Homemade Cesar Salad Dressing - the BEST

I don't know what it is about the Caesar salad I love so much.  

When you think about it, it is a very simple salad with few ingredients.  

Maybe it's the creamy dressing, the garlicky taste, the croutons, or maybe the fresh parmigiano-reggiano, but man oh man Caesar is one of my classic favorites. 

 And now that it's summer, 

the weather is warm,

and the oven is off,

 I crave it.

Well, last week Liz was talking about a grilled Caesar salad she had down at Otto in Chester, Connecticut.  Saturday, she was bringing her new rescue pup over to meet Olive, so I decided to whip up lunch for us while the puppies played.

(He is a lab mix rescue and his name is Winston) 

 Isn't he the cutest?

While the dogs played, I got to grilling and mixing!

The key to a good Caesar salad is the dressing, and none of that bottled stuff tastes nearly as good as the homemade stuff... with extra extra garlic.  

If you want the skinny version of my Caesar dressing, 

You can find it here!

I used this recipe from Once Upon A Chef and absolutely loved this dressing.

And yes, it is the full fat- full delicious version.

I was getting really into the food glamour shots by the grill,
Can you tell?

Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

By Jennifer Segal, Recipe adapted from Gourmet magazine

Servings: Makes 1-1/3 cups

Ingredients

• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon anchovy paste (found near the tuna fish in the supermarket)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, from one lemon
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (I like the brand Maille)
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's Real
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

**I add extra garlic and a few tabs of hot sauce as well

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, anchovy paste, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Add the mayonnaise, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper and whisk until well combined. Taste and adjust to your liking.

Once you make this dressing, throw your chicken on the grill (I seasoned mine with lemon garlic salt and pepper) and then throw your romaine on the grill, just long enough to get a nice mark on your stalks.

Toss your romaine with your new dressing, croutons, chicken, pepper and fresh parmigiano-reggiano.  Enjoy! 

P.S.  This salad also works really well with Kale.  Just make sure you rub your kale leaves with a little bit of EVOO to soften them up before tossing your salad.  You can even do this the night before! Read more on why to give your kale a rub down here!  You can even get fancy and use roasted chick peas as croutons.  

Happy Caesaring!!