Do you know those days when you want something healthy-ish but still delicious?

Well, my lazy Caesar salad recipe will answer the dilemma of what to eat for dinner.

Add some chicken, salmon, or shrimp, and this salad is a perfect complete meal. Just don’t try to kiss anyone after you’ve eaten my lazy Caesar salad because you will reek of garlic, which may not be a bad thing.

This salad is your friend if you’re low carb, keto, or even vegan. (If you’re vegan, use your special veggie mayo and omit the cheese and anchovy paste and add in some nutritional yeast instead.)

My lazy Caesar salad recipe feeds two people or one greedy person. I usually use one head of romaine per two people. The dressing is enough for four servings.

Now, most of you like light white wines for salads, and that’s cool…

But it’s the salad dressing that tends to be the problem.

Wine Pairings for Salads

When choosing wine pairings for salads, always base it on your dressing.

Vinegar-based dressings make a wine taste sour, no Bueno. So keep the acidity of the wine high enough to compete with the acid of the dressing.

Now rich, creamy dressings like Ranch, Catalina, Blue Cheese, or Thousand Island need a refreshing high acidity wine like Cava, Verdejo, Vinho Verde, Gavi, Champagne, Chablis, or Sauvignon Blanc.

So here’s a quick little wine and salad pairing guide just for you:

Caesar Salad

• Unoaked Chardonnay
• Pinot Noir
• Sauvignon Blanc
• Pinot Grigio
• Verdejo
• Pouilly Fume
• Champagne or other sparkling wines
• Grüner Veltliner

Cobb Salad

• Beaujolais
• Pinot Noir
• Pouilly Fuisse
• Rosé
• Clareté

Asian Inspired Crunchy Noodle Salad

• Riesling (off-dry)
• Gewürztraminer
• Chenin Blanc
• Rosé

Waldorf Salad

• Riesling
• Gewürztraminer
• Chenin Blanc
• Pinot Grigio
• Soave
• Rosé

Niçoise Salad

• Rosé
• Sparkling Rosé
• Albarino
• Gavi
• Grüner Veltliner
• Blaufränkisch
• Côtes-du-Rhône (red or white)

Kale Salad – “I’m going to have a kale salad for dinner,” she said smugly. As you roll your eyes hard.

The problem with kale is it’s a wine killer. Since the sharp taste of it can easily overpower even the most vegetal wine styles.

But if you add in fatty ingredients with your kale like sautéed mushrooms, cheese, bacon, pancetta, or chorizo, these flavors deliciously round out kale and make it utterly easy to pair with wine.

• Grüner Veltliner
• Gavi
• Unoaked Chardonnay
• Sauvignon Blanc (Loire Valley)

How to Make Your Lazy Caesar Salad

I mean whipping fresh egg yolks with painfully slow drizzles of oil until you get mayonnaise fit for royalty? No?

Then don’t complain Sheila, if you want authentic tasting Caesar salad dressing…

This is AS EASY as it gets. You’re welcome.

Once you’ve made the dressing it should look like the picture below.

• 1/2 cup good mayo (I prefer Duke’s mayonnaise)
• 1 large garlic clove
• 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano + more for the top of the salad
• 1.5 tsp Dijon mustard
• .5 tsp anchovy paste
• Cracked black pepper
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 6 parmesan crisps or a handful of seasoned croutons
• 1 head of romaine lettuce
• Sea salt optional

1. Add mayo, mustard, anchovy paste, lemon juice, and pepper to a small mixing bowl and whisk well.
2. Grate Pecorino Romano cheese and garlic clove with Microplane grater
3. Whisk in grated cheese and garlic
4. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed with salt and additional lemon juice
5. Set dressing aside in the fridge until ready to eat.
6. Wash and cut up one head of romaine lettuce
7. Add half of Caesar dressing into a large empty mixing bowl
8. Toss in romaine lettuce until coated with dressing
9. Divide onto plates
10. Add croutons and grated Pecorino Romano
11. Serve + enjoy!