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Caesar Salad with Brown Butter Croutons is a salad you'll actually crave. With a creamy Greek yogurt dressing and crunchy sauteed corn, it's the perfect balance of savoury, sweet, crunchy, and acidic. It's gonna be awesome.

Caesar Salad with Brown Butter Croutons with text

I don't get intuitive eating. Granted, I haven't actually read a book on it yet, so this confusion is based on me actually having no facts. But if your body is just naturally supposed to crave the foods you need, then there's something seriously wrong with me. Never ever in my life have I craved broccoli. Not once. Mostly, I just want cheese and chocolate, but that's probably because I'm addicted to sugar. It's a good thing I'm not a nutritionist. I clearly have no idea what I'm talking about.

On very rare occasions in the height of summer, I actually crave a crisp green salad. Of course, it never ends up healthy because I'll always have a simple crunchy lettuce like Romaine or even iceberg. And there's gotta be a creamy dressing, and probably some cheese. And croutons. I love croutons. When I was a kid, my mom used to just give me croutons and blue cheese dressing. It was a blessed life.

Caesar Salad with Brown Butter Croutons and a loaf of bread

What makes this salad so awesome?

This Caesar Salad with Brown Butter Croutons is actually really good. I legitimately enjoy eating it, and I don't usually feel that way about salad. It's so well balanced and has tons of vibrant crunchy texture. There's a hint of sweetness from the corn, and surprisingly, from the croutons. The dressing is aggressively acidic which balances well against the umami flavor of the Parmesan cheese.

This is based on a recipe from How Sweet Eats, so the credit rightly goes to Jessica who is a genius. My husband started requesting it about once a month, so I've made it enough times to make a few tweaks and get it just the way I like it. I'm a picky eater and lazy, so I've taken a few shortcuts. I've cut back on the garlic, subbed out yellow mustard for Dijon (because Dijon mustard in the UK is like fire), and banished anchovie fillets and replaced them with a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. It all works beautifully.

Caesar Salad with Brown Butter Croutons in a gray bowl

How to make Caesar Salad with Brown Butter Croutons

There are several components to this salad, each of which contributes something beautiful. None of them are complicated, but you do have to multitask a bit. Heat up your oven, and put a skillet over medium heat. Add some bacon grease to the skillet if you're feeling indulgent or some olive oil if you want to be a bit more virtuous. To that skillet, add about a cup of frozen corn kernels, and give them an occasional toss or stir until they start to char a bit.

While that's cooking, cube up some good bread. My favorite is a sourdough rye, but use what you like. Spread your bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet, and pop them in the oven to get crunchy and brown. While that's happening, brown a couple tablespoons of butter by cooking it over low heat until brown flecks start to develop in the bottom of the pan. It will start to smell nutty. Once it's ready, just turn off the heat and set it aside until your croutons come out of the oven. By this time, your corn may be ready to come off the heat as well.

Caesar Salad with Brown Butter Croutons with sauteed corn

Next, you'll want to make your salad dressing. Just add everything except the olive oil to the bowl of a food processor and buzz away. Then open the chute (but keep a hand over it to avoid too much splatter), and with the machine running, drizzle in the olive oil until you have a creamy, smooth dressing.

Finally, you're gonna build your salad. Chop some lettuce, add some parmesan, season, then toss everything together. It's sooo good.

Make it magical

Lettuce is associated with strong feminine energy and the moon. Some people believe it can help you sleep. Call in it's watery energy for protection or use the seeds to discover the outcome of a romantic relationship. Lettuce also invokes chastity, so maybe make a salad if you want to put someone stricly in the friend zone. (Source: Amino)

Caesar Salad with Brown Butter Croutons with creamy dressing

Maybe I don't know how to take care of myself properly, but I do know when something is delicious. Caesar Salad with Brown Butter Croutons is exactly that. Try it. It'll be awesome.

Looking for more awesome salad recipes for picky eaters? Try this Bacon and Egg Salad or a Fiery Halloumi Salad.

Caesar Salad with Brown Butter Croutons

Print Recipe

Author: Renee Rendall
Prep Time: 20
Cook Time: 10
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings 1x
Category: Dinner
Method: Mixed
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units Scale

For the salad:

1-½ teaspoons bacon grease or olive oil
1 cup frozen corn kernels
4 slices good bread, preferrably sourdough rye, cubed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
about 2 small heads romaine lettuce
Salt and pepper, to taste
about 1 ounce shaved Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

For the dressing:

2 cloves garlic, peeled
¼ cup Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon mustard (your favorite variety)
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup olive oil

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 F (200 C).
Put a skillet over medium heat and melt the bacon grease or heat the oil. Add your frozen corn and give the pan a shake or stir occasionally until some of the corn starts to char. Keep an eye on it and let it cook for about 10 minutes while you get on with other components.
Slice and cube your bread and spread it in a single layer on a baking sheet. Put this in the oven for about 8-10 minutes to crisp up and brown a bit.
While the bread is in the oven, make your brown butter. Add the butter to a small sauce pan and let it cook over medium low heat until brown flecks start to appear. When it starts to smell nutty, take it off the heat.
When the bread comes out of the oven, drizzle the brown butter over the croutons and give them a toss. Set aside. By this time, you'll probably want to turn the heat off under your sauteed corn as well.
To make the dressing, add garlic cloves to your food processor and pulse a few times to chop them. Then add all the remaining dressing ingredients except for the olive oil to the food processor and pulse to combine. With the machine running (this can get messy so keep a hand over the opening), slowly drizzle in the oil to make a smooth, creamy dressing.
Chop your lettuce and add it to a big salad bowl. Season it with salt and pepper, then add the Parmesan cheese and give it a bit of a toss to combine. Add on the corn and croutons, then drizzle over the dressing and toss everything with tongs to get it all coated in the dressing. You can hit it with a few more shaves of Parmesan if you want to get fancy.

Notes

No need to be extremely prescriptive with measurements here. Go with what feels right to you.

Keywords: Caesar Salad

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