Speedy Suppers: Supercharged Caesar Salad

For me this weather is all about salads, BBQ's and  staying out of the kitchen so this filling supercharged caesar salad has been my go-to fast fix dinner this week.

Caesar purists look away now as this is a caesar salad cranked up to 11, I go by the rule of: if I'm having salad as my main meal then its going to be pretty hearty. You can obviously buy caesar dressing but it won't be a patch on this homemade version, it takes a minute to prepare and is pretty addictive, you'll be putting it on ALL THE SALADS.

I went for sourdough bread as that's what I had in the bread bin but you could use any good loaf, the cheap supermarket thin sliced stuff just wont give you the really good crunch that's so important with this salad but you can buy bags of big chunky croutons if you want a no-cook version.

Supercharged Caesar Salad (serves 2)
You will need:

• 1 slice sourdough bread, thickly sliced
• 1 garlic clove
• drizzle rapeseed oil
• few handfuls mixed salad leaves
• 10 anchovy fillets (the plump silver ones from the supermarket deli counter not the tinned type)
• few pitted olives
• 1/2 small red onion, finely sliced
• fresh chives and fennel tops (optional)

For the dressing:

• 1 free range egg yolk
• 3 tablespoons finely grated fresh grana padano/parmesean cheese
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin rapeseed/olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried garlic granules
• big splash worcester sauce
• salt and pepper

Make it!

1. Rub the garlic glove over both sides of the bread, drizzle with oil and toast under the grill/in the oven then slice/tear into croutons.
2. Combine the remaining salad ingredients onto a big platter, dot with coupons.
3. To make the dressing simply mix together all the ingredients and drizzle liberally over the salad.