Umami Salad (Aka Marni's Salad)

I had this a lot growing up at my best friend's house and it was a staple when I went to his cabin near Power River in the summer when I was age 15-18. My friend's mom Marni would make a massive batch of this salad to feed a dozen kids, she'd be cooking the bacon all afternoon, then she'd serve it along with lasagna and garlic bread. I would probably eat at least 3 helpings of this salad. I got the recipe from her and started making it at home, usually quadrupling the recipe to fit in a 1 litre container I used to have. We called it "Marni's salad". My friend called it Caesar salad (not sure why). I'd bring it to potlucks all the time and it was always a hit. I'm giving it a new name now, "Umami salad" thanks to the many sources of glutamates/umami here: MSG, Worcestershire, bacon, parmesan cheese.

The original version had a spice blend called "Beau Monde" by Spice Islands which I can't find anywhere, but it's basically "Salt, Dextrose, Onion, Celery Seed" so I've substituted those in. Don't omit the MSG! I just use cheap parmesean, don't need to use parmigiano reggiano for this.

Ingredients:

Dressing:

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1⁄2 tsp white granulated sugar
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp coarse ground pepper
• 1⁄2 tsp celery salt
• 1⁄2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp MSG
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1⁄4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3⁄4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 slices of bacon, cut into pieces
• 1⁄4 cup grated parmesean cheese
• 1 head green leaf lettuce

Directions:

1. Cook bacon.
2. Mix all dressing ingredients together and shake well.
3. Combine lettuce, parmesean cheese, bacon, and dressing. Toss.