This satisfying salad has it all—crispy, crunchy, and creamy. Instead of the traditional Cobb salad toppings (bacon, chicken, blue cheese, and hard-boiled eggs), this plant-based version has protein-rich Za’atar Roasted Chickpeas, BBQ Tempeh, and steamed quinoa. Make one large bowl of this lovely salad, or enjoy smaller individual servings!
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
2. Slice tempeh crosswise into 16 slices, and then each slice into little squares.
3. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, add the tempeh and boil for 5 minutes. Drain.
4. In a flat dish, stir together the marinade: BBQ sauce, vinegar, hot sauce, mustard, salt, and pepper. Add tempeh and toss until each piece is evenly coated with sauce.
5. Reserving as much of the sauce as you can, carefully place tempeh pieces onto the prepared baking sheet.
6. Bake for about 20–25 minutes, or until deeply caramelized and crispy. Remove from the oven, and toss tempeh again in the reserved sauce. Aim to coat each piece of tempeh before serving.
Vegan Cobb Salad
1. To prepare dressing, add cashews, water, herbs, lemon juice, tahini, date syrup, mustard, salt and garlic powder to a high-powered blender, and process until smooth. Refrigerate until time to serve.
2. To prepare salad, place a bed of fresh lettuce at the bottom of each bowl. Over the greens, arrange the other salad ingredients in clockwise fashion, in the order listed above, finishing with the tempeh in the center of the bowl.
3. Drizzle desired amount of dressing over salad(s), and serve immediately.