Chicken Caesar salad wraps excellent sandwich
Serve warm steak, potato chip salad on Father’s Day
Chicken Caesar salad is one of the world’s greatest lunches, but it isn’t the prettiest thing to eat with your hands while on the go. That’s why some exceedingly smart person thought to put it into a wrap.
My family is in universal accord that this is an excellent sandwich, so now instead of picking it up at Le Something Or Other, I figured out how to make it at home.
The chicken can be made ahead of time, and leftover chicken can be tossed into salads, either green salads or grain or pasta salads. Make a double batch if you’re looking for some nice, flavorful grilled chicken to have around. The Caesar dressing can be made ahead and hang out in the fridge for up to 5 days.
If you don’t have time to let the chicken marinate, don’t worry the Caesar dressing is plenty flavorful. If you were really pinched for time, you could just brush the chicken with olive oil, give it a sprinkle of salt and pepper and grill it without the lemony marinade. I’m a big fan of the shortcut.
Grilled Chicken Caesar salad wraps
Start to finish: 30 minutes (not including optional marinating time) Makes 6 wraps Grilled Chicken
Caesar Dressing 1 finely minced anchovy filet or 1/4 teaspoon anchovy paste (optional); Coarse or kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste; 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, divided.
Salad
2 hearts of romaine, chopped into bite-sized pieces; 1/2 red onion, thinly slivered; 6 9- to 10-inch whole wheat or spinach wraps.
For the chicken: In a shallow container, combine the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic, and salt and pepper. Add the chicken and turn to coat. If you have the time, marinate the chicken in the fridge for 2 to 6 hours before grilling no worries if not.
For the Caesar dressing: In a container with a lid, put the olive oil, mayonnaise, lemon juice, Dijon, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, anchovy (if using), salt and pepper. Cover tightly and shake to combine well. Add half the Parmesan and shake again to combine.
Preheat the grill to medium high. Grill the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes per side, until cooked through, with nice grill marks on each side. Let the chicken cool slightly, then cut into small bite-size pieces.
In a large bowl, combine the chicken, romaine, and red onion with the dressing. Add the remaining Parmesan and toss again. Fill each wrap with about 1-1/2 cups of the salad, and roll closed.
In honor of Father’s Day, I’ve conjured up a recipe featuring an arsenal of steakhouse delights, starting with steak itself and including potatoes, spinach and blue cheese. But I’ve prepared and combined these ingredients in a way that’s slightly healthier than usual, namely in a salad. The bulk of it is given over to spinach, tomatoes and cucumbers. It’s topped with warm sliced steak (only a little over 3 ounces per person), blue cheese dressing and oven-baked (not deep-fried) potato chips.
Given that the classic steakhouse steaks strip, filet mignon and porterhouse are so doggone pricey these days, this recipe features a chuck steak. Increasingly available at your local supermarket, chuck steak is cut from the shoulder. It’s tougher than the others I mentioned but still plenty flavorful. And if you’re careful to cook it no more than medium-rare and then slice it very thin against the grain, it won’t seem chewy at all.
The oven-baked potato chips are a snap to make and a heck of a lot less messy than the deep-fried kind, especially if you own a mandolin and some parchment paper. The mandolin allows you to slice those taters paperthin (be sure, though, to use the guard when you slice them!), and the paper keeps them from sticking to the sheet pan, which eliminates the need for a lot of oil. Still, you want to be careful not to let them become too brown because they’ll begin to taste burned. (It’s OK to remove them from the oven when they have a few paler spots.) Fair warning: These chips can be addictive, even though they’re not deep-fried.
Start to finish: 1 hour 40 minutes (40 minutes hands-on)
Servings: 6
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus extra for brushing on the potato slices; 1 large russet potato (about 12 ounces), scrubbed but not peeled; Kosher salt; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce; 2 teaspoons minced garlic; 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1/3 cup sour cream; 3 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup); 1-1/4 pounds chuck steak (1-1 1/4 inches thick); Black pepper; 10 ounces baby spinach; 2 cups cherry tomatoes; 2 cups sliced English cucumber.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two sheet pans with parchment and brush the parchment lightly with some oil. Slice the potato lengthwise 1/8-inch thick, preferably using a mandolin, and arrange the slices in one layer on the sheet pans. Brush the tops of the slices lightly with oil and working with one sheet pan at a time, sprinkle the potato slices lightly with salt and bake them on the middle shelf of the oven until they are golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes, removing the chips to a paper towel lined plate as they become golden. (They may not all brown at the same pace.) Do not let them get too dark in color; it is OK if they have a few lighter patches.
In a bowl whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Add the oil slowly in a stream, whisking, until all of it is added. Whisk in the sour cream and gently stir in the blue cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a large skillet heat the oil over high heat. Add the steak, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper; cook it for 5 minutes a side for medium-rare. Transfer the steak to a plate and let it rest for 8 minutes before slicing it.
To serve: Add any juices from the steak plate to the blue cheese dressing. Slice the steak very thin at an angle across the grain. In a large salad bowl combine the spinach with the tomatoes and cucumber slices, add some of the dressing, reserving a little to drizzle on top and toss the salad well. Mound the salad on each of six plates, top with the steak slices and the potato chips, broken into large pieces and drizzle each portion with a little more dressing. (AP)