesar vinaigrette is easy to mix up, and can be made ahead of time.  As an added bonus, there aren’t any raw eggs or dairy in this dressing!  To keep the dressing dairy free I used nutritional yeast in place of the finely grated parmesan cheese normally used in caesar dressing.  Nutritional yeast is dairy free, has several health benefits and acts as a thickener, with a rich, cheesy-type taste.  You can also just use parmesan cheese too 🙂

And croutons of course!  These are my favorite brand and type of crouton for this Caesar Salad…but you use whatever you like!

Just a drizzle of vinaigrette is all you need!

Do you see the Barlean’s Digestive Blend I sprinkled on top there??  Added health benefits that you can sneak in…my 10-year old didn’t even notice 🙂

So what is your favorite kind of salad??  Favorite kind of salad dressing??  Let me know!

And don’t forget to go check out Barlean’s!  You can follow them on Facebook and Pinterest for ideas on how to use their healthy products!  Barlean’s provided me with their Digestive Blend to incorporate in a recipe for #RecipeMakeover.  All thoughts, recipes and opinions are mine!

XOXO,

Kelly

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PS….I have linked this recipe up to the MEAL PLAN MONDAY link party!  Click the link to check out the party 🙂