Caesar Salad (Vegan Style)

Does anyone else find it easy to slip into boring salad mode? During the entire month of December, I was totally there. For awhile my favorite salad was romaine, diced apples, chicken, and pecans with maple vinaigrette. For two weeks straight. Then it was back to the canned tuna, spinach, chickpeas, and avocado with ginger dressing. And so it goes.

The more love I put into making a flavorful salad, the more I want to eat salad, and the better I feel since I'm eating salad every day. Crazy how that works. I've made a pact to make one new and exciting salad a week. I found the recipe for this salad on The Gardener's Cottage, a blog my mom introduced me to and which I am now a devoted subscriber.

Caesar Salad Vegan Style
from The Gardener's Cottage

Dressing:
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup water (use a little less for thicker dressing)
2 small or 1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
2 tsp whole grain Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt

Salad:
6 oz romaine
15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 avocado, diced
Fresh black pepper, to taste

Any other topping you'd like, such as vegan bacon, croutons, or tomato