Chicken Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons

I inherited this recipe from my sister-n-law a couple of years ago and it is a salad that I come back to during the course of the year. It is a chicken caesar salad with a twist, because it contains bow tie noodles. The noodles add a nice texture to the salad that keeps you coming back for more. This is another really simple recipe that takes you about as long as it takes to cook the noodles to put together.

Serves 5

Ingredients:

• Half a head of Romain lettuce, cleaned and chopped
• 1/2 box of bow tie noodles, cooked al dente
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, more if you prefer
• Salt and Pepper
• Homemade Croutons (see below)
• 2 chicken breasts, marinated in olive oil and garlic, grilled and sliced
• 4 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 large cucumber, seeded and chopped
• Caesar salad dressing, or you could provide ranch or another creamy blend

Start by bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil, and begin cooking the noodles. During this time, you can practice your multitasking skills by cooking chicken on the grill, as well as washing and chopping your vegetables. Once the noodles are done, drain and rinse with cold water. You want the noodles to be cooled, not warm when you add them to the rest of the ingredients, this goes the same with the chicken.  Remove the cooked chicken from the grill, and set aside to cool, roughly 10 minutes, then thinly slice. Now, to a large bowl, add all of the ingredients with the exception of the salad dressing. Toss all of your ingredients and mix well. Serve in a large salad bowl and top with your favorite creamy dressing. Enjoy!

Homemade Croutons:

• 1 loaf of 3 day old french bread
• 1/2 stick of unsalted butter
• 6 tbs of olive oil
• 2 tbs of dried basil
• 1 tbs garlic salt
• 3 tbs parmesan cheese
• Fresh ground black pepper

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. With a bread knife, remove all of the outer crusts. Cut the bread into sections and into cubes, to whatever size you prefer. I like them larger. Melt the butter, then add the olive oil and herbs to the butter. With a pastry brush, begin by coating all bread cubes with the herbed butter mixture. Place these on a baking sheet and cooked for roughly 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Place in a bowl and toss with the parmesan cheese.