Caesar Salad, a Recipe

Have I told you about my amazing recipe for Caesar salad? I am going to do so right now. It is extremely garlicky and lemony and potent. I believe that the end product tastes better than the recipe might look, but if you like a mild, creamy or dominantly cheesy Caesar, this one probably is not for you. But it's SO GOOD. Try it.

(All the ingredients are a rough estimate--you should mos' def adjust to your taste buds)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 garlic clove
Anchovy paste (I buy it in those toothpaste-looking tubes and squeeze out a 1-3 inch section)
Olive oil
Parmesan, freshly grated
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Romaine lettuce for as many people as you are serving (P and I can eat an entire medium-sized head for an entree-sized salad), washed and dried and chopped to be salad-sized

1. Slam down and peel the garlic. Sprinkle some salt, preferable a course kind like Kosher, over the crushed clove. Use the flat side of your knife to smoosh the salt into the garlic. You can also chop the garlic, but the smooshing action is most important. Press down and away until you have a salty, pulpy garlic paste. It will be potent (duh)--if you are making this salad for guests whose taste buds are unfamiliar to you, I would suggest using a fraction (1/4 to 1/3) of your total yield of garlic smoosh. If it's for you and you like to smack your lips on some garlicky salad, go ahead and add it all!
2. Add the garlic to a big salad bowl. Then squeeze in the lemon and the anchovy paste and lots of pepper and some of the cheese.
3. Whisk it so everything is combined. It will not be pretty! The anchovy paste turns the whole mess quite gray.
4. Keep whisking. This time, add the olive oil while you continue to mix it. Stir like crazy until everything is emulsified.
5. Take a piece of lettuce, swirl it around in the dressing and eat it. How does it taste? Too lemony? Add more oil. Too oily? Add more lemon juice. Too...you can't quite tell but it needs something? Try more cheese or pepper. I rarely add anchovy paste--it's definitely a background flavor, you know? Also, consider using more salt.
6. Anyway, once it tastes good to you, it's time to dress the salad. You have two choices: you can either add the lettuce straight to the salad bowl where the dressing is, or you can pour the dressing into a smaller bowl and pour it over the lettuce. That's how I do it anymore--it's easier to mix completely, and it often turns out I have more dressing than I need. That way I can save it and use it for other things.*

*Like marinating whatever meat I'm using to top our salad! Shrimp

is just so good on this. Maybe that sounds gross? I don't know. Nor do I care. It's positively delectable, so bright and lemony and crunchy/pillowy/tender. This is what it looks like in close-up:

(Oh, this is also a catch-up post! We make this salad all the damn time, but I took these photos in June)