Caesar Salad

I rarely ate salads as a child.

That’s not to say my mother didn’t try in earnest.  So, you can imagine my sheer delight when my 10-year old proclaimed she “LOVES Caesar Salad.”   Apparently she tried it at school?  I didn’t have the stomach to ask her if the school version actually had anchovy filets on top.  But, that proclamation was all the encouragement needed for my  attempt to make Caesar Salad at home for dinner.  After all, my version had to taste better.

As luck would have it, we had all the ingredients.  Except, of course, the anchovy filets.  I decided to disregard that staple, and I knew my panel of kid judges wouldn’t deduct points for the fishy omission.

Without the fish, the only unnerving part to the whole Caesar salad-making process:  dumping a raw, lightly beaten egg on top the lettuce.  To calm my stomach, I made sure to add generous amounts of garlic and oil and parmesan cheese to offset the liquid egg consistency draped upon the lettuce.

I did cheat and bought pre-made Caesar Salad breadcrumbs.  While it’s easy enough to make your own bread crumbs at home, mentally, I just wanted to have the luxury ripping open the bag and dumping the crumbs atop the lettuce.  I also omitted Tabasco sauce, a common dressing ingredient.

Surprisingly, my version of the salad received two thumbs up from both kids. And, I added grilled chicken which always enhances any dish. While I was probably a little too stingy with the dressing – I did witness my daughter searching for more in between the lettuce leaves- the breadcrumbs were a huge hit and, go figure, so was sweet addition of the Worcestershire sauce.

This dish has been added to our dinner salad rotation.

And, who knows, maybe we’ll all work up the courage to try it with anchovies.

Enjoy.