Avocado “Caesar” Salad with parmesan croutons

Sometimes inspiration for lunch is staring you right in the face. This is what we saw growing today while walking the dog…

Rows and rows of beautiful bright green lettuces growing next to avocado trees….

Some avocados were just lying on the ground so I had to rescue one. They would rot otherwise. I bought the lettuce though. I bought some lettuce hearts or little gems as they are sometimes called. An original Caesar salad is made with Cos or Romaine lettuce. The smooth avocado is the perfect contrast in texture to the crunchy juicy lettuce and the parmesan croutons have to be big. Don’t bother with those bags of smelly centimetre cubes you can buy. Homemade croutons taste so much better…

This is my vegetarian interpretation of a Caesar dressing. It doesn’t have any anchovies in it but feel free to add a couple if you like that sort of thing. You  could also make your own mayonnaise, this is my quick, cheat version using good store-bought mayonnaise.

Avocado “Caesar” Salad with Parmesan Croutons

serves 2 vegetarian

For the croutons:

• about 10 cm of a baguette or other rustic bread cut in to 2cm cubes
• 2 or 3 tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper
• finely grated parmesan

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over a medium high heat. Throw in the bread cubes/chunks and fry until browned on all sides (about 2 or 3 minutes). Line a bowl with kitchen paper, put the cooked croutons in the bowl, sprinkle with salt, black pepper & finely grated parmesan. Shake them around a bit to coat them in parmesan and set aside. They are best served immediately but can be kept in an airtight container for a couple of  days.

For the Salad & Dressing:

• 1/2 a large avocado
• 2 little gems or lettuce hearts
• some shaved parmesan
• 3 heaped tbsp good mayonnaise
• 1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 or 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 3 or 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp finely grated parmesan
• parmesan croutons (see above)

To make the dressing put the mayo, lemon juice & parmesan in a bowl and blend with a stick blender or balloon whisk. Slowly trickle in the olive oil while blending or whisking until you reach the desired consistency. I like it quite thick. Taste it and add more lemon juice/parmesan/olive oil to your taste. When you are happy with your dressing cut the core end off the lettuce hearts then cut them lengthways into quarters/wedges. scoop out the avocado and slice it lengthways. Lay the lettuce wedges on your plate and place the avocado slices in between. Drizzle a good amount of the dressing all over the letuce wedges with a spoon, top with the croutons and shave over some fresh parmesan.

Enjoy!