Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
You can never go wrong with a Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. It’s a classic dish that everyone loves.
Greetings from cow country, ya’ll (sorry, but we’re in cow country, and in cow country we say ya’ll)! I’m in Pennsylvania for the weekend visiting my family for Memorial day. The drive up here was beautiful and smelly all at the same time.
The Pennsylvania air is tinged with cow manure, skunk, and road kill. Pleasant, right? It may be smelly, but it’s the smell of my childhood. We’ve been traveling up here since I was born, and the smell reminds me of long hours in the car, I spy games with my brother, “are we there yet” whines, and my grandparents. The smell meant that we were getting closer to seeing two of the very most special people I know, my mom-mom and pop-pop. Today, I get to spend my first #SundaySupper with them.
I decided to make grilled chicken caesar salad for supper since my grandmother is diabetic. It’s low carb and delicious. I marinated the chicken in a lemon, olive oil, and dill mixture. It imparts mucho flavor into the chicken and helps the chicken stay super moist and juicy. It gets grilled to perfection, topped on fresh salad greens, and drizzled with homemade caesar dressing. I promise, this salad does not disappoint.
I let my mom choose the cocktail for #SundaySupper, and when I asked her what she wanted me to make, she got all giddy and excited and breathlessly replied “cocojitos.” Here’s a look at what my day was like:
I juiced over a dozen limes for one measly cup of lime juice. The limes weren’t giving up their juice as easily as I would have liked, and I ended up with a gimp hand. It’s okay, though. God gave us two hands, so I held my cocojito with my other, non-gimpy hand.
I know what you’re thinking, “Jennie, why are you showing us a picture of raw chicken?” Well, because this is my favorite part of the chicken making process. It’s the part where you get to beat the chicken into submission. I like my chicken to be consistent in size, so I beat it.
Place the chicken in-between two pieces of plastic wrap and beat it with a meat tenderizer or improvise, like I did, and use a sauté pan. It’s a great method if you need to take out some unruly anger. Bad day at work? Beat the chicken. Troublesome mother-in-law? Beat the chicken. Kids plucking your nerves? Beat the chicken. You get it. Plus, it’s just plain old fun.
This Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad is best served family style.
Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
Ingredients:
Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 teaspoons lemon and pepper seasoning
- 1 teaspoon dried dill, or 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper
Caesar Dressing
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 4 anchovy filets
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salad
- 3 romaine hearts, chopped
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 and 1/2 cups croutons
Directions:
- In a medium-sized bowl, add the lemon juice, olive oil, lemon and pepper seasoning, dill, garlic, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Mix to combine. Pound out the chicken to 1/2-inch thick. Place the chicken in a bowl and pour in the marinade. Chill for at least 2 hours (I chilled my chicken for 5 hours before cooking and the flavor was amazing).
- Heat the grill or a grill pan. Add the chicken to the hot grill and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until the chicken is fully cooked. When the chicken is finished cooking, let set for 5 minutes before slicing.
- In a bowl of a food processor, add the garlic and anchovy filets, pulse to combine. Add the mayo, dijon, worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, pulse to combine. Through the small hole at the top of the food processor, add the olive oil in a steady stream while pulsing. Add the parmesan cheese, and pulse to combine. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the sliced lettuce to a bowl and top with croutons, grilled chicken, and parmesan cheese. Drizzle with homemade caesar dressing.