Caesar's Goat

Okay, as promised, I'll post the recipe for my Caesar's Goat Salad. First, a little backstory: I've been making my family's recipe for Caesar Salad for decades now. Yes, I started as a small child.

Anyhoo, over the last year or so, I'd grown restless with the same old stuff and decided to embark on a search for a kick-ass variation. After quite a few mistakes and victories, I've come up with a variation that nixes the anchovy and red wine vinegar, substitutes lemon juice and rice wine vinegar and adds goat cheese instead of asiago. The salad retains its 'oooh' factor in that the goat cheese is fancy and the name is fun. Have at it:

Caesar's Goat Salad

1 large head romaine lettuce

5 cloves garlic

3/4 C. extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp. butter, unsalted

4 slices french bread, cubed

1 tsp. paprika

2 tsp. Kosher salt

2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1 egg yolk

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. dijon mustard

3 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

Chop the romaine lettuce into bite sized pieces, place in a large salad bowl and chill. (That means "put it in the fridge", not "hang out".)

Place the garlic cloves in a small, microwave-safe container and pour in 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on low power for three minutes. Remove and chill in the freezer until ready to use.

In a large skillet, melt the butter on medium-high heat. Add cubed french bread, paprika, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. fresh ground pepper. Stir constantly until bread cubes are toasted and have now become....(drum roll)...croutons! Remove from heat and let cool on a paper towel.

Take your garlic cloves out of the freezer (they shouldn't be frozen, just cool enough to work with) and dump them, and the olive oil, into a food processor. Pulse on high until garlic is chopped/mashed/pulverized. Add the egg yolk and 1 tsp. salt. Pulse again. Add the lemon juice. Pulse again. Add the mustard and vinegar. Pulse again. Add the remaining olive oil in small amounts, pulsing frequently. Add the remaining pepper and pulse. The dressing should be slightly thickened, but not too thick.

Get your bowlful of lettuce out of the fridge and add the croutons. Add half the dressing and toss well. Add half the goat cheese and toss. Sprinkle with the rest of the goat cheese and serve.

Garnish ideas: Thinly sliced heirloom tomatoes (the name alone is fancy and sounds like Grandma's china), or roasted red bell peppers (don't get crazy with roasting them; just slice and cook in a skillet on high heat until the edges start to turn black. Looks muy caliente!).