Caesar Salad

I had some chicken to use up, and I have been attempting to eat more healthy foods. So, I got into my salad recipe box. This recipe was easy and tasty, although I am not sure that the dressing is authentic Caesar. I suppose they substituted mayonnaise rather than use raw eggs, which is a smart choice!! I liked the presentation of the Romaine lettuce, but only one of my halves was "pretty". The home-made croutons were fantastic, I won't ever throw away leftover sourdough bread again!!

After I took the picture at the top of this page I realized that I was eating this salad as my dinner, so I added the other half of the lettuce, some chopped up chicken, and finished off the dressing. I had some croutons left over, but I only used 3 slices of bread. I wouldn't have had enough salad dressing if I had more than 3 of the half-head servings, so next time I will make a bit more.

This is definitely a keeper. The picture below is my dinner-sized Chicken Caesar Salad. I used crushed garlic and shredded Parmesan, not having a hunk for shavings. There was plenty of cheese in the dressing. Also, serving the salad with warm croutons is yummy. I wish that I had made the salad dressing ahead of time so it was cold from the refrigerator. Oh, I also used some garlic powder when seasoning the croutons.

Caesar Salad

4 slices of sourdough bread, cut into cubes
1 T olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
3 T olive oil
1 T mayonnaise
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t. Dijon mustard
1/4 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 pkg. of Romaine hearts (3 heads)
Parmesan cheese for shaving garnish
freshly ground pepper

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Toss the bread cubes with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread the cubes on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until golden. Set aside to cool.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the 3 Tablespoons of olive oil, mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and shredded Parmesan cheese until well blended.
3. Remove any wilted outer leaves from the Romaine hearts. Cut off the core end and slice the head lengthwise.
4. Place the Romaine halves on plates with croutons and drizzle with the dressing. Top with Parmesan shavings and season with freshly ground pepper. Serves 4-6.