Caesar salad with lemon, fried capers and anchovies
A good Caesar salad is a beautiful thing. The trick is to balance salt, acid and fat. Once you have the dressing down, the riffs are endless. Fried capers are one of my favourite ways to elevate a simple dish. For a milder dressing, use vegetable, rapeseed or grapeseed oil.
Salads can be the most layered and flavourful of dishes. I start with a strong base – crunchy vegetables or leaves – then add a soft element, such as mozzarella or boiled egg. Next, I add fresh herbs for a bright bite and, lastly, the perfect dressing, which marries acid with fat. I always finish with flaked sea salt and a grind of black pepper. These recipes are good enough to be their own meal. Use them as a guide and change or add anything as your heart desires. With five good dressings in your back pocket, there is very little you cannot achieve in the kitchen.
