Keeping with good old Pennsylvania family traditions, I like to make a good, solid Sunday dinner for us when I get the chance (and am not traveling here or there). My weekly market trip generally lands on Sunday around noon, and so I like to spend Sunday morning in bed reading Southern Living and trolling the internet for recipes in anticipation of another week of culinary adventures. A few weeks ago, Frank had to put in some Sunday hours at the office, so I wanted to make something that he would really enjoy so that he would have something to look forward to. I was all ready to grill up some steaks or roast a chicken, but he told me that he could really go for a real, legit caesar salad. Now the thought of this immediately creeped me out, but after thinking about it, I decided to dive in and just go ahead and do it.
As per usual, I made my list, headed to the market, and upon putting anchovies in my cart thought "Wow, I have become one of those people. You know, the type that actually buys anchovies." Fortunately they were hidden amongst a week of groceries, so I don't think that my cashier noticed or had that much of a chance to judge me.
Making the salad itself was easy, of course. Tear some lettuce and that was it. The same with grilling the chicken breast. Season, grill, let rest and enjoy. The fun part was making the homemade croutons. I am a fan of many crunchy things, but croutons are up there for sure. I actually almost prefer to eat them right out of the box as opposed to on a salad. It was super simple to dice up a baguette (making the leftovers into another meal with brie), and then lots of fun to toss around with oil and spices. The recipe calls for just garlic powder, parsley and salt, but I went to town with whatever was in my spice rack that sounded good. I honestly don't even remember exactly what was added. I had to bake mine for a little longer than the suggested 15 minutes to get them nice and toasty, so just make sure that you check on there every once in a while.
Then it came time to make the dressing. It has only been in the past few years that I have really accepted mayonnaise into my life. (I am sure that this new found tolerance of mayo would please my grandfather, who put mayo on everything, and actually once even got a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff for Christmas). After "hemming and hawing" over the anchovies, as my dad would say, all that really needed to be done was the blend all of the fixins' for the dressing together until the anchovies disappeared. Not bad. Not bad at all. I was quite surprised at how well I handled the whole thing when it was all said and done.
I tossed together the lettuce, dressing, and parmesian and spread it out on my large serving platter, topped it with the chicken and croutons, and we had a very lovely Sunday afternoon meal. The salad made enough for me to take leftovers to school for lunch for 2 days, as well as give Frank a couple quick meals as well.
Overall, I was pleased with the whole thing. The dressing tasted much better than what comes in a bottle and it really was not difficult to put together at all. The only change I will make is with the mayo. Trying to be as healthy (which could also translate to trendy) as possible, I got mayo made with olive oil. Frank told me that he couldnt taste the difference, but I certainly could pick up on some aftertaste of olive oil. Next time I will opt for regular. Other than that, enjoy!
Ingredients:
For the croutons:6 slices sandwich bread (or an equivalent amount of baguette slices, about 12-15)
3 tbsp. olive oil OR 3 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried parsley
Kosher salt
For the dressing:¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1-2 anchovies, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the salad:Romaine lettuce
2-4 chicken breast halves
Shaved Parmesan cheese
Directions:To make the croutons, preheat the oven to 300˚ F. Cut the bread into 3/4-inch cubes and place in a medium-large bowl. (Trim the crusts off if you wish – I prefer to leave them on.) Combine the olive oil or butter, garlic powder and dried parsley in a small bowl. Stir together to blend well. Pour the mixture over the bread cubes and toss gently until evenly coated.
Transfer the bread cubes to a baking sheet, spreading them out into an even layer. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for 15 minutes. Check to see if the croutons are golden and crisp. If not, toss lightly and bake up to 15 minutes more. Remove from the oven and let cool. Transfer to an airtight container until ready to use.
To make the dressing, combine the lemon juice, water, garlic, mayonnaise, Parmesan, anchovies and pepper in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Blend until well combined and completely smooth. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Wash and dry the lettuce leaves, removing the greener leafy portions if desired. Chop or tear the lettuce into bite size pieces and place it in a large bowl. Season both sides of the chicken breast halves with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken on a grill or grill pan, until golden and cooked through. Remove the chicken pieces to a plate, tent with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, add salad dressing to the lettuce (a couple tablespoons at a time) and toss to coat. Add more dressing as desired. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and slice diagonally into long pieces.
Portion the dressed salad into serving dishes. Top with homemade croutons, grilled chicken pieces, and Parmesan shavings. Serve immediately.
I only dressed what I thought we would eat in one serving, and then made homemade little "salad kits" with the rest of the ingredients so as to aviod a soggy lunch for the next couple of days. I also used grated parm instead of shaved because I already had it on hand.
Yum! Looks good Kelly! Very brave of you to take on the anchovies :)
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