Episode 8 - Southwest Grilled Caesar Salad

By: Kristy on Monday, July 05, 2010

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Mmm summery, garlicky southwestern-y goodness.  This is perfect for a hot summer night!  Dawson seasoned and cooked the chicken for me...perfectly.  Just look at it!  He's my bbq master.  You should get one, they're very handy!

Salad
1 head romaine lettuce
1 ear of corn
1/2 cup black beans
1 tomato, diced
a few corn tortilla chips
your favourite caesar dressing. We like an avocado Rachael Ray one.  (recipe follows).

Dawson's Delicious Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 pinch per thigh of each:
Alderwood smoked sea salt *
Fresh ground pepper
Paprika
Cumin

* I know this sounds incredibly fancy and pretentious but it wasn't expensive, I got it at Metro and its AWESOME.  Try it.  Seriously.  If you really can't find it you can use regular salt but it will be slightly less awesome and that's sad.

Prep:
Cut your head of lettuce in half length-wise and spray the cut side with some cooking spray.  Husk the corn.  To prepare the chicken, rub a pinch of each of the seasonings all over.
Cook:
Heat up your bbq to about a medium heat.  The start grilling the lettuce and the corn.  The lettuce will only take about 5 minutes total.  You want it to be charred on the outside but still crisp on the inside.  Once it's done, remove it and place the chicken on the grill.  Grill the chicken for about 3-4 mins per side or until cooked through.  Meanwhile, keep turning the corn to char all sides.  This will take approximately as long as it takes to cook both the lettuce and the chicken.
Assemble:
Chop the charred lettuce and place in a salad bowl.  Shave the charred corn off of the cob and add the the salad.  Add the beans, diced tomato chunks and a few crushed corn chips.  Toss with the dressing.
Slice the chicken into neat little strips and place on top of the tossed salad.  Delicious.

Rachael Ray's Caesar-cado Dressing:

1 small avocado, pitted
Juice of 2 lemons
2 teaspoons anchovy paste
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
Salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the avocado, lemon juice, anchovy paste, garlic, Worcestershire, cheese, salt and lots of pepper. Pulse the machine to chop everything up then leave it on and stream about 1/4 cup EVOO into the mixture until a thick dressing forms.