Caesar salad is one of my husband’s favorite dishes to order in restaurants. It’s pretty simple, and seems like kind of a waste to pay $11 for romaine lettuce and croutons (usually they don’t offer anchovies on top. Even if they did, he wouldn’t want them). So, I searched through cookbooks, asked some friends, and finally found a recipe for the dressing that was simple, but had good layers of flavors, and included anchovies in it.
Why anchovies?
Because even though there are lots of different ideas of what the “authentic” dressing consists of, I’m pretty sure anchovies is always one of those ingredients.
Also, though the recipe called for parmesan cheese, I left that out. Why? So I could make a caesar salad with chicken if I wanted to! If we’re having dairy, I’ll just shred some cheese on top.
I just love using my immersion blender to make dressings…maybe it’s because I don’t have a regular one? But it’s just so great to measure in this cup, and so neat, too! Cleaning blenders is pretty hard, the blade always gets in the way!
Caesar Dressing:
Ingredients:
- ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 can anchovies
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon worstershire sauce
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (optional)
Directions:
1. Slice the garlic thinly and add to food processor or blender.
2. Add anchovies, pulse.
3. Add everything except for the cheese, pulse.
4. If using cheese, whisk in by hand.
5. To serve, wash and dry cut up romaine lettuce and add croutons (I use homemade ones made from leftover challah). Dress lightly and enjoy!
