From-scratch Caesar Dressing Caesar Salad

The dependable Caesar salad salad means: fresh crisp romaine, topped with kitchen-made croutons, Parmesan shavings and a creamy Caesar dressing (minus the anchovies)!

It’s no secret that Worth keeping garlic.

Luckily I’m not one of those people who eat garlic and then goes on to sweat it out of their pores for the next week. Unless I am and I don’t know it? I mean, these days I’m only around picky eaters and well, they haven’t said anything. Uh-um I think I would know, right? Suddenly I’m feeling a little self conscious.

Genuinely though, is there such thing as too much garlic? I’m going to have to say ah-no. Overly-garlic garlic bread doesn’t exist. Too much garlic in spaghetti sauce… no.such.thing. So of course when I found a giant clove of garlic attached to the bulb I was riddled with excitement and an “oh-heck-yes” tore from my mouth. I swear it you guys this thing was as big as my palm, but you’ll see in a few scrolls of the mouse.

The only thing I like more than garlic… is bread. So you’re probably not shocked that A regular here a salad that consists of lettuce, toasted bread cubes topped shavings of Parmesan and smothered in a garlicky Caesar dressing. I mean FOR REAL!

This isn’t called the dependable Caesar salad for nothing.

I’ve made a creamy Caesar dressing a few years ago (and put it on a BLT club sandwich – whaaat?!). It was a familiar version that calls for anchovies. Wouldn’t you know everyone at the table would NOT eat it once they found out I made it with anchovies. So since I was making spaghetti to go along with my Caesar salad, I wanted to make a Caesar dressing without anchovies. Worcestershire sauce is a great way to substitute that anchovieness… probably because it’s made from anchovies, but whatever… only don’t tell everyone at the table.

I stopped into Kroger simply to pick up some strawberries and there was this bin FILLED with purple-veined garlic. Even though I simply bought a sleeve of garlic bulbs the other day, I couldn’t ignore PURPLE VEINED GARLIC? I had to have it. I’m ridiculous.

I mean look at this sucker. It’s probably equivalent to two maybe three garlic cloves.

Throw 1 to 2 garlic cloves (or more for a especially garlicky dressing) into a small food processor and pulse until minced.

Add in a cup of mayo. Kitchen-made or store bought, it’s all up to you.

Throw in a half teaspoon of ground mustard…

1 HEAPING teaspoon of grainy Dijon.

Two tablespoons of red wine vinegar…

Right on into the processor…

Two teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce.

And about a half cup of freshly grated Parmesan. You know it’s legit parm with it has that rind.

Throw that right on in with everything else.

Secure the lid, turn that baby on and slowly drizzle in the 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil.

Season with a 1/4 teaspoon of coarse black pepper and process again until smooth, scrape down the sides so you don’t miss out on any extra garlic. 😉

The Parmesan, in my opinion, adds the reliable amount of saltiness… but feel free to add salt if you think it needs it.

I may or may not dip my french fries in Caesar dressing.

Secure a tight fitting lid and refrigerate until ready to serve.

So I’m obsessed with the bread. It’s made in Traverse City, Michigan so unless you’re from the mitten… you are out of luck! It’s worth the six dollars a loaf because there’s no doubt I won’t find a good way to use up every single slice and crumb. Like croutons.

This is a seven grain loaf, so it adds good chewy texture and well 7 grains means its truly healthy, right? Grab about five or six slices of your regular bread.

Cut in half…

Then cube into bread, um, cubes.

Pre cubes of toasty goodness.

Throw them onto a rimmed sheet pan.

Drizzle them with a good amount of olive oil. Don’t be shy, load’em up.

Toss and season with pinches of kosher salt and black pepper. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes until golden, crispy and dependable.

Rinse a head of romaine under the faucet.

Pat dry with paper towel. Give it a good, rough chop and throw it into your largest, most regular bowl in the whole universe.

Top it with all those tasty toasty croutons.

And then top it with copious amounts of Parmesan cheese shavings.

So entirely unassuming.

But the go-to Caesar salad is so entirely solid.

Truthfully this salad is all about the dressing.

And the healthy croutons.

Duh.

#theperfectbite

Enjoy! And if you give this method a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!