Cafe Delites Skinny Chicken and Avocado Caesar Salad

My favourite salad of all time. Caesar Salad. But, my least favourite at the same time…because hello fat grams I’ll wish I didn’t have after I had it.
But now, I can. I can enjoy my favourite salad of all time, with a dressing that’s less than half the fat — and then add in some more food, and enjoy this as a meal. A salad that doesn’t leave you hungry waiting for more. Full of protein. Full of healthy fats. Just full of good for you stuff.

This dressing… inspired by the dressing I made for that Barbecued Seafood Salad…I wanted something with a Greek Yogurt base. So I found one…thank you Mr Jamie Oliver, and adapted it to our tastes, to make this one.

My family is not so keen on anchovies…so I made two variations. One with (HOMG so good!), and one without — using olives instead, and equally as good. I prefer the anchovies, personally, but not every one is a fan. Hello non-fans…this ones for you too!

The way this recipe goes: fry some bacon and chicken boobs…I mean breasts *ahem; whisk your dressing ingredients; prepare your bread for super crustiness; boil your eggs; slice your avocados and wash your salad leaves.

Easy right?

INGREDIENTS

Salad:

½ ciabatta loaf (120g | 4oz), sliced
2 whole Chicken Breast fillets (about 500g | 1lbs), skinless and boneless, halved horizontally to make 4 fillets
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
Pinch of salt
200g | 7oz shortcut bacon, cut into strips
2 eggs, boiled to your liking (soft of hard boiled), sliced
2 baby cos lettuce, washed and dried
1 Avocado, sliced
½ cup shaved parmesan cheese

Dressing:

⅔ cup greek yogurt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped (or sub with 2 tablespoons black pitted olives, chopped finely and 1 teaspoon fish sauce)
Juice of ½ a lemon
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper for seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to grill/broil settings on medium - high heat. Place the bread slices onto an oven tray; drizzle with olive oil and bake in the oven (on middle shelf) until crispy. While bread is grilling, prepare chicken:
Rub the chicken breast with the garlic powder, parsley flakes and salt. Heat a non stick grilling pan/skillet with a drizzle of olive oil and fry chicken until golden on both sides. Remove the chicken and set aside onto a warm plate. Add the bacon strips to the same pan, and fry until golden and crispy. While the bacon is frying, boil your eggs to your liking (and don't forget to check your bread in the oven)!

To make the Caesar Yogurt Dressing:

Combine yogurt, oil, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice and parmesan. Whisk until well combined; add salt and pepper to your tastes, and whisk again. Taste test.

Assemble Salad:

Combine lettuce with the chicken and bacon strips; eggs (halved); avocado slices; shaved parmesan cheese; and bread pieces (halved). Pour over the dressing; mix well to combine, and serve!