Caesar Salad
This salad is so good with the home-made dressing and croutons it will be a recipe you return to over and over again.
Prep Time:
Cook Time:
Total Time:
Ingredients:
for salad dressing: | |
2 cloves | fresh garlic (peeled) |
4 | whole anchovy fillets |
2 tablespoons | (up to 3 tablespoons) dijon mustard |
1 tablespoon | balsamic (or red wine) vinegar |
1/2 | whole lemon, juiced |
1/2 cup | olive oil |
1 teaspoon | Worcestershire sauce |
1 dash | salt |
generous black pepper, to taste | |
1/4 cup | freshly grated Parmesan cheese |
_____ | |
for croutons: | |
1/2 loaf | crusty French bread |
1/4 cup | olive oil |
2 cloves | fresh garlic (peeled) |
salt to taste | |
_____ | |
for salad | |
dry hearts of Romaine lettuce | |
fresh Parmesan cheese |
Directions:
Dressing:
Place anchovies into a blender or food processor. Throw in garlic, Dijon Mustard, Worcestershire and vinegar. Next, add lemon juice. Give it a good mix.
Pulse the processor or blend on low speed for several seconds. Scrape the sides. With the food processor or blender on, dizzle olive oil into the mixture in a small stream. Scrape the sides, and mix it again to thoroughly combine.
Add salt, black pepper and Parmesan cheese. Pulse the whole thing together and mix until thoroughly combined.
Refrigerate the dressing for a few hours before using it on the salad.
Croutons:
Slice the bread into thick slices and cut them into 1-inch cubes. Throw them onto a baking sheet.
Heat olive oil in a small saucepan or skillet over low heat.
Peel and crush—but don’t chop—2 cloves of garlic and add them to the oil. Use a spoon to move the garlic around in the pan. After about 3 to 5 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the garlic from the pan.
Slowly drizzle the olive oil over the bread cubes. Mix together with your hands, then sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake at 200º for one hour, shaking the pan occasionally.
One hour after baking, crank up the heat to 400 degrees. Bake them on high heat for just a few minutes.
Salad:
Wash and dry hearts of Romaine lettuce, cut the lettuce with a knife. Use a vegetable peeler and shave off large, thin slices of Parmesan.
Drizzle about half of the dressing over the top of the lettuce. Throw in a good handful of the Parmesan shavings. Give it a good initial toss, just so you can evaluate how much more dressing you need.
Add more dressing and Parmesan to taste. Add cooled croutons. Toss gently.
Source: thepioneerwoman.com