Full of texture, crisp, tangy flavours and nutritious ingredients, it’s easy to see why the Caesar salad is one of the world’s most popular dishes. The core ingredients of the salad — chicken, lettuce leaves, croutons, an anchovy dressing and shaved parmesan — are also simple, accessible and flexible. This makes it ripe for all kinds of interpretations, whether you fancy adding grilled romaine hearts, going plant-based with tofu and tahini, or adding a kick with jalapeños.
Another, perhaps more unexpected, way to get creative with a Caesar salad is with the bread. This Caesar salad recipe proves that even croutons can be indulgent. By roasting the chicken on top of the bread it can soak up the succulent juices and fats from the meat before being toasted.
The recipe requires preparing three separate elements — pickled sultanas, chicken sourdough croutons and a dressing — and then assembling them together with a bed of bitter, crunchy leaves.
It makes a fabulous weekend lunch, and, if you can resist the urge to gobble it up in one go, perfect leftovers to take into the week.
THE RECIPE
PICKLED SULTANAS
INGREDIENTS
50ml red wine vinegar
50ml water
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
50g sultanas
METHOD
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To make the pickle brine, heat the vinegar and water in a pan with the seasonings until they have dissolved.
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Pour the hot pickle brine over the sultanas in a jar.
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Leave to pickle for two hours, or ideally overnight.
SOURDOUGH CROUTONS
The amount of bread you should use for this recipe depends on the size of your baking tray and how much chicken you will be using. The aim is to fill the bottom of the tray with bread and to have it tightly covered with chicken so that it can soak up the chicken juices and fat.
INGREDIENTS
Thick slices of bread, torn into chunks (we use our Bruern Sourdough, but any of our loaves will work)
Good quality, low salt chicken stock or broth
Bone in, skin on chicken legs or thighs
Salt
METHOD
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Toss the bread in a liberal amount of chicken stock so that it’s slightly soggy but not sodden all the way through.
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Season the chicken well with salt.
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Arrange the bread chunks in the base of a deep roasting tray and tightly arrange the chicken over the bread so that it’s all covered.
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Roast in an oven at 140°C fan or 160°C conventional for 35 minutes.
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Remove the tray from the oven. Transfer the chicken to separate a tray and then roast for a further 30 mins.
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Gently flip the bread pieces and separate them out slightly. Drizzle them sparingly with olive oil.
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Return the bread to the oven and toast until it’s coloured on all sides. You should have some chewy bits and some shatteringly crunchy bits.
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Put both trays aside to cool.
DRESSING
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp of chopped chives
Half clove of garlic, micro-planed
Zest of half a lemon
30g micro-planed parmesan
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3 fillets of good anchovies, finely chopped
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Pinch of white pepper
Juice of a lemon
3 tbsp of creme fraiche
2 tbsp mayo
Salt to taste
METHOD
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix.
ASSEMBLY
INGREDIENTS
Sourdough croutons
Cooked Chicken (cut into portions)
Pickled sultanas
Dressing
Pink pickled onions
Mix of bitter and crunchy leaves (e.g. romaine, endive, radicchio or escarole)
METHOD
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Liberally dress the leaves and arrange them in a bowl or platter.
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Scatter and crumble the croutons over the leaves and add a sprinkle of sultanas.
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Pile on the chicken and decorate with pickled onions.
