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.

Chocoladamias

These sounded good, but I didn't like them. I don't know if it was due to the fact that I used cashews instead of macadamias or that they didn't cook through, but I won't be keeping this recipe. I much prefer the taste of the blondies with chocolate chips that my grandmother made which were called Congo Bars and used brown sugar. I am going to go through my other blondies recipes and pull them out because I have realized that I already have the perfect blondies recipe!!

Chocoladamias

1/3 c. butter
1/2 c. white baking pieces
2 eggs
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. chopped macadamia nuts
1/2 c. milk chocolate pieces

1. Grease a 9" x 9" baking pan and line the bottom and sides with waxed paper. Grease the waxed paper.
2. In a small saucepan cook and stir butter and white baking pieces over low heat until melted, mixture may separate. Set aside.
3. In a small mixer bowl beat eggs. Gradually add sugar, beating until light. Add butter mixture and vanilla. Add flour and salt, mixing well. Stir in nuts and chocolate pieces. Turn into prepared pan.
4. Bake in a 325ºF oven for 35 minutes or until top is golden.
5. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Loosen edges and invert. Remove waxed paper and invert again. Cut into bars. Makes 36 bars.

Orange Basil Marinated Chicken

I probably won't keep this recipe, it was basically marinating and boiling the chicken in an orange flavored sauce. I didn't notice until after I cooked up some rice that they want you to serve it cold. I saved one breast for leftover, perhaps it will be good cold in a salad? I don't think I would want to eat this just plain cold, though. I also had to wipe off the parsley and basil from the top before I ate it.

Orange Basil Marinated Chicken

4 whole chicken breasts, skinned and halved
1/4 c. orange juice
1/4 c.oil
2 T oil
2 T chopped fresh parsley
1/2 t. basil leaves
1/2 t. grated orange peel
1/4 to 1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper

1. Arrange chicken breast halves in an un-greased 13" x 9" non-metal baking dish.
2. In small bowl, combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken.
3. Cover with foil and refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
4. Heat oven to 375ºF.
5. Keeping the foil over the chicken, bake for 35 minutes.
6. Uncover the chicken and continue baking for 20-30 minutes, basting frequently until chicken is tender and no longer pink.
7. Drain and cool chicken. Wrap chicken tightly and refrigerate until serving time. Serve cold. Serves 8.