Mom's Caesar Salad

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If you've followed me since the beginning of My Engineered Nutrition, then you know I have my fair share of family recipes. When you grow up following your mom and grandmother around the kitchen before you can even reach the counter, it's pretty inevitable that certain recipes will become so familiar you can almost taste them at their very mention.

If I had to trademark my mom with two recipes it would be her French bread and her Caesar salad.

Without a doubt, every dinner party, big gathering or special occasion my mom would bake her famous French bread (and then proceed to burn it while toasting 9 times out of 10 hehehe) and make her Caesar salad, always in the same large wooden salad bowl.

Ahem...Mom, if you're reading this - I would like to claim said wooden bowl in your will :) 

This salad is so simple (but oh-so delicious) and can quite possibly accompany any meal - it's THAT good. This is a much lighter Caesar salad than what you are used to, which is why I love it. It has such a bright flavor thanks to all the lemon juice, making it especially great for a summer salad! Pssst, remembered those Parmesan Garlic Croutons I post a couple months back? Those are GREAT which this salad!

Mom's Caesar Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients: 

Caesar Dressing (makes about 1/2 cup dressing)

• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 3 lemons, juiced
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the salad:

• 6-8 cups romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
• Parmesan Garlic Croutons
• Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:

1. In your large mixing bowl combine garlic and salt. With the back of a spoon, mash the garlic with the salt to make a paste. Add Dijon and lemon juice and whisk together. Slowly drizzle olive oil into bowl while whisking. (Alternatively, you can make this dressing in a small separate bowl or jar, prior to tossing with lettuce.)
2. Add romaine lettuce to mixing bowl and toss to cover in dressing. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and divide salad between 4 plates. Finish with toasted Gluten Free Parmesan Garlic Croutons.

Nutritional Information (1 serving, does not include croutons or parmesan):

80 calories - 1 g Protein, 4 g Carbohydrates, 7 g Fat

Parmesan Garlic Croutons (Gluten-Free)

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Croutons are arguably the best part of a salad. Toasty, crunchy, garlicky cubes of bread which still have that chewy, soft center.

Let there be no mistake - these are not qualities you will find in store bought boxed croutons. Oh no, the best croutons are always homemade. 

I personally cannot stand boxed croutons.  The are usually hard enough to break a tooth on and are covered in a powdered flavoring of some kind. If I'm going to be putting croutons on my salad, the only way that is happening is if they are homemade. Croutons are SO easy to make and I'm going to go ahead and say that 100% of the time, they will taste better than anything store bought (gasp!).

While any loaf I bread technically can be turned into a crouton, I prefer to use BreadSRSLY Gluten-Free Sourdough. I HIGHLY recommend using this bread as not only is it some of the best sourdough I've ever tasted...it is also gluten-free. Win-Win! 

Aside from the bread, you only need garlic, olive oil and Parmesan cheese. It couldn't be any more simple than that.

I guarantee you won't ever think about buying boxed croutons again after you make these once. Throw these on a salad, your favorite bowl of soup...or simply eat them freshly toasted and warm out of the oven. I don't judge! 

Parmesan Garlic Croutons (Gluten-Free!)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Bake Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients: 

• 3 cups sourdough bread (gluten free), cut into 1" cubes - I recommend BreadSRSLY gluten-free sourdough, but any sourdough would do
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated

Baking Accessories:

• Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper. 
2. Slice bread into 1" cubes. This should yield about 3 cups of bread. In a large mixing bowl, toss bread with olive oil and garlic. 
3. Transfer bread to baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, toss croutons on baking sheet and return to oven for another 5 minutes. 
4. After a total of 10 minutes of baking, sprinkle cheese over croutons and return to oven for a final 5 minutes to melt cheese and finish toasting croutons. 
5. Remove from oven and add to dish of your choice. If you would like to reserve for later use, these keep well stored in an airtight container. 

Nutritional Information (1 serving):

155 calories - 4 g Protein, 23 g Carbohydrates, 5.5 g Fat