Simple Caesar Salad

If you like Caesar Salad, you’ve probably tried all kinds. Some are very simple, and others are more like a tossed salad with Caesar dressing. Some are topped with grilled salmon and others with chicken tenders. The strangest Caesar Salad I ever had was in Cancun, Mexico, on our honeymoon.

We went to several restaurants during that week: Japanese, Italian, Mexican, etc. We quickly realized that while the restaurants were serving ethnic foods, they were doing it all with a Mexican twist. We ordered Hibachi Steak at the Japanese restaurant, and they put chopped jalapenos on the griddle. The Italian tomato sauce had a definite chili flavor in the background. And the Caesar Salad was served with pickled jalapenos. They prepared it tableside, very traditionally, but they added jalapenos.

While I enjoyed some of these variations, I didn’t think much of the Caesar Salad packing heat. I prefer a much simpler, more traditional salad. The only major difference in my recipe is the use of a hard boiled egg. I was reading Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home recently, and their recipe called for using a hard boiled egg in place of the raw egg. The author said she tried it to make the salad “safer” (less risk of salmonella with cooked eggs), and ended up liking it better that way. So, I took my recipe and tried it with a hard boiled egg, and she is right! It makes a lovely, velvety dressing.