lemon yogurt caesar salad

By cooklynveg • May 11, 2010 • 2 Comments

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Author Notes: I'm not much of a purist when it comes to caesar salad - I can't help myself from adding a bunch of non traditional ingredients (avocados for instance, I seem to find an excuse to add them to everything). But most importantly, I'm not a fan of the traditional dressing. I don't like egg based sauces (mayo? no thanks), but I do like the creaminess, so here is my answer. This yogurt based dressing is a bit lighter and fresher than egg based dressing, but with the same full flavors thanks to garlic, chili, worcestershire sauce, mustard, parmesan and lemon zest. - cooklynveg

Serves 4

for the dressing

1/3 cup plain yogurt (I used 2% fat)
juice of 1 lemon
zest of about a quarter of a lemon
2 tablespoons of good quality extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce (vegetarian if you want)
1/2 teaspoon of strong dijon mustard
dash of ground sea salt
good dash of ground black pepper
dash of ground red chili flakes
1 garlic clove, minced

for the salad

1 head of Romaine lettuce
one small whole wheat baguette, torn or cut up in to small pieces (I used whole wheat potato bread)
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 avocado, sliced

Preheat the oven to 435C Place the bread pieces on a baking sheet, drizzle with the olive oil. Add a little salt and pepper if you like (you could add any flavorings you like here - garlic or rosemary work great). bake in the oven for about 5 mins until they're crispy. take out of the oven and leave to cool.
place all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork or whisk. assemble all the salad ingredients in a large bowl, add the dressing and toss.