Avocado Caesar salad

I was so hungover this morning that all I could think about was the lovely bottle of S.Pellegrino in my laptop bag, the laptop bag I’d just left in KINGS CROSS STATION’S BLOODY TOILETS!!! Horror. I dropped my overpriced Upper Crust cheese and tomato baguette on the floor and ran back to get it. After scrabbling for another 30p, I barged through the turnstiles and practically rugby tackle the rather heavy set toilet attendant holding my bag.
“… And this is definitely your bag?”
“Of course it’s my bloody bag, how the hell would I know what cubical it was in, if I hadn’t been the one who put it there?!… Oh for god sake LET GO YOU MAD WOMAN, I’M GOING TO MISS MY TRAIN!”…
At this she abruptly let go, causing me to stumble and swear rather loudly in front of a small child. I brushed myself off, apologised to the toilet attendant, the child, the child’s mother and a few other onlookers, before scuttling off towards platform two feeling sweaty and sick.
Right, so after all that hoohah, lets talk caesar salad. I love the stuff, on the days I can’t be arsed to cook, I often buy a bag of the Be Good To Yourself Caesar salad from Sainsbury’s but I do resent paying £2.50 for what is essentially, a bag of lettuce. So I thought I’d make my own but with the addition of a few boiled eggs and an avocado to make it a bit more of a meal. I tried to be all ‘posho’ and use quails eggs for this recipe but they don’t sell them in Sainsbury’s so that’ll teach me for trying to be fancy. Fiddly little buggers to peel in any case.
Anyhow where was I? Oh yeah, so this is such an easy recipe, made easier if you buy shop bought croutons. I made my own on this occasion but wouldn’t be surprised if I bought shop bought ones next time – depends how tired I am. Making your own caesar dressing on the other hand is easy and well worth doing. You’ll never look back I promise. Enjoy!

Avocado Caesar salad
Serves 2 / Hands on time 30 mins / Total time 30 mins / V
4 eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced
2 bulbs lettuce, I used a mix of sweet gem and red mini cos
Dressing
2 tsp capers, drained and chopped
Juice of ½ a lemon
75g Greek yogurt
2 tsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp Dijon or wholegrain mustard
½ tsp runny honey
½ tsp garlic oil or 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
Croutons 
1 tsp garlic oil or 1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 slices of bread (sourdough works well but any will do)
To serve
20g Italian hard cheese or Parmesan* shavings to serve (optional)
½ lemon zested and sprinkled to serve (optional)

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400F/gas mark 6.
2. In a small saucepan of boiling water, simmer the eggs for 8-10 mins. Meanwhile, prepare a bowl of ice water and transfer the boiled eggs into it. Put to one side.
3. Cut the bread into squares and place in a large bowl with the extra virgin olive oil and a crushed garlic clove or garlic oil. Give it a good mix and season with salt and pepper. Turn out onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 5-7 mins or until toasted.
4. Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients together in a bowl and slice the avocado. Peel the eggs and cut into quarters.
5. Assemble the salad by cutting the bottoms off two cos lettuces and discard. Arrange the leaves in a large bowl with the avocado and pour over the dressing. 6. Mix well, making sure the leaves are fully coated. Finally, divide into bowls and top with sliced boiled eggs, croutons and serve with parmesan shavings and a sprinkling of lemon zest.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V – Vegetarian
*Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiani) is always made using animal rennet, therefore it is not vegetarian. Substitute for Italian hard cheese if applicable.