Kale Salad, Creamy Caesar, Cheesy Potato Skin Croutons
There are times when one must stand up for themselves, including those times of temptation, and sometimes it may mean war.
We eyed each other from a short distance, those large brown eyes, that visible tall, muscular presence.
I moved closer to my destination, slowly, very slowly, while never losing sight of that brazen sort lacking in domestication, wild, while at the same time swooning, capturing me in. My heart was beating wildly for my instincts knew exactly what that beast wanted from me.
I could not succumb. What about my readers I thought. What about tomorrows Post on Kale Salad, Creamy Caesar, Cheesy Potato Skin Croutons? And so I held off, I waited. Until dusk, when I just couldn’t bear it any longer, fumbling about to find my hearts desire, and then I grabbed it.
I took that container of black ground pepper sprinkling it all about and beneath me, leaving no spot untouched. Oh how I felt so released. After all it was war. And those deer are not going to eat up my garden again.
Kale Salad, Creamy Caesar, Cheesy Potato Skin Croutons
Ingredients
- For the Creamy Caesar Dressing:
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 6 flat canned anchovies
- 1 lemon, seeded and juiced
- 1 1/2- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3 shakes Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- pinch cracked black pepper
- pinch coarse kosher salt, optional to taste
- For the Cheesy Potato Skin Croutons:
- 3- or more small day old cooked baked potatoes
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1 pinch cracked black pepper
- 1 pinch coarse kosher salt, optional, to taste
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- For Preparing the Kale Salad:
- 1 1/2-2 cups kale per salad, leaves sliced from stem, stacked, rolled up, sliced, then cut in half
- 1 red onion, cut in half, very thinly sliced into half moons
- 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled, chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preparing the Caesar dressing: Into the bowl of a food processor pulse together the garlic cloves and anchovies, add in the lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire, mayonnaise, and pepper and pulse until smooth, around thirty seconds or a bit longer to a smooth consistency. Use a spatula to transfer dressing to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate until salad assembly
- Cheesy Potato Skin Croutons: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Scoop out potato and reserve for another use. Using kitchen shears, cut potatoes into small square pieces set onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Using a small baby size spoon, drizzle a tiny bit of melted butter onto each potato skin square, bake in oven for five minutes, remove from oven, sprinkle grated Parmesan over the tops. Bake crouton skins another five minutes or longer, until cheese is fully melted and crisped. For crunchier skins, broil for a minute or so until golden brown
- Preparing the Kale Caesar Salad: Add kale pieces to a large salad bowl, tumble in red onion, toss. Spoon in creamy dressing 1/4 cup at a time, tossing lightly to coat leaves to desired amount, sprinkle over a pinch each of salt and pepper and half of the Parmesan cheese, toss. Plate salad into individual shallow bowls, evenly sprinkle each salad with the remaining Parmesan cheese and the chopped hard boiled egg then set a half dozen cheesy potato croutons around the top of each salad serving extras on the side.
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