Caesar Salad...with Shrimp

I love salads in the summer. I don't necessarily like to make them, because I really don't like having to wash the lettuce (weak excuse I know), but for some reason, a salad at a restaurant tastes so much better and I think it is because I didn't have to make it and clean up the mess. At any rate, my favorite salad is Caesar Salad. In another life, I loved the seasoned, buttery, toasted croutons...and I still do, unfortunately, they do not love me back. So, last night I decided to try my hand at making a Caesar Salad that I could eat and enjoy. I originally wanted to make a grilled chicken one because we have literally tons of left over grilled meat from a party we had a few weeks ago that we bagged up and put into the freezer. Unfortunately, I discovered the chicken has since disappeared, and I wasn't quite feeling a steak Caesar. So, shrimp it is.

Dressing:

4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed

2 tsp of dijon mustard 

2 TBS of mayonnaise (Here is a great homemade mayo that utilizes a cooked egg yolk if you're a germaphobe like me)

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp of anchovy paste

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp of freshly ground pepper

Place all ingredients into a high power blender, and blend. Seriously, it is that easy. Pour dressing into jar and place in fridge until you are ready to make your salad. 

Parmesan Crisps:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with either a silicone baking pad or parchment paper. (I used a silicone baking pad on my baking sheet, but parchment paper works too.) Place tablespoons of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on your lined baking sheet, and lightly spread out into circles, but still in a slight mound. See picture below:

Place into oven, and bake for about 10 minutes until they have melted down, and the edges are beginning to brown. Remove from oven, and let cool, then carefully remove from the pan and place on paper towels to soak up oil. Set aside until you are ready to assemble the salad.

For the Salad:

1 clove of garlic, peeled and smashed

3 heads of romaine lettuce, washed, drained, and chopped

Grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Caesar Dressing (recipe above)

Take the smashed garlic and rub all over the inside of your salad bowl, and discard, or save for something else like the dressing if you haven't already made it. If you are being authentic, use a wooden bowl (besides, they just look so much cooler!). Place your chopped romaine in the bowl, drizzle dressing over and toss well. Add a couple of tablespoons of the cheese, and toss some more. I reserved a little dressing to drizzle over my salad before I ate it. 

Plate the salad and top with a Parmesan Crisp and if you are using meat, add your choice of grilled meat.

For this salad, I used shrimp that I pre marinated in my Greek dressing (which is in an earlier post on this blog), and grilled on my grill pan. 

This really was a satisfying salad, and I really didn't miss the croutons. I hope that you try it and like it. :)