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Caesar salad is a crowd pleaser but personally I’m not keen on Romaine lettuce, bacon, nor croutons. For a salad course, there are many other more substantial options that I prefer with heartier flavour. Is Caesar salad just an excuse for me to enjoy the tangy savoury dressing redolent of anchovy, parmigiano reggiano, lemon, garlic, and Dijon mustard? I must test out this theory.
The pseudo-scientific approach is to isolate the variable but I am not interest in eating Caesar dressing by the spoonful even if it is excellent homemade version from scratch. Instead, I took inspiration from a Bon Appétit recipe creating an unusual potato salad. I can’t say no to potato salads! Boiled new potatoes, sugar snap peas, spicy radishes, and red onions were dressed in a creamy egg-less Caesar dressing. Sounds like a great vehicle to showcase Caesar.
What I love most about Caesar dressing is the bold flavour. That means I don’t go easy on any ingredients that contributes to the umami. This time I made my dressing based on a recipe by The Pioneer Woman. My version is heavy on the tangy side because I prefer less olive oil in general for my salad dressings. The combination of anchovy fillets, fresh garlic, lemon, Worcestershire sauce, grainy Dijon mustard, sherry vinegar, parmigiano reggiano, and olive oil is not for the timid. Using an immersion blender, all the ingredients quickly whipped into a smooth thick sauce. Yes it is pungent but don’t forget that boiled potatoes can really dilute the taste. It is important to dress the freshly cooked potatoes while they are still warm because they absorb seasoning so much better.
What I like to do is toss the warm potato chunks with a portion of the dressing along with some salt and pepper. The potatoes get chilled in the fridge for a few hours. In the mean time, I would blanched the sugar snap peas and cut the radishes and onions. Simply fold all the ingredients together just before serving with additional dressing and do a final adjustment of seasoning. The assortment of vegetable is a great contrast of taste and texture too. The sugar snap peas are obviously sweet, The radishes and red onions offer a bit of peppery bite with different crunch. Of course, the mellowness of new potato cushions all these aggressive flavours with aplomb.
My verdict? I love this salad! It is so different from your run of the mill potato salad with the heady Caesar dressing. Now that I have discovered this new way to enjoy Caesar, I want to Caesar every salad I make. Caesar tomato salad anyone?
