Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons

I love a good Caesar salad in a restaurant but am often disappointed when I try and recreate the dish at home. Often times I'm disappointed because I fall back on a bottled Caesar dressing. This recipe offers an easy dressing that will knock your 'garlic' socks off! :-)

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 2 garlic cloves
• S&P
• rustic French bread (crusts removed, cut into small crouton size pieces)
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons EVOO
• 2 heads Romain lettuce (outer leaves discarded, inner leaves cut into strips)
• cherry tomatoes sliced in half
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, crush 1 garlic clove and blend with some salt and 1 tablespoon of EVOO. Add bread cubes and toss to combine. Spread cubes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until crisp and golden, about 20 minutes, turning once.
2. Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, crush remaining garlic clove (I was tempted to add another garlic clove but was happy that I didn't; since the garlic is raw in the dressing it keeps its strength.) whisk in lemon juice, Worcestershire, mustard and pepper. Slowly whisk in the EVOO.
3. In a large serving bowl, toss lettuce and tomatoes with vinaigrette and croutons. Serve immediately , garnished with shaved Parmesan.