Salads
Kale caesar salad
A recipe by James Dodd, former head chef at The Field Kitchen. This dish is always a hit with diners. Leaving the salad to sit for 15 minutes before serving allows the acidity to take away the raw taste and texture from the kale.
Cook's notes
For a vegan version, try our vegan Caesar salad recipe instead.
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 3 thick slices of sourdough bread
- olive oil
- salt
- 250g kale, stripped from the stalk & torn into bite-sized pieces
- Parmesan cheese, to serve
For the dressing:
- 1 poached egg (blended hot)
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 5 salted anchovy fillets
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1½ tbsp lemon juice, plus more to taste
- 100ml olive oil
Method
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Step 1
For the croutons, preheat your oven to 200˚C/Gas 6. Cut away and discard the crusts from your slices of bread. Tear the bread into coarse bite-sized chunks. Lay them on a shallow baking tray. Drizzle over 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt. Toss the bread in the oil as if dressing a salad so that the bread soaks up as much oil as possible. Bake in the oven for 10-12 mins, turning halfway through, until golden and crisp. These can be made well in advance and stored in an airtight container.
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Step 2
While the croutons cook, poach your egg until the white is set but the yolk is still runny. Transfer the warm egg to a blender along with the rest of the dressing ingredients, apart from the oil. Whizz the ingredients together and then add the oil, bit by bit until smooth and completely blended. Taste and tweak the seasoning with a pinch more salt and lemon juice, if you think it needs it.
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Step 3
Toss the kale with a few generous spoonfuls of dressing in a large mixing bowl and leave to sit for about 15 mins before serving. Taste and add more dressing if you fancy. Any remaining dressing will store well in the fridge for a few days.
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Step 4
Top with croutons and a generous grating of Parmesan.