I adore them. Very easy to make and very tasty. Here’s my recipe (a very, very tangy and flavorful Caesar dressing):
Pasteurize an egg for safety (put it in hot but not boiling water for 3 minutes).
Mix the following – 1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced, 2 tsps lemon juice, 1 tbspn Worcestershire sauce, 1 tspn fish sauce (instead of anchovies – use anchovies if you have them), 2 tbspns dijon mustard, a dash of honey (if you like a tiny bit of sweetness), and red pepper flakes/hot sauce if you want heat, and the egg yolk. I eyeball the ingredients, so you don’t have to get them exact. Slowly stir in 1/3rd cup of olive oil until smooth. Toss with 1 or 2 heads of romaine lettuce to your desired amount.
Mmmmm. I don’t think I have ever tried it with the anchovies, but plenty of people recommend it. Maybe the standard restaurant dressing already has it?
Most bottled caesar, which is nothing like the recipe in the OP, has anchovy in it. I know because I tried to find some vegan caesar dressing a few years ago.
I miss the experience of having a great caesar salad made table side at a restaurant.
If you have a Cheddars Scratch Kitchen near you, they serve a Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad that I could eat every other day for the rest of my life and not get sick of it. However, CS purists may object. Fine. More CCPS for me. See you there. Aloha!
Another odd variant, but my God I love it so: it uses lacinato kale (a.k.a. dinosaur, black, or Tuscan kale) instead of romaine, and preserved lemon instead of anchovies. I preserve the lemons myself - you just pack halved lemons in salt and lemon juice and they develop a very complex, almost piney flavor (as well as being sour and salty).
Large bunch of lacinato kale, washed/dried and torn into 2" pieces
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Flesh of one preserved lemon, rinsed and separated from rind; 1/2 of rind minced.
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp honey
black pepper
1/3 C olive oil
1 egg yolk
1/2 C grated Parmesan
Sourdough bread croutons if desired
Combine vinegar through pepper and blend, then drizzle in the olive oil and an egg yolk while still blending.
Pour 3/4 of dressing over kale and toss. Add grated Parmesan and the minced lemon rind. Additional dressing/croutons to taste.