Admit it. When you think of Caesar Salad you thought at some point that it was made for Julius Caesar. Come on. We’re all friends here, this is a safe place, you can admit it. Okay fine. Don’t. Be that way.
Caesar salad is the go to blah salad of restaurants across the United States, in every restaurant you go to you can always find a Caesar salad on the menu. But have you ever wondered where Caesar salad got its start?
The salad got its start in…Mexico? Yep. Italian immigrant Caesar Cardini (a.k.a. Mr. Caesar Salad) in order to side step the restrictions of prohibition opened a restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico, which was close to his home in San Diego. One night, July 4th, 1924 to be exact, Mr. Cardini found himself short on salad provisions so he had to make due with what he had in the kitchen. This seems to be the genesis of every great food creation by the way.
But one interesting tidbit, Caesar’s salad never had anchovies in it much to the chagrin of common knowledge. It was actually his brother, Alex and his Aviator salad that had anchovies. Caesar would use Worcestershire sauce, so anyone who gives you any grief about your salad not being authentic because you didn’t put anchovies in it can take a seat.
Anyways, I actually love Caesar salad, I don’t usually get it because most restaurants treat it as a throwaway with bad lettuce, crappy croutons, and powdered cheese that has more wood pulp than cheese in it. So I decided to make it myself and it’s ridiculously easy to make. I subbed out the croutons for almonds because #carbs are not my friend. You can easily sub them back in though if that’s what you like.
Recipe – Caesar Salad
Ingredients
1 Head of Romaine Lettuce
Dressing
1 Tsp. Fish Sauce (You can use anchovy paste if you prefer, figure on a tsp.)
1 Tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1/4 Cup Mayo
3/4 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Parmesan
1/2 Tsp. Salt & Pepper
Croutons – 2 Tbsp. Slivered almonds, I used slivered almonds instead to make it lighter, obviously fresh made croutons would be awesome.
Method
Step 1- Mix all the dressing ingredients together
Step 2- When ready to serve toss the salad with the dressing and top with the almonds and serve. Seriously do you need directions on how to make a salad?
- 1 Head of Romaine Lettuce
- Dressing
- 1 Tsp. Fish Sauce (You can use anchovy paste if you prefer, figure on a tsp.)
- 1 Tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 Tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
- 1/4 Cup Mayo
- 3/4 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- 3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
- 1/4 Cup Parmesan
- 1/2 Tsp. Salt & Pepper
- Croutons – 2 Tbsp. Slivered almonds, I used slivered almonds instead to make it lighter, obviously fresh made croutons would be awesome.
- Step 1- Mix all the dressing ingredients together
- Step 2- When ready to serve toss the salad with the dressing and top with the almonds and serve. Seriously do you need directions on how to make a salad?
