The Caesar salad is the most common salad here in the US. Every restaurant has their own version of one. It
is a very basic salad consisting of Romaine lettuce and croutons, and topped with a variety of Caesar dressings, Parmesan cheese and cracked pepper. Some recipes have Anchoves in the salad or chopped up in the dressing, for a strong fishy taste, but I leave this out. I like a plain non-fishy Caesar salad. When Ingrid requested Caesar salad with the Twice-baked potatoes, I decided I would make my own croutons.
My kids were really impressed with that. I usually just by them in a bag, and I think my kids had never considered that you can make them fresh (why would they, really!). But they turned out so nice and crunchy and perfectly flavored. My kids ate them by the handful, like potato chips. It will be hard to go back to the purchased ones after this success. I didn't make my own dressing though, but you can easily find a recipe for one on the web, if you want to try that. I have found a bottled one that I really like (See note).
Oregano - Parmesan croutons
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, toss 4 cups bread cubes with 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon ground oregano, and 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese. Season with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet, and bake in a single layer until croutons are toasted and crisp, about 15 minutes, tossing halfway through.
For the salad:
Toss croutons with 3 bunches of Romaine lettuce and desired amount of dressing. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and a little freshly ground pepper.
Recipe adapted from Everyday Food, April, 2011
Note! I find this Caesar dressing very tasty.
Look for it at your grocery store.
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