Vegan Caesar Dressing

I love the idea of Caesar dressing, but the real kind, with the anchovies and raw egg, freaks me right the hell out. As an undergrad, all of my friends (including myself) were vegetarian and some were vegan, so we'd often do a potluck kind of thing when we'd get together for informal workshops. One guy friend was a wreck in all aspects of his personal life, but he was trying very hard to woo a little vegan punker grrl, so he came up with all kinds of vegan dishes. This is his recipe. Even though I'm no longer vegetarian, I still think it tastes better than real Caesar.


1/2 cup medium-firm tofu
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 tablespoons Garlic, crushed
1/2 to 1 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (although I sometimes use Kosher)
Juice of One Lemon

Zip it up in a blender. Or omit tofu and double the amount of mustard, which is what I usually do, because I'm not a fan of creamy caesar. Plus, then you can just shake it in one of those Glad plastic container things instead of messing with a blender. Toss with romaine and parm shavings, or, you know, some kind of vegan alternative. Screw croutons! They suck!