SALAD DE MAISON

Here's one that I am yet to serve at a group dinner without getting at least one request for the recipe...

SALAD DE MAISON

2 heads romaine lettuce
2 c. cherry, grape, or yellow pear tomatoes, halved
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked & crumbled
1 c. grated Swiss cheese
1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 c. browned or toasted slivered almonds
1 pkg. Caesar croutons

Place shredded/torn lettuce in the bottom of a large bowl. Top with tomatoes, bacon, and cheeses. Keep in fridge until ready to serve and add almonds and croutons just prior to serving.

DRESSING

must be made at least 3 hours in advance

juice of 1 fresh lemon

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced/pressed

3/4 c. vegetable oil (or similar such as canola or blended)

Using a regular or a hand blended, whir together the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic. Slowly add the oil, keeping the blender going until the dressing emulsifies. Pour into a jar or other container and set in fridge for at least 3 hours prior to serving.

NOTES:

• I'm a ginormous fan of using just romaine hearts rather than the whole lettuce head so instead of 2 heads of romaine, I usually go for 3 to 3 1/2 hearts (you can get them in a bag of 6 at Costco for something like $4.00).
• I never measure the amount of tomatoes...I just use about 1/2 to 3/4 or a pint container.
• Instead of cooking up fresh bacon, we just use the cooked crumbles from Costco and "guesstimate" how much to use (they're Kirkland brand and the opened package freezes beautifully).
• To brown or toast the almonds, you can either do it in the oven or in a skillet on the stove with a dab of butter or, to make them extra awesome, with a bit of grease from cooking the bacon. Mmmmm...
• Our hands-down favorite Caesar croutons are by Fresh Gourmet and are called "Multi Grain Parmesan Caesar". Nothing like 'em!
• On the dressing, you MUST use real, fresh lemon juice.
• Three words: fresh ground pepper.
• When blending the dressing, I've sometimes added a bit more oil than it calls for in order to get it to emulsify well (especially if I had an extra juicy lemon).
• If your dressing ends up separating in the fridge during it's sitting time, don't worry about it, it'll still be good. Just shake it up and remember to blend it longer - perhaps with the aforementioned bit of extra oil - next time.

That's it, kids. Super duper yummy and always a huge hit. Enjoy!