Caesar Dressing – Good Eats Style

By Iron Chef Leftovers

I love Caesar Salad but the store bought dressings are somewhat lacking and there are too many people who are scared off from eating the real stuff due to a raw egg yolk in the dressing. I won’t go into it here as to why that is nothing to worry about, but needless to say, I wouldn’t make Caesar dressing with just any store bought egg. Alton Brown devoted an episode of Good Eats to tofu a number of years ago, which lead me to discover the Tofu Chocolate Cake, which is really an easy and wonderful dessert item. Also in this episode was a recipe for Caesar Dressing, replacing the eggs with tofu, so I decided to give it a shot. You know what, it is pretty tasty and about 100 times better than the store bought dressing.

The Software
2 ounces cubed Parmesan
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
11/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
11/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper
1 cup silken soft tofu
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

The Dressing
Starting on the lowest speed, chop the cheese cubes in the blender jar until it settles into the bottom of the jar, gradually increasing the speed. With the blender running, add the garlic down the chute and chop until minced. This step will take 30-60 seconds, depending on your blender

Next, with the blender off, add the mustard, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, and tofu to the blender and blend until smooth. While the blender is running, drizzle olive oil down the middle of the vortex that has formed. Slowly add the olive oil (can’t stress SLOWLY enough) and blend until it reaches salad-dressing consistency anywhere from 1-3 minutes. You may need a bit of extra oil, depending on how much liquid is in your tofu.

Notes
The above is the original recipe ratios, I adjusted the instructions. This dressing probably takes about 5 minutes to make. The first time I made it, I made it a couple of hours in advance and while it was very tasty It thickened considerably, so you need to bring it back to room temperature before serving it. I would actually just make it right before serving, as it is so easy to do. Taste the dressing before you serve it, I have, at times had to add more mustard or garlic or vinegar to it. The dressing could also stand the inclusion of 2 anchovy fillets, if you are so inclined.