Juicy chicken strips, salty bacon and Parmesan, crunchy croutons and a light, zingy dressing. Caesar salad was my first real ‘salad’ experience, though I usually got mine from the food-to-go supermarket aisle, they were always a bit scant on the crunchy bacon and croutons (the best bits) and often weighed down by a heavy PVA-glue-like dressing. I love this lighter natural yogurt dressing rather than using mayonnaise - you still get a creamy dressing but without the heaviness.
Total time to make : 30 minutes
Servings : 3 - 4
Ingredients
400g chicken mini fillets or strips
1 tbsp olive oil
3 slices of white bread
2 garlic cloves, halved
140g smoked streaky bacon
1 large head of lettuce (romaine, cos or little gem)
60g Parmesan cheese
Dressing
250g natural yoghurt
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
60g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
2 anchovies, from a tin (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Start by making the croutons. Preheat a grill to high heat. Toast the bread (in the grill or in a toaster) until lightly golden. Once toasted on both sides and whilst still hot, rub the halved garlic cloves over each side. Use a sharp knife to slice into cubes and sprinkle generously with salt.
With the grill still on a high heat, grill the bacon until golden and crispy. Remove from the heat and use scissors to roughly snip into smaller pieces.
Add 1 tbsp oil into a frying pan over a high heat, add the chicken strips and cook for 8 - 10 minutes until opaque all the way through.
Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a small food processor and blitzing until smooth. If you don't have a food processor then skip out the anchovies and Parmesan cheese and mix everything else in a small jar or mug.
To assemble the salad, toss the sliced lettuce leaves with a few tablespoons of the dressing. Top with the chicken, bacon and croutons and spoon over some more dressing. Finish with shavings of Parmesan cheese and a few grinds of black pepper. Serve with the remaining dressing on the side.
Nutritional Information
(per serving, with dressing)
358 calories
37g protein, 18g carbs, 18g fat
Good to know:
Store the components of the salad separately in the the fridge (except the croutons) for up to 3 days. The chicken and bacon can be stored together.
Serve as a large side salad or lighter main – great with soft-boiled eggs or grilled salmon too.
Use GF bread if preferred.