caesar salad with julienned veggies and garlicky toast croutons

I have learned that one of the crux ingredients in caesar salad dressing is anchovies. Whenever I purchase a small tin of them I think of a particular scene from Friends: it's in the episode where Rachel learns that Ross slept with that girl from the copy shop and then the two of them are in Rachel and Monica's apartment. Rachel orders pizza and, just to spite Ross, asks for extra anchovies, "Can you just chop some up and put 'em right into the sauce?" (season 3, episode 16, "The One The Morning After"). I feel like in the 80s and early 90s pop culture, there were a lot of jokes about anchovies and how disgusting they are. I remember the references in movies and on TV shows but it was always lost on me; I had never eaten an anchovy before.

Now, I am up to buying a can a week and am still not sure what the joke is about. I am loving anchovies! The impetus for the sudden increase in my consumption is Julia Turshen's incredible caesar salad dressing recipe, from her book "Small Victories". It is creamy and tangy but not gloopy. It coats lettuce beautifully and I love keeping a batch of it stashed in my refrigerator for quick salad meals. I really should save myself the weekly hassle and pick-up more than one tin at a time or do they sell a small case of canned anchovies at Costco?

I do, however, have a couple of long-standing issues with the classic caesar salad. Here is my George Costanza rant (I am apparently all about the 90s TV references today):
The first issue is that the simplicity of the components (lettuce, shredded cheese, croutons, dressing) make for a thin meal. Three years ago I did a month of Whole 30, and one of the things I learned is that I get pretty bored by just a lettuce salad and that is kind of what Caesar salad is. Sure, it totally has it's place as an appetizer or side dish but, for a meal, I want a little more heft and variety to it.

My second issue is croutons- pretty standard to the caesar salad, I have struggled for my own crouton solution. Grocery store pre-made croutons seem over processed but I am pretty intimidated to make them from scratch. (I know Ina Garten does it and makes it looks so easy, but the couple of times I've tried, the results have been less than successful). I also don't like how dried out croutons are so that when I try to stab them with a fork that is also loaded up with lettuce, they just sort of crumble apart. I end up with crouton crummies but not the satisfaction of the full crunch. Or maybe I have been trying to eat them wrong all this time. Am I supposed to just eat croutons whole, by themselves?

This recipe is my attempt to address my two, very specific, pet peeves about caesar salads. For the first issue, lack of variety and bulk, I add a julienne of veggies to the standard romaine. I use cabbage, bell peppers and radish because, like romaine, they have a high watery crunch factor but also add flavor, texture, color and nutrients. For the second issue, my crouton struggle, I add a bread element that is less intimidating: I make toast. I make toast and then rub it with a garlic clove and tear it up. The result has the caramelized bread exterior that a crouton provides but is still chewy inside so it soaks up dressing a bit better and is more easily stabbed with a fork. No more crouton crummies.

If, like me, you also have similar qualms with caesar salad, I'd encourage you to give the recipe below a try. If your love of caesar salad is hang-up free, please still make Julia Turshen's Caesar dressing. It is vastly superior to any bottled dressing.

caesar salad with julienned veggies and garlicky toast croutons
(serves 2-4)

5 cups of chopped romaine lettuce (about 1 head)
2 cups shredded red cabbage (about 1/4 of a head of cabbage)
1-2 cups julienned bell pepper (1 medium yellow or red bell pepper)
1 cup julienned radishes (about 4 large radishes)
1 batch of Julia Turshen Caesar salad dressing (see recipe below)
3-4 slices of good bread for toast croutons (see recipe below)
for serving: additional freshly grated parmesan cheese and black pepper

1) Make the dressing and stick in the fridge to let the flavors mingle while you set about prepping the veggies. (see recipe below)

2) In a large salad bowl, add the chopped lettuce, cabbage, bell pepper, and radishes and give a good toss to mix together. Set aside while you make the toast croutons (see recipe below).

3) To the salad mixture, add about half of the dressing and using a large spoon, mix the veggies in the dressing until evenly coated. I always start out adding a smaller amount of dressing than I think I'll need because it's easy to add more dressing but frustrating to fix an overly dressed salad. Taste a bite of salad to determine if it meets your dressing preference. Add more dressing if desired.

4) Toss in the toast croutons, give it all a big stir, and serve immediately with additional freshly grated parmesan cheese and black pepper.

caesar salad dressing 

1 small garlic clove, minced
4 olive oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained and finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

1) The original cookbook instructions call for pureeing all of the above in a blender or food processor OR whisking by hand. I go for the hand whisk method: in a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, anchovy fillets, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, mayonnaise and parmesan cheese. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as desired (I like the dressing with lots of pepper). Refrigerate dressing until needed.

garlicky toast croutons

The number of slices of bread to toast up depends on the number of folks eating the salad. I think a good rule is one slice per person. The recipe as written below is for 3-4 people, but feel free to adjust accordingly.

3-4 slices of good bread (I like sourdough)
6-8 teaspoons olive oil (or 2 teaspoons olive oil per slice of bread)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in half

1) Preheat oven broiler to high setting.

2) Places slices of bread in a single layer on a rimmed baking dish. Brush the upside with olive oil and set the sheet under the broiler. Keep a close eye on it and cook until bread is evenly toasted. I think this took about 2 minutes for me. Remove pan from the oven, flip the bread slices over so that now the uncooked size is facing up. Brush slices with remaining olive oil and return pan to under the broiler.

3) Once bread is toasted, remove from oven and rub the cut side of the garlic clove over the bread slices (both sides). The heat from the toast will start to "melt" the garlic clove into the bread. It's pretty cool but take care because the garlic really packs a punch and it is quite easy to over do it.

4) Tear bread into bite sized pieces and add to salad greens.