Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad
Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad
The classic salad, recreated with grilled romaine - a pretty epic upgrade. *This dressing includes raw egg so see below for an eggless version!
Ingredients
- Dressing:
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- 4 small anchovies, chopped
- 1 lemon juiced
- 2 TBSP Dijon mustard
- 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Generous amount of freshly milled pepper
- 3 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese
- Croutons:
- A 4 inch portion of rustic baguette, halved
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 TBSP butter
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- Salad:
- 2 heads of romaine lettuce
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- Additional anchovies, if desired
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat your oven to 350. Prepare your croutons by spreading butter over the open face baguette. Mash garlic into bread and sprinkle with garlic salt. Wrap in tinfoil and toast in the oven for 5 minutes. Once toasted, remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing into crouton portions
- Step 2 Prepare dressing: In a silver mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolk. Add garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire and whisk until the ingredients are fully combined. Slowly stream in the olive oil, whisking continuously. Add the Parmesan cheese and continue to blend. Season with salt and pepper.
- Step 3 For the salad: Heat your grill to 350 degrees and place the romaine leaves directly on the grill. Grill for 1-2 minutes until char is achieved. Remove from grill and plate. Romaine first, then croutons, a generous drizzle of dressing, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and anchovies (if desired).
When you’re pregnant, the list of no-no’s when it comes to food is pretty long. The things I missed the most? In this order: smoked salmon, sushi, prosciutto… and Caesar dressing! You know, the real one, with raw egg. My obsession with the dressing started at one of my first “fancy” restaurant experiences, the Boulevard in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My grandmother used to take us here as a special treat and I would watch, in awe, as they made the Caesar salad tableside. To be honest, when I was pregnant, I didn’t even realize how much I missed it until my friend Amanda reminded me (I’ll forgive her for that!), but then I was pretty much craving it for my whole third trimester. I was pretty proud that I managed to come up with a pretty darn close replacement (see my eggless caesar dressing recipe below!), but nothing can ever quite compare to the real deal.
Once baby arrived (three weeks ago today!), I was ALL about answering my cravings – I literally ate a bagels & lox for 5 days straight! And you betcha – Caesar salad wasn’t far behind. I went back into my archives and found my tried and true caesar dressing recipe, featured below. And since we had decided to barbecue, I thought it would be a pretty fun idea to grill the romaine as well. For me, the dressing may still have been the winner, but that fun little twist of crispy smoky flavor adds such great depth to this already amazing salad.
This recipe is a classic and one that I’m so happy that I can fully enjoy again. I hope you relish it just as much!
Eggless Caesar Dressing
The ultimate eggless Caesar dressing, SO good you won't even miss the real thing.
Ingredients
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 TBSP Dijon mustard
- 4 anchovy fillets minced finely
- 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
- 3 TBSP mayo
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus a block for shaving
Directions
- Step 1 In a food processor or small blender, combine the lemon juice, garlic, mustard, Dijon, anchovies, Worcestershire, and mayo and blend until the ingredients are combined.
- Step 2 With the processor still running, stream in the olive oil. Add the Parmesan cheese and continue to blend. If you need to lighten it, add 1 or 2 tbsp of water and blend until incorporated.
