Caesar Salad
In honor of the return of romaine lettuce, I made Caesar salad last night. I thought I'd share the dressing recipe I have used for years which I modified from the 1975 edition of the Joy of Cooking.
Caesar Salad Dressing
Makes 1 cup dressing or enough to dress a couple large heads of romaine.
Put the following into a blender:
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire
2-4 anchovy filets (I never have these and instead add 1 scant tsp anchovy sauce or 7-10 kalamata olives)
2 eggs (you can add these raw, but I cook boil my whole eggs for 2 mins and then spoon the lightly cooked egg into the blender)
Blend the above as well as possible, then with blender on low, add in a slow, steady stream:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Add to your liking:
black pepper
more lemon juice
The Salad:
Head of Romaine Lettuce
Croutons
Grated Parmesan
Caesar salad dressing
Chop a head of romaine lettuce, rinse, and salad spin, or put in a colander to dry. (If you don't have a salad spinner and want dry lettuce quickly, you can use the towel spin method which is a good show if you have kids. Just put the washed salad greens onto a clean towel, pull together the corners and then spin in a circle and the water will fly out of the greens into a towel and often do a good job spraying the kitchen too.) Transfer greens to a bowl, add dressing, and toss to coat lettuce well. Add parm and toss again. Plate the salads and top dress with croutons and grated parm to your liking.