The World's Worst Caesar Salad from the World's best grocery store

I ran out at lunch to McGruder's to pick up some fruit. I don't think I've mentioned this place before so let me fill in on how cool it is.

This grocery store is the closest thing I've seen to a European Supermarket anywhere in the US. The have a row of fruit and vegetable stands outside. You walk in directly to the bakery, and they sell all kinds of odd little things that I can't find anywhere else. They also sell alcohol in the store. This isn't a rarity in general, but in MD there just aren't many grocery stores that sell alcohol too.

Aside from the oddities there, the fruit is unbelievable. I wish I knew the farm where they bought it from. It smells like real fruit, and it's small like real fruit. And for those of you who think I sound slightly batty...tell me you've never bought a gourgeous peach or package of strawberries that looked so BIG, ripe and luscious...only to get home and bite into it and discover it pretty much tastes like cardboard.

Also to help contribute to it's European feel, the shelves are monstrously tall, the aisles are narrow, and the whole inside of the store is just, well, dark. None of this is a bad thing mind you. It actually somehow gives the place a homey feel.

On with the story. So I went for fruit and wound up instead buying a 6 pack of Woodchuck's new Pear Cider. Don't know how it tastes yet, I'll fill you in on that part tomorrow. And I also decided I felt like a salad. As I walked past the deli I saw they had little packages made up with different types of salad. Hmmm what do I feel like? Chef? No, Caesar! On the label it said "Magruder's Gourmet Caesar Chicken Salad." When I got back to work and opened it up I found out two things.

There was no chicken.

There was no dressing.

The only thing this salad had, was lettuce, and a whole hell of a lot of croutons and parmesan cheese. So I started digging around thinking maybe there's chicken at the bottom. Maybe there's one of those little dressing packets in here somewhere. No such luck. The croutons were also the garlic-iest croutons I have ever put in my mouth. It almost made up for the lack of dressing.