I love, love, love Caesar dressing in ways both appropriate and not. There's the classic salad, obviously. But try it on a BLT or a burger in place of mayo. Dip a grilled cheese sandwich into it. Think outside the salad, in other words. <br /> <br />But back to the salad. In Italy last summer, the daughter and I fell in love with the variety of cured meats that appeared in salads. Sopressata is one of my favorites. I love its slightly chewy texture and rustic appearance. It pairs beautifully with the chilly snap of romaine lettuce, and its flavor is strong enough to stand up well to fullness of the Caesar dressing. And rather than use the traditional cubed croutons, think about making great big dramatic ones. The easier to clean the plate at the end. <br /> <br />A note about the dressing. When I owned a restaurant and had access to pasteurized egg yolks by the quart, Caesar dressing was a cinch to make. But when I started teaching home cooks to make it, I ran into all sorts of fears about it. Of course, there are the anchovies. And also raw yolks. So I decided to cut out one of them. Since yolks + oil + seasonings = mayonnaise, I taught them to start with that. So then we were down to the anchovies. I would first make the dressing with all ingredients except them, and we'd taste it. Not bad. Then I'd add the anchovies, purée it all up, and have another taste. To a one, those with anchovy phobia routinely agreed that the dressing couldn't do without them. As for starting with mayonnaise, well, to my knowledge, the Caesar police haven't burst in on anyone yet.

Share: