Zesty Caesar Salad with Crunchy Garlic Croutons
Zesty Caesar Salad with Crunchy Garlic Croutons and a creamy homemade dressing. A fresh, flavorful salad perfect for lunch or gatherings.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 35 min
- Yield: 10-12
- Category: side dish, lunch
- Method: Stovetop cooking, oven bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Dressing:
- 1 cup of mayonnaise
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 pressed clove of garlic
- 1/4 Tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon of Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
Garlic Croutons:
- 4 cups of cubed firm bread pieces, about 1/2 inch in size, for bitable pieces.
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves sliced thinly
- 2 Tablespoon of parsley leaf
- 1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
Salad:
- 8 cups of iceberg lettuce leaves, broken with fingers to bitable pieces.
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup of ribboned parmesan cheese.
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Firstly, mix your dressing in a small bowl or jug. Whisk until all has combined.
- Preheat your oven to 190 deg. C (375 deg. F).
- In a warm frying pan add your oil and the sliced garlic cloves. Heat up on medium heat and sauté until the garlic turns a little golden.(4-5 minutes is enough) Do not over cook as it would turn bitter. All you wanting is to flavor the olive oil with garlic fragrance. Remove the garlic pieces.
- In a medium bowl, add your cubed bread pieces, (bitable sizes)
- Drizzle the bread croutons with the oil and toss until all has been covered. Place these pieces in a sheet pan with a rim. Bake for at least 10 minutes turning halfway so all the sides are nicely golden.
- Once cooked return them to the bowl and add your salt and pepper and parsley and toss. Leave to cool.
- For the salad tear with your fingers the lettuce into bite size pieces. Place in a serving bowl.
- Drizzle 1/3 of a cup of the dressing over the lettuce. Toss so the dressing coats the lettuce.
- Then sprinkle half of the grated parmesan cheese, and add one cup of your croutons over the lettuce. Toss these all up.
- Finely sprinkle the rest of the grated parmesan cheese over the lettuce mix, and add the rest of the croutons over this. Add the ribboned parmesan cheese to the top. (judge how much croutons you need for your salad)
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve as a delicious side dish with the rest of your dressing for guests to apply as they desire.
Notes
- we replaced the 2 teaspoon of mashed anchovy paste with a teaspoon each of lemon juice, and of Worcestershire sauce.
- The dressing may be stored in a sealed jar up to a week.
- Croutons may be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks and freezes well.