The Classic Yet Verstile Caesar Salad

My husband and I eat some type of salad pretty much daily at home as well as when travelling or at our vacation home.  It is the must have with any dinner but quite often during the warm months at home and at our vacation home, we turn to salads for lunch and/or dinner.  Salads pack a lot of nutrition while replenishing much needed water even though they tend to be low in calories making them an ideal choice.  In fact, the majority of calories in salads come from the dressing and toppings like cheese or croutons.

One of my favourite salads is Caesar salad.  It can be served with or without chicken strips but I really like mine without the chicken.  A little shredded Parmesan cheese adds protein and even though croutons are the norm, I seldom eat them.  It is likely one of the most versatile yet most inexpensive salads to make.

Caesar salad really starts with romaine lettuce, lemon juice, dressing, bacon bits and/or croutons all of which can be easily made at home.  Romaine lettuce grows nicely in pots on a sunny windowsill or in the garden.  I usually use Renee's Caesar Salad dressing to make Caesar salads at home.  This is a creamy gourmet dressing very, very close to homemade.  The thing is, a Caesar salad is just the beginnings of a Caesar salad wrap or a dinner Caesar salad.  Simply add pre-cooked chicken strips to either for a delectable meal.  I keep pre-cooked chicken strips in the freezer as a quick meal start simply for this purpose.   The chicken strips can be cold or warm.  I personally prefer cold but have had chicken Caesar salads with warm chicken strips as well.  The strips can be grilled or pan-fried then frozen in packets for later use.  I keep packets of frozen pre-cooked chicken strips on hand in the freezer for easy summer meals.