Classic Caesar salad with salmon

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make a classic Caesar salad with salmon? Prepare the ingredients. You'll want lightly salted salmon. You can buy it ready-made or cure it yourself. I used quail eggs, but you can use regular ones — just cut them smaller. Small cherry tomatoes work best. Any leaf lettuce will do.

2. Step 2:

   

   First, make the croutons for the salad. How do you make croutons? Cut the bread into small cubes — white bread is best. Toast them in a skillet over low heat with the chopped garlic and a little salt until lightly crisp. You can add a little oil while toasting, but I like my croutons dry.

3. Step 3:

   

   Put the well-washed and dried lettuce leaves in a salad bowl. It's better to tear the lettuce by hand than to cut it. Contact with metal makes lettuce oxidize faster and lose its shape. I used a salad mix; iceberg works well, but the most authentic Caesar is made with romaine.

4. Step 4:

   

   Take the salmon (mine was ready to use) out of the package and cut it into medium pieces. Add the fish to the salad bowl.

5. Step 5:

   

   Hard-boil the quail eggs. Put them in cold water, bring to a boil, and then cook for 5 minutes. Cover them with cold water, let them cool, and peel them. Cut each egg in half and add to the salad.

6. Step 6:

   

   Wash and dry the cherry tomatoes and cut them into quarters. Add them to the salad bowl.

7. Step 7:

   

   Add the toasted croutons to the salad.

8. Step 8:

   

   Sprinkle the whole salad with grated Parmesan, and add the Caesar dressing just before serving.

9. Step 9:

   

   Get the ingredients ready for the Caesar dressing. Use a mild-tasting mustard — mine is French. Olive oil, or any vegetable oil. In place of hard-to-find Worcestershire sauce, I use balsamic vinegar.

10. Step 10:

    

    How do you make the dressing? Lower the egg into boiling water for one minute, then take it out, crack the shell, and pour the contents into a blender. Add the chopped garlic, mustard, vinegar (or Worcestershire sauce), and lemon juice, then blend until smooth with an immersion blender. Pour in the oil in a thin stream. Blend the Caesar dressing for another minute. It should have the consistency of sour cream.

11. Step 11:

    

    You can buy a ready-made dressing, make an authentic one using all the proper ingredients without substitutions, or make a lighter version using, say, plain yogurt. Any of these works — choose based on your taste and what you have on hand. Drizzle the Caesar with the dressing and serve right away so the croutons don't go soggy. Enjoy!