Day 175: Shrimp Caesar Salad
Since I was 15 and hung out at Earls with my friend J, who had a real job as a busgirl there, back in the day of the giant papier-mâché parrots and green and white umbrellas and Mocha Kahlúa Pie, I have been a fan of their Hot Chicken Caesar Salad. That is, until I discovered that (not really suprisingly) one contains 1120 calories and 77 grams of fat. Only 12 saturated, but still… and then there’s the 1531 mg of sodium. So. I figure for that price, I might as well get a burger and fries out of the deal.
But I still do love Caesar salad, and today it occurred to me that it would make good use of the bag of frozen shrimp that I so often call into service on days like today when I haven’t really planned anything. It would have made good use of a deli roasted chicken, too.
The chunk of leftover baguette I had frozen was chopped, tossed with canola oil and toasted in a 400 degree oven to make croutons, an essential part of any Caesar. (I would have sprinkled them with some garlic powder or salt if I had any. If I wasn’t so lazy, I would have pressed a clove of garlic into the oil that I tossed the bread chunks in.) The shrimp came cooked in a bag, and only needed thawing under running water in a colander.
For the dressing, I consulted my salad binder (I have 14 binders full of recipes I’ve been collecting over the years, plus a yellow milk crate, plus assorted surfaces throughout the house, plus my computer, plus about ten thousand cookbooks – I exaggerate only slightly) and sort of morphed a bunch of Caesar dressing recipes together. I wish I had a tube of anchovy paste – I love anchovies in my Caesars – but it’s not something I normally keep on hand. The dressing was good, if a little lemony… I know a lot of people like it like that, but I’ve never been one to squeeze that wedge of lemon over my salad. Next time I think I’ll try half lemon, half balsamic vinegar, for a creamy but balsamic-y Caesar dressing. A roasted head of garlic would have been fantastic, too.
In fact, next time I think I’ll try grilling whole hearts of Romaine like they used to do at that restaurant over on 4th Street, and grill the shrimp, and maybe even grill oil-brushed and garlic-rubbed bread to tear into croutons, too.
Caesar Dressing
AuthorJulie
Whisk it all together in a bowl or shake it up in a jar.
Ingredients
Directions
Whisk it all together in a bowl or shake it up in a jar.
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this is a staple at my house too. My version has half olive oil and half lower fat mayo. I also use equal parts red wine vinegar and lemon juice. Yum!
I was just thinking about making a ceasar dressing from scratch and coincidentally this month’s Chatelaine (or is it Cdn Living) has a recipe & directions. But the recipe includes raw egg. I’m glad to see yours does not.
I have a million sheets of paper with recipes laying around too. I think they’re all yours!!
Ah, that is the Earl’s of my youth, too! We used to go for Wing Wednesday all the time when I was in University. And to check out the hot waiters. 😉
Is there any chance you actually have the recipe for Earls caesar salad dressing? Tons of calories or not I find it just too good to resist. Please post it or a full calorie clone.
Thank you!!
Cheryl
I need a recipe bad , I am after the earls ceasar salad dressing recipe , the one that is on this page is kinda close but it is not yet the same.
can anyone please help me?
my email is testella@shaw.ca
I thank you from the bottom of my heart
tony