The following is a weekly feature brought to us by Sumiko from Near to Nothing. I’ve asked her to share tips and tricks (and recipes!) that show us ways to replace the items we’d typically buy canned or frozen from scratch at home for less! You’ll find a new From Our Pantry post each week.
Last summer our church community group had a BBQ and swim party. I was in charge of dessert, so I took brownies. They were a big hit, but they were not what my daughter was talking about on the way home. No, she was talking about Stephanie’s Caesar salad with homemade dressing. Since then, I have not bought another bottle of Caesar salad dressing! In fact, I made a batch this weekend.
Stephanie got the recipe from Christina, another woman at our church who is an amazing cook. When I received the recipe from Stephanie, I had to try it right away. To my dismay, there were a few ingredients I didn’t have at the time. But I tried it anyway with some substitutions. The results were still fantastic (my husband actually prefers the altered version). I’ll post both versions below.
Christina's version calls for Dijon. My tangier version calls for yellow mustard.
One of the concerns about making homemade Caesar dressing is the fact that it generally calls for raw eggs. This recipe is great because it starts with mayonnaise instead of eggs so you don’t have to worry about egg contamination. And you can decide if you want to use regular or low-fat mayonnaise.
The one ingredient that I never would have had on hand before is anchovy paste. I buy it in a tube from WinCo for less than $3 per tube. That works out to a lot per pound, but it will last a long time. You can find it in the canned fish section, right near the tuna. Now I always have a tube of it in the fridge so I can whip up a batch of dressing whenever necessary.
Though I do roast a lot of garlic, I don’t always have some in my fridge or freezer when I want to make this dressing. And sometimes I need the dressing right away. In that case, I simply use garlic powder.
When I do roast garlic, I roast more than I need and freeze the extra in air-tight containers for future use.
Keep in mind that fresh-squeezed lemon juice is more potent and has better flavor than bottled. However, bottled lemon juice is more consistent in its flavor. Use whatever you have, but remember that the type and quality of lemon juice could affect the final outcome.
Costco has the cheapest lemon juice by far if you use a lot of it. It comes in two-packs for not very much.
The original recipe calls for Parmigiano-Reggiano. This is definitely not in my food budget. I simply use the dry powdered parmesan from the WinCo bulk bins, and the dressing still turns out great. Shhhh! Don’t tell Christina—she’d be horrified!!
The one thing I’ve learned is that the flavors mellow out and change as the dressing sits in the fridge. Always taste and adjust before serving.
A classic Caesar salad would be romaine lettuce and croutons with Caesar salad dressing tossed in and possibly more parmesan cheese grated on top. For a more substantial salad, try chicken Caesar salad. You can also wrap it all up in a tortilla for chicken Caesar wraps or stuff it in a pita for a chicken Caesar pita.
Saturday night's dinner: chicken Caesar salad with tomatoes, homemade dressing, and homemade croutons! So yummy!
Ingredients for Christina's Caesar salad dressing
Christina’s Caesar Salad Dressing
1 head garlic, roasted
1 c. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1 lemon (2-4 Tbsp.)
½ tsp. anchovy paste
½ c. grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Salt and pepper to taste
Place all ingredients in blender; blend until thoroughly mixed.
Seriously. You just measure and blend--it's that easy!
Ingredients for Sumiko's Caesar salad dressing
Sumiko’s Caesar Salad Dressing
1 c. mayonnaise
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Juice of 1 lemon (2-4 Tbsp.)
½ tsp. anchovy paste
½ c. grated parmesan cheese
1-1½ tsp. salt
Few dashes pepper
Place all ingredients in blender; blend until thoroughly mixed.
Patty February 28, 2013 at 3:28 pm
You can also use fish sauce instead of anchovie paste. Shaved parm is much better and doesn’t cost as much as you think. Costco 2 lbs I the bag is cheap and lasts 4 months. I use both mustards, fresh garlic, soy sauce and worcestershire. Lemon and lemon Zest. Mayo. Invest in some good olive oil and Avacado oils. I use lemon, basil, rosemary infused that will knock your socks off. A little goes a long ways. Pacific culinary for the avocado oils. Love cooking. Just a few more hints to add.