Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing + Croutons

I love a good Caesar salad, and this one is cheese and anchovy free, so I can eat it! It's probably low fat or low calorie or whatever as an alternative if you are into that and still want something creamy. I've also been spreading the leftovers on bread as part of my sandwiches for lunch and it's really good! I think this is originally from Veganomicon, but I found it on and copied it from this website. I usually double it because the Silken Tofu box has a lot of extra tofu in it and I don't know what else to do with it.

Ingredients for Caesar dressing:

• 1/3 cup almonds
• 3-4 cloves garlic (or more if you like garlic)
  
• 3/4 cup silken tofu
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh is always best)
  
• 1 heaping tablespoon capers
• 4 teaspoons caper brine
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
• Salt

Ingredients for Croutons:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves roasted garlic
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (optional)
  
• 1 medium size loaf French or Italian bread (little less than 1 pound), stale and torn or sliced into bite-sized pieces (or, I've just used regular bread in a pinch)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For Salad:

• 1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Spinach and/or arugula, torn into bite-sized pieces (optional)
• Gardein "Chick'n" for "Chick'n" Caesar salad, or tofu/seitan if preferred.
  
• Vegan Parmesan cheese, or make your own
  

Prepare the dressing: Pulse the sliced almonds in a food processor or blender until crumbly. Empty the ground almonds into an airtight container that you'll be using to store the finished dressing. Blend the garlic, tofu, and oil in the food processor or blender until creamy. Add the lemon juice, capers, caper brine, sugar, and mustard powder, and pulse until blended. Adjust the salt and lemon juice to taste. Put into the container with the ground almonds and whisk to combine. Cover and allow the dressing to chill in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes, optimally 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

While the dressing is chilling, prepare the croutons: Preheat the oven to 400F. Combine the olive oil, roasted garlic, and lemon juice in a large bowl. With a fork or immersion blender, mash or blend the mixture until creamy. Add the torn bread and toss to coat each piece with the oil mixture. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, if desired, and bake for 12 to 14 minutes until golden brown. Toss the croutons twice during the baking process. Remove from the oven and cool the croutons on the baking sheet.

Note: This makes a LOT of croutons and they don't often store well, so sometimes I only make half of the recipe amount and make the other croutons fresh when I'm eating the leftover dressing :)