caesar salad - store bought or home made?

[lisabnyc]

ok- i am sure the answer to this question is always home made. however, i don't have a lot of time, and I was hoping to buy the store bought bag for caesar salads that includes the dressing and everything all ready to go. however, i have never tried this. is this just a huge mistake?

[funkymonkey]

i've done the bagged caesar salads and the store-bought dressing, and it just doesn't compare to the real thing. and the real thing is so little work, especially if you're the lucky owner of a handblender, that you'll never do the pre-made thing again. i've used martha stewart's caesar salad 101 recipe several times and always had glowing reviews. all you do is blend some garlic, egg yolk, dijon mustard, a few anchovies, lemon juice, and olive oil together. perhaps a tad more work than opening a bottle or a packet, but the results are leagues better.

funkymonkey
http://thebestbite.blogspot.com/

[itstangy]

Hi Funkymonkey,

Do you use a raw egg yolk?

[ginnyhw]

When I do make caesar dressing, and I DO, I use eggbeaters instead of egg yolk. I used to coddle an egg for 1 minute and was never happy with the results.

[funkymonkey]

i do use the raw egg yolk. and i've lived to tell about it!

[daily_unadventures]

I always use the raw egg yolk, and I think it makes it. If I am feeling really paranoid about it I coddle the egg first, but usually I can't be bothered.

Katerina
http://dailyunadventures.com

[ginnyhw]

Dole came out with the first bagged Caesar kit in the nineties and I still buy them for too pooped to make dinner nights. Only then regular Dole, no other brands or low fat varieties and be sure to check the sell by date. Also good for lunch in the office - this is where i discovered it in the first place.

[cheryl_h]

I never buy bagged salads. The bacteria levels are far higher than buying a head of lettuce and cleaning it myself. I've never bought caesar salad dressing either, I dislike the odd flavors from preservatives. Sorry not to be more encouraging.

[Candy]

I never buy the bagged stuff (except for slaw mix for some odd reason). I find it too expensive and there is so much waste with it and I always want to clean it again. I really got turned off when I found a squashed fly in a bag of lettuec mix.

[Veggo]

There is a middle ground that is way better than the store-bought that is hardly any work at all. I pour a few ounces of Paul Newman Caesar dressing into a cup and turbocharge it with a pressed elephant garlic clove, a 2-3 inch squeeze of anchovy paste, a healthy sprinkle of coarse romano and a little lemon juice. Get large sized croutons. The pre-packaged romaine -the whole heads, usually 3 in a bag - is pretty good because it has mostly the lighter green heart leaves. This is my "death - by - garlic Caesar salad" in my profile; don't let on how easy it is!

[itstangy]

Why not just get some Romaine Lettuce, a bag of croutons and a good Caesar dressing? That way, you can't go wrong. I don't think it would take too much time to wash and prepare the lettuce. Good Luck