A new monthly feature that shows you how to freshen up your day and your diet with a new twist on salad!
WORDS: MARIE PENMAN
There’s a common belief that the body eats what it needs. Hardly surprising that during winter we crave hot soups, stews and stodgy puddings with custard – it’s our body’s way of building up an extra layer of insulation to keep us warm!
But now that summer is nearly here, food no longer feels like such a weighty issue – which is when we turn to salads.
Although light, salads are more than enough to have as meals by themselves, either as a vegetarian option or with added fish or chicken for protein – and it’s all about the dressings and leaves you choose.
One of the most famous (and tasty!) combinations is the Caesar salad, so-called because it was first created in the 1920s by an Italian chef called Caesar Cardini.
The dressing is whipped up using a delicious mix of anchovy fillets and mayonnaise. The base of a good Caesar salad is Cos lettuce (romaine), which is a classic salad green with crisp leaves and a slightly sweet, nutty flavour. Its longer shape and sturdy leaves make it ideal for a tasty salad with real crunch.
The high water content in the leaves contributes to the body’s hydration and digestive function, and it’s a great source of vitamins A, C, and K, as well as minerals like calcium, potassium, and magnesium, essential for healthy bones, immune function and cardiovascular health.
You can eat a Caesar salad on its own, serve it with sweet potato fries (just peel and cut up a sweet potato, drizzle with olive oil and cook in the oven), or add crispy cooked chicken, as shown in our recipe here. But first, let’s learn how to make a proper Caesar dressing…
How To Make The Classic Caesar Dressing:
◆ 1 garlic clove
◆ 2 anchovies in oil
◆ 15g parmesan
◆ 5 tbsp mayonnaise
◆ 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Crush the garlic to a paste using a pestle and mortar, then mash in the anc
