This Caesar Salad recipe will be your favorite! Packed full of flavor thanks to anchovies, garlic, lemon, mustard, and Parmesan cheese, and topped with homemade croutons.

Caesar Salad Ingredients:

• romaine lettuce
• garlic cloves
• anchovies
• olive oil
• lemons
• red wine or apple cider vinegar
• Worcestershire sauce
• Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper
• day-old bread
• olive oil

Creaming garlic for your Caesar Salad*

Raw garlic can be too strong for some of us. I know it’s supposed to be healthy to eat raw but I can’t do it. Sometimes I bake the garlic head and use it that way, so good on bread by the way! Classic Caesar salad calls for raw garlic so I discovered a way to use it without it overpowering every bite. Creamed garlic! All you need to do is peel and chop your garlic cloves, add a couple teaspoons of Kosher salad, and start mashing with a fork. The garlic will soon turn to almost a paste. Once you have a paste, just add in the remaining salad dressing ingredients and you’re good to go!

How I make my croutons

I’ve done this a couple different way. The first and most high calorie method ;) is to heat a skillet, add olive oil and butter, and then add your cubed bread. Keep sauteing until the bread cubes have browned to your liking. You may need my butter or oil as you go.

The second way is to preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place bread cubes on the baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Bake until browned.

Romain Lettuce

I prefer not to use the bagged lettuce for my Caesar Salad. For a small group of people I usually use 2 heads of lettuce. Take off the wilted leaves and cut the stem off. Rinse each leaf individually. Place on a paper towel to dry. I wrap mine lettuce up after it’s been washed and put it in the refrigerator while I prepare the croutons and dressing. Right before I want to serve the salad I assemble it.

Parmesan Cheese, capers and anchovies

I prefer Parmesan over Romano Cheese for my Caesar salad. I also skip the capers but do use the anchovies. I know that doesn’t sound appealing to some but trust me, a little bit adds so much flavor. If you haven’t tried it, start with 1 or 2 anchovies.

Watch me make the salad here!

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Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons

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Ingredients

• 2 heads of Romaine lettuce
• 2-4 anchovies
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup olive oil plus 1/4 cup to make croutons
• 2-4 cloves of garlic
• the juice of 1 and 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp apple cider or red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups day old bread
• 1 /4 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese plus extra as needed.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
2. Cube bread to make about 2 cups
3. Peel and dice garlic. Place garlic in a bowl, you can use your salad bowl if you'd like, and add 2 tsp Kosher salt. Use a fork to press the salt into the garlic until you've created a paste.
4. Add anchovies. Use a fork to press into the garlic paste.
5. Add Worcestershire sauce, mustard, lemon, vinegar and olive oil.
6. Wash the lettuce carefully to make sure all debris is removed on the leaves. Dry on a paper towel and place in the refrigerator will you prepare the croutons.
7. Cut bread up into bite size pieces or cube. Place on cooking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
8. Bake until toasty.
9. When you are ready to serve your salad, add lettuce to your bowl, toss with dressing and then top with croutons.
10. Use a potato peeler to shred some of the Parmesan. Add to salad and serve!