Caesar Salad With Pan-Seared Salmon
Featured as one of our Seven Days of Seafood meals, Mike and I adore our salmon caesar salad for a number of reasons:
It’s easy to make even if it has a few steps. Often I will prepare different parts of it throughout the day, and then just toss it all together that evening right after pan-searing the salmon.
We vary it up depending on our mood and tastes that day, and that usually means we each have our own version each time we eat is as I like a number of add-ons, and Mike prefers the plain approach!
We can use romaine, kale and other greens and produce from our garden to make it
It tastes delicious
It presents well and is a simple way to create a beautiful meal for guests any time of year at either a casual or elegant table setting, indoors or outdoors
Mike and I have always enjoyed a good Caesar salad whether as a salad before the main at a restaurant or as the main dish with protein included. While we haven’t been to an Outback Steakhouse in years, Mike is partial to their Caesar salad. And we both enjoy the Caesar salad served at Fransceca’s Tavola in Arlington Heights - I love the sauteed bell peppers they include while Mike leaves them off. But in recent years, we both agree the best Caesar salad is homemade with the mix of greens you happen to be in the mood for, homemade dressing with a kick, and homemade sourdough croutons that both crunch and melt in your mouth with a perfect blend of seasonings. I made it last weekend to celebrate one month of our blog, and it was the perfect summer afternoon dinner on a relaxing Saturday - refreshing and hearty as our main meal of the day.
Thanks to the Epicurious website for the dressing recipe. As I’ve experimented, I have also found you can adjust the taste of the dressing to your liking whether that’s more lemony, more garlicky, more anchoviey, or more parmesan-cheesy!
Our preference is much more garlicky, lemony and peppery than the original recipe calls for, so I adjust amounts when I make the recipe.
Ingredients:
Sufficient for 6 servings
6 anchovy fillets packed in oil
1 small garlic clove (I typically use 3-4 cloves as we love a garlicky flavor!)
2 large egg yolks*
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I use the juice from a whole lemon.)
3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard (I go light on the mustard as Mike is not a fan)
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan
3 cups torn 1" pieces country bread (I use the sourdough boule from my local Whole Foods)
3 romaine hearts (and/or other comparable greens)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Individual size salmon portions with the skin taken off (one for each person you are serving)
Avocado Oil
Old Bay Seasoning (this is relevant if you are making the salmon version of a caesar salad.)
Lemon wedge to sprinkle salmon with juice at the end of the pan-sear process
Sliced avocado, sliced cherry tomatoes or any other vegetable you want to enhance the salad with
*Raw egg is not recommended for infants, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems.
When we have no garden, we harvest our greens and other ingredients from our local Whole Foods!
Ingredients at the ready
The Croutons
This is probably my favorite part because it’s so easy and makes the salad so yummy when you make your own imperfectly-shaped delicious croutons. The sourdough flavor mixed with olive oil, salt, pepper and italian season is so yummy that I always eat a few before they go in the oven and as soon as they come out. I’ve made these a day or two ahead of time and simply keep them in tinfoil or in a tupperware container.
What’s key here is tearing the bread in unevenly shaped pieces so that the dressing has lots of jagged edges, nooks and crannies to cling too. I usually cut up half a sourdough boule into thick slices and then pull the pieces into crouton sized bites. Keep them fairly evenly sized - approximately 1 inch.
Add between 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil so that all the croutons are moist with oil. Then toss with salt, freshly ground pepper and Italian seasoning (to taste). Bake at 375°F, tossing occasionally, until golden, 10-15 minutes.
Sourdough sliced
Crouton pieces approximately 1” and uneven.
Olive oil in! Salt, freshly ground pepper, Italian seasoning in!
Ready for the oven - using parchment paper so any small crumbs can easily be poured into the salad as well and pan can be easily cleaned. (Although as you can see we have had that pan for years. Gotta love old pans!)
Golden-browned and deliciously crunchy! Great for a snack if you don’t even want to make the salad. ;)
The Dressing
Chop together 6 anchovy fillets packed in oil, 1 small garlic clove, and a pinch of kosher salt. Use the side of a knife blade to mash into a paste, then scrape into a medium bowl. Whisk in 2 large egg yolks, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and 3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard. Adding drop by drop to start, gradually whisk in 2 tablespoons olive oil, then 1/2 cup vegetable oil; whisk until dressing is thick and glossy. Whisk in 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan. Season with salt, freshly ground black pepper, and more lemon juice, if desired. While the Epicurious recipe indicates that you can make it a day ahead of time, I like to make it that day when I serve it to others. However, I will eat it for a couple days afterwards - ideally keeping any extra dressing you have separate so you can toss the fresh greens.
Dressing ingredients ready!
Paste of anchovies, garlic and salt.
Paste, egg yolks, dijon mustard, lemon juice mixed.
2 tbs olive oil in while whisking
Vegetable oil in bit by bit while whisking to glossy
Parmesan in!
Loads of pepper (assuming you like it as much as we do). We also add the rest of the lemon juice at this point as we like our dressing lemony.
Voila - we have our yummy, garlicky, lemony, peppery caesar salad dressing!
The Salad
Prep whatever greens you want to use. In this case, 3 heads of romaine or 1-1.5 heads of romaine and half a bunch of curly kale. Toss the greens using your hands so they bruise less before final salad assembly. As I love avocado and tomatoes, I find that the salad can be dressed up with sliced avocados and cherry tomatoes. If I have cucumber in my fridge, I may add some sliced cucumber. I have also carmelized sliced bell peppers from my garden and added those as well. So really any combination will work.
Romaine ready to go; I cut, then wash and spin
Slicing romaine
Chopping slices in half for reasonably-sized salad pieces
Curly kale torn into salad size pieces washed and spun
Hand tossing to prevent bruising
Pan-searing Salmon
Thanks to Mike I now love to pan-sear fish. Earlier in our relationship, Mike was typically in charge of making any of the protein involved in a meal. He grew up watching his dad make the family meals and always had appreciation for preparing meats in a way that brings out the full flavor. After watching Mike pan-sear meats to perfection for many years, I have enjoyed adding this talent to my meal creation repertoire.
Here we are using two 6 ounce portion of salmon - one for each of us. Season the top side (the side that did not have the skin) with salt, pepper and our favorite, Old Bay Seasoning.
Salmon portions
Seasoned with salt, pepper & our favorite Old Bay Seasoning!
Avocado oil covers the pan. Olive oil will work fine too.
Place seasoned side down and season other side.
Turning salmon once each portion is cooked more than halfway through. Pan-sear should look somewhat crispy on top.
Lemon juice sprinkled on top of each piece.
Assembling The Salad
Now for the really fun and yummy part!
Croutons in!
Salad tossed with dressing!
A bit of Old Bay to give it a bit of kick!
One with tomatoes and avocado & one plain.
And now with the perfectly pan-seared salmon!
Would you like to join us for dinner?
Whether served plain or with chicken, shrimp or salmon, caesar salad is a meal-in-one on many nights in our Happy Boolo Kitchen! And we especially enjoy eating it and serving it to others with pan-seared salmon. Bon Appetit!