Without eggs or mayo, without anchovies and without Worcestershire, is it still Caesar? Some purists may disagree but I—who love a good Caesar salad—am all but taken with this latest discovery of mine, a non-Caesar Caesar.

When my friend Samantha first gave me the Thug Kitchen cookbook I read through it four times before realizing there wasn’t a single recipe with meat. Or eggs, let alone anchovies. It was a vegan cookbook and for a while it hung out at the end of my cookbook shelf where Italian cookbooks line up next to other Italian cookbooks, Caribbean and Middle Eastern books with other Caribbean and Middle Eastern, respectively. It was a loner because, I haven’t been the most open-minded when it comes to vegetarianism and veganism. I love my meat and dairy, but after cooking a few recipes from Thug Kitchen I began to shift my perspective.

Having a vegan cookbook didn’t make me a vegan and cooking recipes from it didn’t mean I no longer ate meat—the food was just food that I enjoyed regardless of where it came from. It wasn’t a substitute for anything else, just something else to add to the repertoire.

Cycling through cookbooks as I do, this one is back in rotation and I’ve just tried the Almond Caesar Salad dressing for the fourth time in two weeks. It’s so good, I can’t even think of a way to improve upon it. Give it a shot and tell me what you think!

All thanks to Samantha otherwise this book would never have made it on my radar! She had no idea what kind of cookbook it was—only that it made good use of foul language. The book’s full title is Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a Fuck and this recipe is in the ‘Short Order Shit’ section. What’s more outrageous than the language though is that some of the food will blow your mind for the way it uses ingredients in unlikely ways to yield some pretty bomb ass results.

Caesar Salad with Thug Kitchen Dressing
Serves 4 as a side salad

1/3 cup almonds
1/3 cup hot water
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon capers
1 head romaine, chopped
1/4 hothouse cucumber, thinly sliced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
Broccoli sprouts
Cilantro

To make the dressing, let almond steep in hot water for 15 minutes until they are soft. Put into a blender with the rest of the ingredients, from the garlic cloves to the capers. Mix to combine. Dressing should be thick and creamy—like any other Caesar dressing you’ve ever had. Did you take a taste yet? End up licking the spoon clean?

Layer romaine with cucumbers, scallions, broccoli sprouts and cilantro and dressing with the almond caesar.

So how likely are you to make it again this week?