Saturday, June 19, 2010

Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken

The Caesar salad can be be found on almost every menu here in California, there are lots of variation's but the most common is crispy romaine lettuce, croutons, shaved Parmesan cheese and a tangy creamy garlic dressing. The origin of where it originated is not known for sure but the story of Caesar Cardini in Tijuana Mexico is the best known, one busy 4th of July in 1924 he ran out of most of his restaurants food and came up with the salad with what he had on hand.
The biggest concern with Caesar salad in restaurants is that the dressing is often made with raw eggs which has the risk of Salmonella infection, it's rare and the acid in the dressing can help. I avoid the risk by using store bought mayonnaise as the base and adding Dijon mustard, lemon juice, garlic and anchovy paste. Tonight's salad had grilled chicken breast and crispy pita chips for crunch. Lots of different variations can be used such as chicken, shrimp, salmon, bacon and avocados.

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