🔧 SOS-free teaching suggestions — adaptation not tested · 🥣 Optional miso variation available · 🌐 External recipe · 🆓 Free to view, no account (an email signup to save the recipe is optional) · 📅 Checked October 4, 2026
👩🍳 Creator and host: Chef AJ, on ChefAJ.com
🍽️ Dressing, dip, or sauce · ⏱️ about 5 minutes plus chilling · 🔌 blender · 🥄 no-cook · ⚠️ tree nut (cashew), mustard, soy if using soy miso
🌿 Our description: A creamy, tangy Caesar built on blended hemp seeds and a few cashews instead of oil, brightened with lots of lemon and savory nutritional yeast. Chef AJ suggests it on romaine, massaged into shredded cabbage, or over potatoes.
🔄 Make It the Kitchen Monk Way
Chef AJ’s version is already oil-free. Under Kitchen Monk’s stricter standard, four ingredients add salt or a refined sweetener. Here’s our strict salt-free version first:
| In the original | Kitchen Monk suggestion | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Low-sodium miso | Leave out; add 1 extra tablespoon nutritional yeast (choose one with no added salt) and 1 small garlic clove | Suggestion, not tested |
| Dijon mustard | About 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder plus 2 teaspoons unsalted vinegar | Suggestion, not tested |
| Maple syrup | 1 small soft pitted date, blended in, or leave out | Taste and adjust |
| Low-sodium coconut aminos | Leave out, or a splash of unsalted rice vinegar | Suggestion, not tested |
| Hemp seeds and cashews | Keep: whole plant fats that fit our standard. For nut-free, Chef AJ’s own tip is to swap the cashews for more hemp seeds | As written |
🥣 Optional miso variation — contains added salt; not strictly SOS-free. Keep Chef AJ’s 1 tablespoon of low-sodium miso if you prefer, and still make the other swaps. Low-sodium miso still contains added salt, and most miso is soy (chickpea miso is a soy-free option). Skip it on a sodium-restricted plan. About miso →
📊 Nutrition: not yet calculated for our version. These changes alter sodium, sugars, and flavor, so we will only post numbers once we’ve measured our own version. Yield and time stay about the same.
🧑🏫 What this recipe teaches: creamy dressings don’t need oil. Blended seeds and nuts carry the richness, and lemon does the bright work salt usually does. Learn the method →
🔖 Filter codes: ingredient-hemp-seeds ingredient-cashews ingredient-lemon meal-sauce-dressing nocook time-under-20-min equip-blender creator-chef-aj host-chefaj sos-teaching-suggestions miso-variation external free-no-account
Recipe, photos, and instructions belong to Chef AJ and stay on ChefAJ.com; we link to them and describe the dish in our own words. Our suggestions are Kitchen Monk’s own, independent of Chef AJ, who has not reviewed or endorsed them, and they have not been kitchen-tested yet. Educational only, not medical advice. Report a broken link or correction: rfjeep@gmail.com.
