Thursday, June 26, 2014

Home Made Creamy Caesar Salad

It's the last week of the month and that means recipe week.  Normally I try to post a recipe for a super easy or extra ordinarily yummy dessert, but I thought I'd deviate from the norm this month.

Canada Day is coming and that means picnics and potlucks and the need to bring some food item to share.  What better thing to feed your friends than a home made caesar salad that puckers them up and leaves their taste buds quivering for more! 

And yes, it's easy to make...right down to the croutons!

So let's start there...

Super Easy Home Made Croutons

Toast two or three slices of your favourite bread until it's fairly well done.  Cut the toast into cubes. 

Melt about 1/4 cup butter in a 9 inch x 9 inch pyrex pan in the microwave.  Sprinkle in garlic salt and garlic powder - go a little lighter on the garlic salt so it's not too salty.  Stir this around and dump in the toast cubes.  Mix well until the butter is absorbed.

Broil this for a few minutes, stirring periodically until the croutons are nice and crispy.  Pull the pan out of the oven and let the croutons cool.

(Quite often I'll use left over hot dog or hamburger buns that happen to be in the freezer just to use them up.)

Creamy Caesar Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 minced clove of fresh garlic

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl.  Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours so the flavours can blend.

NOTE
For extra tangy dressing add extra lemon juice to taste (using the juice of 1/2 a squeezed lemon works well too)

NOTE:  This recipe is enough for one large head of romaine lettuce.

The Salad
  • 1 head of fresh romaine lettuce - I like the full head with the dark green leafy parts instead of just the romaine hearts
  • Home made croutons
  • Bacon bits - you can use store bought, but if there's left over bacon from a weekend breakfast, I cut it up and store it in the freezer so it's ready to toss into a salad.
  • Green onions (optional)
  • Parmesan cheese - I leave this out due to my lactose intolerance and my husband's extreme loathing of the "stinky foot cheese", but typically Caesar salad should have Parmesan included in it - fresh if you have it - otherwise the dried grated version works.
Mix this all together, pour the dressing over top, and toss well.

NOTE:  Caesar salad is always best eaten fresh - if it sits for an extended period of time I find it turns rather slimy and, while the flavor is still good, the texture and aesthetic qualities leave something to be desired.

Enjoy and happy Canada Day weekend!




2 comments:

Diane Henders said...

What is this "leftover bacon" you speak of? That doesn't happen in our house. ;-)

Carol Henders said...

LOL!! I know, Diane. It's a foreign concept most of time, but every now and then a couple of slices somehow make it into the freezer!