The Perfect Caesar Salad: Putting It All Together

The whole idea for this week’s tribute to the caesar salad came from my failed attempts at making the blue cheese wedge salad. I have never understood why people would spend $6.00 for a quarter of a head of iceberg lettuce. A good friend told me that I just didn’t understand, the wedge is more that just the lettuce. So I tried to create my own version that I would enjoy. I had people over and tested various versions of the salad. The problem is, I don’t like blue cheese dressing. So, no matter how many different ways I did it, I never enjoyed the blue cheese wedge. Then someone suggested I do a caesar salad wedge. It was a light bulb moment for me. This girl removed all my constraints, and I have been loving the freedom!

So, from my research I’ve learned that the caesar salad was invented by a man named Caesar who worked at a restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico in the early 1900′s. Apparently the original version included table-side presentation, but it did not include sardines. When I worked at Walt Disney World I made plenty a caesar salad. I got pretty good at the tossing of dressing with croutons and cheese. Ironically, this recipe involves no tossing, but it  would be perfect, topped with shrimp, for a Summer luncheon.

Ingredients:

• 1 Head Romaine lettuce, quartered and rinsed
• 1 c. caesar salad dressing
• 1 c. croutons
• 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese + shaved parmesan for garnish
• 1/4 c. caramelized onions
• 2 slices of cooked bacon, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. After you rinse the lettuce, pat dry with paper towels, or dry in a salad spinner.
2. Place wedge on serving plate and drizzle with 1/4 c. dressing
3. Add 1/4 c. croutons, 1/4 of the grated cheese, and half a slice of chopped bacon.
4. Top with 1/4 of the onions and a few slices of shaved cheese
5. Finish off with salt and freshly ground pepper. Repeat these steps with the remaining 3 wedges.

• Serves 4 people