Chicken Caesar Salad
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Caesar salad is an Italian salad of romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with an anchovy-olive oil dressing. One of the main reasons why I prefer home-made Caesar salad is because I always make sure that my salad dressing contains anchovies (nice and savoury), even though the addition of anchovies is something that was not in the traditional caesar salad recipe.
See Also: (Leftover Idea) Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap
I cooked the chicken the fuss-free way by wrapping the them in parchment paper and baking it in the oven alongside with the croutons. The result is juicy moist chicken and crispy croutons, all cooked at the same time. This is a deliciously healthy, relatively low-fat and low-carb salad perfect for those watching their calories (i.e. me, opps).
Anchovies in olive oil
Chicken Caesar Salad Recipe
Easy recipe for a healthy, low-fat and low-carb chicken caesar salad.
Ingredients:
- 150 grams romaine lettuce leaves torn to bite-sized pieces; washed and spinned dry
- salt & black pepper to taste
(A) Croutons
- 5 slices baguette cubed
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- salt and black pepper to taste
(B) Baked Chicken Fillet
- 200 grams chicken fillet boneless and skinless
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
(C) Caesar Salad Dressing
- 20 grams anchovies fillets including olive oil in the tin
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (worchester sauce)
- 1/2 lemon juice and zest
- 2 garlic cloves peeled
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
(D) Garnishing Ideas
- parmesan cheese shavings
- lemon wedges
- cherry tomatoes halved
- hard boiled quail eggs halved
- parmesan cheese shavings
Directions:
- To prepare croutons (A), coat baguette cubes evenly with olive oil and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
- To prepare chicken (B),drizzle chicken pieces with olive oil and season oregano, salt and pepper. Arrange the chicken pieces one layer (do not stack chicken) in the center of a piece of a piece of parchment paper measuring roughly 10” (25cm) by 14“ (35cm). To wrap the package, first gather the sides lengthwise and fold in the edges. Fold in the other two sides and tuck in the edges to form a neat parcel.
- Place parcel on one half of a baking tray and bake at preheated oven of 200°C for 5 minutes. Arrange baguette cubes one layer occupying the other half of the baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes at 200°C (392°F) alongside chicken parcel, turning the croutons once halfway with kitchen tongs.
- Carefully unwrap chicken parcel (beware of steam coming out of package). Discard liquid collected. Cut chicken to even slices and set aside.
- To make the Caesar salad dressing, blend ingredients at (C) to a fine consistency in a blender. If you don’t have a blender, you can first use a fork to mash up the anchovies and then use a mortar and pestle to pound the dressing by hand.
- In a large salad bowl, add lettuce and salad dressing. Toss together and dish to individual serving bowls.
- Garnish with baked chicken, croutons, cherry tomatoes, eggs, parmesan cheese shavings, lemon wedge and freshly cracked black pepper.
Noob Cook Tips
- For maximum freshness, toss the salad with the dressing just before serving so that the leaves will be fresh and not soggy.
- Instead of mashing up the anchovies for the salad dressing, you can also serve them whole, or a combination of both. I personally prefer to enjoy them mashed in the sauce.
- If you like pure Caesar salad, just omit the chicken.