Panera Bread Caesar Salad
This is an old recipe for making a lower fat version of Panera's Caesar Salad. It just wasn't right, so I made a few changes. You can use your favorite purchased croutons or make your own. Panera uses their Asiago Cheese bread for the croutons for their salad, Italian Bread would be a nice second choice, but any bread will do.
Croutons
4 ounces Panera's Asiago Cheese bread or Italian bread-sliced
1 clove garlic, cut in half
Nonstick olive oil cooking spray
Dressing
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
Coarsely ground black pepper
Salad
1 package (18-ounce) hearts of romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
Asiago-Parmesan Cheese-(thin shaved pieces) to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
To make the Croutons: Slice bread into 1/2 inch thick slices. Rub both sides of bread slices with the cut side of garlic clove. Cut bread into 1/2-inch cubes; place cubes on cookie sheet and spray bread liberally with cooking spray. Bake 10 minutes or until golden-brown and crisp. Allow croutons to cool before using.
To make the Salad Dressing: Meanwhile, in large salad bowl, with wire whisk, mix together mayonnaise,
Parmesan, lemon juice, olive oil, anchovy paste, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Add lettuce, croutons and shaved Asiago-Parmesan cheese to dressing in bowl; toss to coat.
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