Caesar salad is one of the first green salads I was able to get my kids to eat. As toddlers, pre-schoolers and elementary-school children they would have nothing to do with anything leafy and green. I would place a couple of spoons of salad on their plates from time to time to see if they were interested – they weren’t. Around the time that each of them turned twelve, I noticed that they would eat the Caesar Salad I served with spaghetti. Lo and behold, a new family recipe was in the making! Caesar salad dressing recipes can be high in fat, so I began experimenting with non-fat yogurt until I found the right proportions. This dressing keeps well in the fridge for about 3 to 4 days; store it in a glass container as a plastic one will take on the garlic and anchovy scent. As I mentioned in my post on Chicken and Pasta, our family eats chicken every week so we usually buy and cook it in bulk, resulting in cooked chicken for recipes later in the week. Adding the shredded chicken makes this a hearty salad, suitable for a lunch or light summer dinner. I have included anchovies in the ingredient list; omit them if you must, but they do add great flavor to the dressing. Add a whole grain roll and serve fruit and yogurt for dessert for a well rounded and delicious meal.
Ingredients:
1 large head of romaine lettuce
1 3/4 cups cooked or grilled chicken breast
Yogurt Caesar Salad Dressing Ingredients:
*1/2 cup milk less 2 tbsp
1/2 cup non fat plain yogurt
1/3 cup low fat Parmesan cheese
1/4 plus 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tsps garlic in oil or garlic cloves, chopped
3 anchovy fillets, minced finely (optional)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 pinch chili powder
croutons
Method:
Wash and dry romaine lettuce thoroughly. Tear into bite sized pieces and place in a large bowl. Combine milk, yogurt, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, garlic, anchovies, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and chili powder. Blend or process until the dressing is smooth. Once the romaine lettuce is completely dry, add 1 cup of the dressing to the lettuce and toss. Use a separate medium sized bowl and combine chicken with the remaining dressing. Mix well. Divide lettuce among 6 dinner sized plates and spoon chicken Caesar mixture onto the lettuce leaves. Garnish with croutons and serve immediately.
Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad: Omit croutons. Add 2 cups cooked and cooled short pasta such as penne or rotini to chicken and mix well. Serve on lettuce.
This recipe serves 6 with 107 calories per serving. There are 6 carbs, 14 grams of protein, 187 mgs of sodium, 3 grams of fat and 30 mgs of cholesterol in each serving.