My Sister's Caesar

Anyone who knows my sister well knows that Caesar salad has always been her favorite food. I remember being in Spain as kids and Lauren dragging my family around from restaurant to restaurant until we found somewhere that served Caesar salad for lunch.... a very difficult feat in such a meat-eating country. While it may be difficult to find a great salad when out and about, it's much easier to make your own delicious one! Recently, Lauren and I collaborated on making a "healthier" (aka eggless, dairy-free) version of her childhood favorite which we made more elegant with some crunchy parmesan crisps.

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 anchovy fillets

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 garlic cloves

3 dashes Tabasco

1 tsp dijon mustard

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp Worcestershire

freshly ground black pepper

romaine hearts, washed and dried

shredded parmesan cheese

Start by washing and drying the romaine hearts and spreading them out in a platter. You can also slice the leaves into smaller pieces, but I thought this made for a prettier presentation.

In a food processor, combine all the ingredients listed above, minus the parmesan cheese which will be saved for later, until smooth.

To make the parmesan crisps, heat a non stick pan over medium high heat and sprinkle 1 tbsp of cheese into the pan.

Let it cook for a minute, flip and let it sit another minute, or until crisp, then remove. If you don't have a non-stick pan, you can use a regular pan and spay some Pam spray on it.

Drizzle all of your dressing onto the romaine leaves, using your hands to mix them around a bit, so as to spread the dressing around. Garnish with the parmesan crisps and serve. If you have any extra anchovies, you might want to throw them on as well. Hopefully your siblings will be as happy as mine when this is put on the table!