I thought it might be nice to reassure you that I actually don’t just eat cakes and cookies all day.
As much as I would LOVE to exist solely on sugary goodness and coffee (and breakfast. and pizza. and Mexican food. okay, maybe I just like food. but my teeth are super sweet), I actually eat lots and lots and lots of vegetables. Which I don’t post very much because I basically just roast lots of things and then eat them and that’s kind of… boring.
Sorry to disappoint.
But vegetables are good for me! And you. Also– salad.
I told you all awhile ago that I was carefully tabulating my calories with My Fitness Pal (I promise they don’t pay me to tout their product. I just like it. They could pay me though… ahemmm). If you’ve ever counted calories you know that entering things like “Mixed Greens” is totally satisfying because you can eat a giant bowl of them and they are, for real, like 15 calories. So all you really have to stress about are things like croutons. And dressing.
Obviously these are not croutons. But they wanna be.
And because I made them out of whole wheat bread and monopseudogarbageycrap was not an ingredient, I felt pretty good about them.
Other things to feel good about: this dressing.
Caesar dressing traditionally is made with anchovies. Scoff at that all you want but it’s true. And you thought you didn’t like weird smelly canned fish. Heh.
Anyway, anchovies make caesar dressing taste good but they have like 30 bajillion milligrams of sodium and some pretty unnecessary cholesterol and they make My Fitness Pal tell me I can’t have chicken with dinner because I’ve had too much protein.
Also, I think if I told you to go out and buy anchovy fillets you would never ever do it. Am I right?
Fun Fact: My dad had a thing for canned sardines and my mom would make him go stand in the garage and eat them because they smell disgusting.
Usually I like to end the week with something sweet, but I am currently kind of trying to detox from all the birthday cake. And it’s important to eat your veggies, even if you have to dress them up with toasty bread and cheese.
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon, juiced)
- 4 cloves of garlic, very finely minced
- 1 tablespoon spicy mustard
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon black peppe1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large head of Romaine lettuce, washed and cut into 2″ pieces
- 4 whole wheat pita pockets
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup whole wheat croutons
- Hard boil the egg. (see note**) Remove the yolk.
- Add the cooked yolk, red wine vinegar, fresh lemon juice, garlic, spicy mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper to a blender or food processor. Blend until all the ingredients are well combined.
- Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, pulsing as you go.
- Toss the dressing with the Romaine lettuce (you should have some dressing left over. This recipe makes plenty).
- Slice each pita pocket in half and stuff each half with ⅛ of the salad. Sprinkle each with the Parmesan cheese and dot with whole wheat croutons
I’ve been using this recipe for awhile now and it never disappoints. I found it HERE at Creative Noshing. She doesn’t blog much anymore but every dressing recipe she has ever posted is ON POINT. I’m not sure where it’s adapted from because there is no reference cited, and every other caesar dressing I’ve ever made has happened in a restaurant kitchen with a big industrial laminated cook book and anchovies.
This dressing is roughly 103 calories per serving. That’s what I’m talking about.
I am so happy to see there is not any anchovies in there well at least my teenagers would thank you. A nice light and refreshing salad. Take Care, BAM
Bam’s Kitchen recently posted…South African Bobotie
My kids would totally eat the anchovies!!! As long as they didn’t know they were there. They really do add a lot of flavor BUT! I’m happy to report that this dressing has all the flavor and none of the weird canned fish.
This looks great!! I’m like you, I love a lot of food. Even Veggies! Did you know before the Spanish came & conquered Mexico, the Mexican diet was vegetarian??!! Most of the Mexican food we eat today is loaded with meat, but they can easily to made into vegetarian recipes. This way, you can have your Mexican fix but also your veggies. Veggies don’t seems as boring when they’re Mexified
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Well hey! Fun fact of the day! I make LOTS of veggified Mexican food. Black beans are my most favorite staple, but i put sweet potatoes in everything, too. Like sweet potato & black bean quesadillas? Hellooo. Love. Also- roasted veggie tacos. Gah. so freaking good.
Ok, where to begin – the part of me that is (was) trying to be healthy loves this (aside from the sheese obv!) BUT, I am going to make a stand. It’s an anchovy stand. I know they are weird and smelly and tinned and gross, but I love them all the same. AND, as for tinned sardines – I love the story about your dad in the garage (I can totally picture this!) – tinned sardines are like one of my guilty pleasures! As a child, I remember clearly having tinned sardines on toast for lunch, when comfort and memory and the familiar take hold this is still an option. However, sardines found a regular place in my kitchen in the form of pasta. Spaghetti with tinned sardines, garlic, capers, black olives and chopped tomatoes plus wine and maybe a bit of garlic bread = ultimate comfort food!
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I like anchovies IN MY DRESSING. But that is all. I actually cook with capers quite often. But I CAN’T HANDLE sardines. Sorry.
My dad totally made toast to eat with his sardines. And then he stood in the garage and ate every bit
I’m picturing your Mom tell your Dad to eat in the garage!!! lol Men like the grossest stuff I swear!! My Dad would eat lamb’s tongue on crackers in the basement…I still smell that nasty tongue vinegar smell gross!! I love salad…and yay for My Fitness Pal!
Ewwwwwww lamb’s tongue?
Really? You don’t survive solely on amazingly delicious, sugary concoctions? I am shocked.
I love caesar salad…never make it myself and rarely order it. Not sure why? But I do LOVE croutons. I could and do eat them like crackers.
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I would like to exist solely on dessert. But then I’d never get pizza so… yeah.
I love croutons, too. LOVE.