Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Easy Egg-Free Caesar Salad Dressing

I've made my salad dressings from scratch for years. When the freshly combined flavors within the dressing burst in your mouth, that's when you realize you've just created a little slice of raw food culinary Heaven right here on earth.

So, it's easy to figure out - get away from all the preservatives, save yourself some money, and make your salad dressings from scratch.

When I'm planning and catering parties for clients, I have to be sensitive to their dietary needs.

Because there are so many people suffering from food allergies - it's always important that I address their dietary concerns and needs, as well as the concerns and needs of their guests.

This is not your standardized Caesar Salad dressing. You can make this recipe in about 5 minutes.

This is an easy Caesar Salad recipe with an easy Caesar Salad dressing with no eggs or anchovies. The original ingredients for Caesar Salad dressing are a problem for some people. Why? Because the staple in traditional Ceasar Salad dressing is raw eggs. Raw eggs are a health concern for many people who suffer from food allergies, not only pregnant woman, as many of you might have suspected.

Determined to serve healthy food for everyone, it was important to me to create the best recipe for Caesar Salad dressing that not only would be healthy but would also taste phenomenal.

File this one under "easy egg-free recipes".

I like to add Good Seasons Italian All Natural Salad Dressing & Recipe Mix (found in your grocers salad dressing aisle) to my recipe, which gives it a lot of great flavor. I also prefer to use more garlic than usual, and because I like to customize things, most of my salad dressing recipes are devised to be made by each persons personal taste.

If you grow your own vegetable garden, take advantage of it 100%. Don't just stop at customizing the Caesar Salad dressing recipe. Customize your salad, too. Put your signature stamp on it by adding complimentary salad vegetables (tomato, onion, etc.) to it. Or, change your lettuce to fresh spinach or use baby field greens.

I sometimes like to add fresh grilled chicken or fresh grilled fish to a Caesar Salad. And when I don't want a plain egg-free Caesar Salad, in a pinch, I'll add water-packed Albacore tuna. I bet you'll get a lot of compliments when you serve one of these Caesars. And to fancy it up even more add artichoke hearts or hearts of palm.

This is how to make a good Caesar Salad dressing that's egg-free and tasty...

Easy Egg-Free Caesar Salad Dressing
Makes 1 and a half cups
(Printable Recipe)

1 cup mayonnaise (I prefer mayonnaise made with olive or canola oil)
1 to 2 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard (I prefer Temeraire Dijon Mustard with Herbes de Provence or Grey Poupon)
1 to 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 to 2 tablespoon garlic pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon Good Seasons Italian All Natural Salad Dressing & Recipe Mix
1/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced (or 3/4 teaspoon minced garlic re-hydrated in 1 tablespoon water)

1.) Mix all of the ingredients together, starting with the smaller amounts listed.
2.) Blend well, taste and add more as desired.
3.) Toss with bite-size pieces of romaine lettuce.

Eat healthy to be healthy, and enjoy! Be sure to read the comments below. Leave your own question or comment too!