Anchovy paste is a key ingredient in Caesar salad dressing-a little will add lots of flavor. When you have extra on hand, use a teaspoon of it in a batch of marinara sauce for a wonderful taste.
Save yourself the expense of the half-and-half by substituting 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup milk instead. Reduce the lemon juice to 1 tablespoon since the sour cream provides sufficient tang.
When Grandma had leftover figs on hand after making this recipe, she put them to good use. She'd substitute an equal amount of chopped figs for either raisins, dried apricots or dates in her cookie recipes.
Put leftover anchovies to good use. Chop finely and mix them into potato salad. You can also cream them with butter for a great steak topping, or mash them with soy sauce to make fish sauce.
If you do not grow chives or if they are too expensive in the market, you can use the top of a green onion instead. Chop finely or snip with kitchen scissors. This will spare you the cost of fresh chives.
Stretch this economical salad during tomato season by finely chopping the bacon, onion and lettuce. Mix in the mayonnaise dressing and serve in hollowed tomatoes. It makes a great buffet dish, too.
Small scallops are often called bay scallops and can be expensive. You can save money by using large sea scallops and cutting them into quarters before cooking them.
Stretch your budget and serve an additional 2 people by adding 1 more cup of rice and 2 more tablespoons French dressing. And, don't forget that the smaller the shrimp, the less expensive they are per pound.
You can save money by using olive oil and balsamic vinegar instead of the bottled Italian vinaigrette dressing called for in the recipe. Use 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil for the best flavor.
This wholesome, vegetable-rich salad is equally authentic when made with chopped cooked chicken instead of shrimp. So it's an easy way to save a bundle. Use an equal amount and cut or shred into small pieces.
As a general rule a chicken will produce 1 cup cooked meat per pound of whole chicken. You can save money and avoid waste by buying the smallest fryer available for this recipe.
You can keep a lid on odors in the refrigerator if you store onions in a screw-top glass jar. Don't store them in plastic as the odor will permeate the plastic and affect the taste of other food.
