Salads, Lesson #5 - Shrimp Caesar Salad

Salads are dishes consisting of raw or cooked vegetables, meat or seafood, which may be mixed with a sauce or topped with a dressing. They can be served as appetizers, main courses, side salad or dessert salad.

Salads are hot or cold, classical or contemporary, cooked or uncooked, simple (with one ingredient) or compound (with many ingredients) and may also include leftovers from a previous meal or carbohydrate ingredients like pasta, fresh or dried herbs like oregano, poached or boiled eggs or even lentils.

‍Salad Recipe of the Day - Shrimp Caesar Salad

‍There are several stories about the Caesar Salad. One of the popular ones being, Caesar Salad was named after the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar.

However, according to another, Chef Caesar Cardini’s daughter claimed that, on the 4th of July 1924, her father, Chef and Restaurateur Caesar Cardini made do with what he had by making a quick salad and dressing out of the remaining ingredients lying around in his kitchen. Further, he is said to have added a dramatic flair of table-side tossing “by the chef”, to help engage the unexpected rush of customers in order not to turn them away.

Another story by the partner of Caesar Cardini, Paul Maggiora, is that the Caesar salad was actually made for American airmen from San Diego and was also called as the “Aviator’s Salad”.

Whatever its origin, it is clear that this salad was put together and made popular at Caesar Cardini’s restaurant. As it grew in popularity in Caesar’s restaurant, it so got the name “Caesar Salad”.

Caesar Salad can be topped with grilled chicken, steak, or seafood, to make it more nutritious and wholesome. Certain Mexican restaurants may improvise by substituting tortilla strips for croutons or Cotija cheese for the Parmesan.

‍This Dish

‍This dish has all the components for a classical salad, from the lettuce to the delicious Caesar dressing and the crunchy croutons, topped with juicy marinated grilled shrimp and parmesan shavings.

‍Recipe Card

‍Method of Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 160˚C/325˚F.

2. In a bowl, mix the minced garlic with melted butter, salt & pepper. Using a pastry brush lightly brush both sides of the bread with the butter mixture.

3. Cut the buttered bread into cubes, put on a baking tray and bake for 7-8 minutes or until croutons are crisp and brown.

4. Preheat a grill pan over a medium-high Toss shrimp with the olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper, toss again and grill until cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

5. Transfer the shrimp to a plate and drizzle with the lemon juice.

6. In a mixing bowl, whisk the Mayonnaise, chopped Anchovy fillets, grated Parmesan and Lemon juice to make the Caesar dressing.

7. In a large bowl, toss the dressing with the lettuce until well coated.

8. Place the tossed lettuce in a serving dish, top with the croutons, shrimps and Parmesan shavings.

Tip: tossing the lettuce leaves in the dressing, gives it more flavour, rather than just drizzling the dressing on top.

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