Pre-made vs. Homemade - Caesar Salad

Nowadays you can buy all types of frozen or pre-made dinners. What some people don't seem to realize is how easy and rewarding it is to make these meals for themselves. You can get almost anything you want frozen, canned or pre-made. For example you can get bottled dressings, frozen dinners, pre-made salads, frozen appetizers and much much more. This week I am going to give you five different frozen foods - one for each workday - and show how to make it yourself. Monday's dish is Caesar Salad:

Day 1 - Caesar Salad

 

Now normally restaurants and bottled dressings usually use a creamy Caesar however this recipe is more of a Caesar vinaigrette, making the salad less rich and a bit healthier. I think the reason this dressing is not as common is because it has a raw egg yolk which is more finicky in that it can spoil easily. However this recipe is really lovely and worth the small amount of effort.

Dressing:
salt and pepper
1-2 Cloves of garlic
1/2 tbsp of Dijon mustard
1 egg yolk
juice of half a lemon
3 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
splash of balsamic vinegar

Salad:
1 head or 2-3 hearts of romaine lettuce
a big handful of spinach (optional)
2 strips bacon
small handful grated parmesean cheese
PC lightly buttered croutons


To start slice the bacon into small strips and throw them into a pan to make bacon bits. Then wash the lettuce and set it to dry. Now for the salad dressing, make it in the bottom of the bowl, so to start throw in some salt and pepper, next peel and crush the garlic into the bowl - if you're a huge garlic person like me then use two cloves but if you don't like a strong garlic flavour just crush one clove into the bowl. Next add the dijon mustard, egg yolk, lemon juice, oil and vinegar.

Now mix the dressing together and give it a taste, if it needs something feel free to add it and if not then tear up your romaine lettuce and throw it in the bowl. Add your croutons, parmesean cheese and bacon bits on top. If you really want to take it to the next level garnish your salad with some bright colourful lemon zest and serve.

Enjoy this delicious fresh salad!

Brunch

After a long unforgettably forgotten night, my roommates and I woke up ready for a big hearty brunch to get ourselves up and start the day. Instead of going out for brunch, which is one of our favourite things to do after a night out, I attempted something new. Usually we will have either a plate of bacon and eggs or a breakfast sandwhich but I decided to do something inbetween. It is similar to Eggs Benedict - I would even go so far as to say better - and most importantly, simpler. The nice thing about this recipe is that it is your whole breakfast platter but presented in a pretty, tall stack.

The Leaning Tower of Brunch

1 English muffin (toasted)
2 Eggs
1 tomato
4 Slices of bacon
1/4 cup of Extra old cheddar, grated

Start by putting the English muffin in the toaster and throwing some bacon in the frying pan.Once the bacon is partly done bring a pot of water to boil. When the bacon is done set it aside and start the eggs. Lightly poach the eggs (if you don't know how - start by cracking the egg into a small bowl, make sure the water is simmering, not boiling too vigorously, make a little whirlpool and then drop the egg in, let it boil for a couple minutes then scoop it out and put it in a small bowl). Now take the pan you cooked the bacon in and dump the majority of the bacon grease leaving behind a light layer. Put the pan on med-high heat and cut the top off the tomato and put it on the pan, face down. Let it sear until it is brown then take it off. Cut it into a nice big thick slice then repeat. Now that everything is ready you can stack it! take the english muffin, put a sprinkle of cheese, then the bacon, the tomato, the egg and then top it off with some more cheese and voila! An awesome, elegant, delicious breakfast!

Hope you like it,
Try it out and let me know what you think!