February 1, 2015
My recipe card for this recipe dates back to 1984 or 1985 and I remember writing it down after a great meal at a law school friend’s home where we enjoyed this salad immensely. Karen Lisa was (and surely still is) a great cook.
Caesar salad used to be one of those fancy salads you would order at a restaurant and a chef would wheel out a cart to prepare the dressing and salad right at table side. You can now purchase bottled caeser salad dressing at the grocery store – but it’s not anywhere near as good as this! The dressing does have quite a few ingredients – but I find that it makes plenty of dressing for 2 good size salads. It is worth making, especially if you want to make it a main dish salad with the addition of grilled chicken, shrimp or salmon. I typically consider it a summer dish – but we enjoyed it for dinner this past week with grilled chicken.
This recipe does call for one raw egg and 1 3/4 cans of anchovy fillets. I have been purchasing organic, fresh brown eggs and feel comfortable using the raw egg – but the egg can easily be omitted. The dressing will keep in your refrigerator for 4-5 days with the raw egg, longer without it. I have always used anchovy paste. You can typically find it in the canned fish area of your grocery store. It comes in a tube that needs refrigeration after you open it. Don’t be afraid of it – the flavor it gives to the dressing is salty and rich – not fishy at all.
If I add croutons, I prefer to cut up stale bread into cubes and sauté them with 2 TBS olive oil or butter with added garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. You can also toast them in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 375′. These taste much better than the store-bought (full of weird preservatives) version.
Caesar Salad
Serves 2-3 for main dish, 5-7 as a side dish.
Prep time is about 20 minutes start to finish.
Ingredients
salad:
1 head lettuce
1 head romaine lettuce
1 avocado
tomatoes and cucumber and extra blue cheese (optional)
2 c. croutons (optional)
dressing:
1 large clove garlic, pressed or minced
1/2 c olive oil
1 Tbs lemon juice (I usually use more like 3-4 TBS)
1/4 c crumled blue cheese
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
1 3/4 can mashed anchovy fillets (I use about 1 1/2 TBS anchovy paste)
1/4 tsp tabasco sauce
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste – I like more!)
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1 raw egg, lightly beaten (optional)
Instructions
Clean and spin-dry lettuce and tear into bite size pieces. Cut avocado into chunks. I like to sprinkle a little bit of lemon juice on top right away to keep it from browning. Place both into a large salad bowl. Top with tomatoes, chopped cucumber, blue cheese and croutons if desired.
Place all dressing ingredients into a jar – preferably about 16 oz size. Cover tightly with a lid and shake vigorously so the dressing begins to immulsify and thicken. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon juice if you like it more tart, as I do!
Pour dressing over salad and toss lightly to coat and serve.
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