Game Day Week Recipe #3: Caesar Salad Bites

Well, after two days of not so healthy, but good, I figured I’d throw in some greenery for good measure.  This recipe is super easy and could be changed up in so many ways!  I made handheld Caesar salads, but why stop there?  Use whatever salad goodies you like.  Anything would work!

When I made my Game Day spread, I wanted something on the healthy side, but didn’t want to just throw a regular veggie platter together.  I remembered seeing handheld salad bites like this in a long lost issue of Southern Living.  I figured I’d improvise and hope for the best!  It was so easy and such a hit!

I started by washing and separating the leaves from two hearts of Romaine lettuce.  I wanted leaves that were sturdy enough to hold the other veggies, dressing and croutons, so the inner leaves actually worked out best.  I prepped the lettuce a few hours before I was planning on putting the salads together.  This way, the lettuce had time to crisp up in the fridge.

I laid the washed, still a little damp, leaves out on a long strip of paper towels.

Then, I rolled the paper towels up.

Once rolled up, the lettuce went back into the fridge for a few hours.  When I took the lettuce back out, it had crisped up beautifully.  I use this trick all the time!  I’ll buy lettuce at the beginning of the week, chop it all up, wash it, run it through my salad spinner and then lay it out on paper towels.  I just roll up the towels, throw it in a storage bag and have crisp, salad ready lettuce for the week.  Why pay extra for bagged lettuce?  Make your own!  It doesn’t take that long.

Anyway, back to the recipe…

All I had to do now was prep the other salad ingredients.  I chopped up some cucumber and sliced some grape tomatoes in half.  I also knew I wanted a little crunch.  A Caesar salad has to have croutons, but regular croutons are so big.  I threw some in a storage bag, got out my rolling pin, and gave them a whack.

Perfect crouton crumbles!

About an hour before I planned on serving them, I half-made my salad bites.  I laid the crisped lettuce leaves out on a platter and sprinkled them with the cucumbers and tomatoes.  Then, they went back in the fridge.

Right before I served them, I sprinkled them with the crouton bits, a little shredded Parmesan cheese and drizzled them with a bit of Caesar salad dressing.  They were great!  A perfect way to change up the munchie vegetable routine.  They were like little Caesar salad tacos, with no mess.  I can’t wait to play around with different combinations. The possibilities are endless!  I might even be able to get my kids to eat more salad this way.  Hmmm….

CAESAR SALAD BITES

Adapted from Southern Living