Grilled Chicken Caesar

Sometimes a simple classic is all you need. Recently, The Husband requested Grilled Chicken Caesar. 

No problemo, Husband.

I like having this at home because you can control the amounts. In restaurants, it's often drenched and who knows where the dressing came from.

I use Lidia Bastianich's Caesar Salad Dressing recipe. It's my go-to. You don't need to use the whole amount of dressing for this dish. Just store the remaining dressing for use later in the week. Lidia recommends a blender or food processor for making the dressing. I always use my food processor. 

The chicken is easy to prepare. Just marinate in thyme and fresh lemon juice and olive oil. That's it.

Super simple!

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

(Makes 4 servings, with some chicken leftover)

For the chicken:

2 lbs. thin cut chicken breast (about 10-12 slices)

1 tsp. dried thyme

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

In a medium bowl, whisk together thyme, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Place chicken in bowl. Massage marinade into chicken breasts so that all are evenly coated. Set aside in the refrigerator for at least thirty minutes and up to 4 hours.

Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in batches (be sure to not overcrowd the pan). Grill on each side about 3-4 minutes per side. Set aside in a covered dish to keep warm. Repeat until all chicken pieces are grilled.

For the salad:

Romaine lettuce, cleaned and chopped (about 6 cups)

Croutons (optional)

Caesar Salad Dressing

From Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen

By Lidia Bastianich

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, plus more for dressing the salad

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

4 cloves garlic

4 anchovy fillets

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or as needed

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 hard-boiled egg yolk

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese,

Combine 2 Tbsp. vinegar, lemon juice, garlic and anchovies in a blender or the work bowl of a food processor. Blend until smooth smooth, adding some of the 1/3 cup olive oil if there isn't enough liquid to move the mixture around the blender jar. Add the mustard, hard-boiled egg yolk, salt, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and remaining olive oil if any. Blend until smooth and creamy. Taste the dressing; if it's a little too tangy, pour in a splash or two of olive oil and blend until incorporated. 

Place romaine leaves in a large bowl, add enough dressing to coat the leaves. Add a splash of extra vinegar if you would like the dressing thinner. Toss with a few handfuls of grated cheese. Season with pepper if desired.

To serve:

Top each plate with prepared romaine leaves. Top each salad with two slices of chicken and croutons if using.

To Caesar With Love

It’s February. The month of hearts and cupids and valentines and making your husband happy happy happy.

So, being the fab wifey that I am, I let The Husband pick the menu on Saturday.

Of course, the first words out of his mouth were, “Caesar Salad.”

That husband is SO fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants crazy in his decisions and requests.

Haha.

Basically, whenever Mark gets control of the menu, Caesar Salad is on it. If Crème Brulee wasn’t already selected for dessert courtesy of moi, he would have asked for Chocolate Chip Cookies or Chocolate Chip Cake or Key Lime Pie. And, of course the main dish involved pork because as John Travolta says, “Bacon tastes good; pork chops taste good.” And The Husband totally digs on swine, man.

One day, Mark will totally shock me with his dinner requests. One day.

But until then, I will give him his predictable standby of Caesar Salad because he loves it and well, that’s all that matters.

The key to successful Caesar Salad is to cut up your romaine in bite-size portions. And, I tend to use the hearts more than the outer, tough leaves. The hearts are the light, pale green while the outer leaves are dark green. In addition, make sure your romaine is nicely chilled and dried really well. I usually wash it, chop it, place in a bowl packed with paper towels and pop it in the fridge a few hours earlier. Then, I pull it out a half-hour before serving. Dress it up, toss with parmesan and croutons.

And, voila:

Suzie’s Caesar Salad
(Makes 4 to 6 servings as an appetizer)

2 to 3 hearts of romaine, chopped, washed and dried with paper towels, chilled in a salad bowl
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, plus more for dressing the salad
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
4 cloves garlic
3 anchovy fillets
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or as needed
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 hard-boiled egg yolk
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of salt
½ cup Parmesan cheese
½ cup or more of your favorite croutons

To make dressing:

Place garlic cloves in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse to chop. Add anchovies, red wine vinegar and lemon juice. Process for a minute. Add egg yolk, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, salt, black pepper and olive oil. Process for a minute.

When ready to serve:

Remove romaine from refrigerator a half-hour before serving.

Toss dressing with romaine. Add a splash of red wine vinegar. Add Parmesan cheese. Toss again. Top with croutons, if desired.

Please note: The dressing can be made ahead a day or two as well and refrigerated until ready to use.