Picture it… Safeway. A Tuesday night. The menu: Chicken Caesar Salad. You know what I went in for? LETTUCE. I went in for lettuce. An hour and $100 later, this is what I came out with…
LETTUCE, people!! But this happens to me every time. I suddenly remember 27 things for my grocery list that I “meant” to add, and I just didn’t know it until I saw the stuff on the shelves! And then my five minute, $2 shopping trip turns into this debacle. The grocery store time-warp/expanding list phenomenon will be fodder for a later blog… But hey, I got some great staples and ingredients that will be going in a near-future Ree recipe!
I digress… I needed lettuce so I could create recipe #94: Chicken Caesar Salad, which completed the longest chapter in Dinnertime, “Freezer Food”. Not gonna lie… Wasn’t thrilled about making this. Chicken, YAAY! Salad, YAAY!! Caesar… BOOOOO… I have never liked Caesar dressing, and this one featured another ingredient I am not very familiar with, anchovy fillets. I once heard Rachael Ray say on her cooking show, “If you think you don’t like anchovies, you’re wrong!” With that advice in mind, I used anchovy paste in some recipes previously, because basically it’s just a seafood-y salt. These full fillets were about to be liquefied in a blender, so it was about the same thing. Long story short, this recipe is crazy-easy, especially as you can do most of it ahead of time. I sautéed my chicken breast a day or two ago, and the dressing could also be prepared several days in advance.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/chicken-kale-caesar-salad-3365331.html
Oh! Did I mention the croutons?? Those ain’t from a bag, baby! I bought some bread off the “reduced for quick sale” rack since it’s already a little old, and fresh bread makes lousy croutons! A little homemade garlic oil (crushed some cloves into olive oil, heated for a couple minutes, then strained the garlic bits out to leave the deliciousness) drizzled over the top, and an hour in a 200 degree oven. Ta da! Perfect croutons. The dressing was as simple as throwing everything into the blender and whirring it up until it’s all incorporated. I made a slight miscalculation with the dressing because I ALWAYS add more garlic than the recipe calls for; “less is more” is not a rule I live by when it comes to garlic. I should have listened to Ree this time; I was still tasting raw garlic this morning, and the salad tasted REALLY spicy. Lesson learned… On the bright side, not one vampire approached me today!
In the end, I didn’t love this because I don’t care for what it IS, but at least I learned how to do it. If this kind of thing is your bag, then I’d recommend the recipe! Just be sure to put your blinders on at Safeway, or this salad is gonna cost you a hundred bucks…
Have Book, Will Cook 