Weekly Dining Delights - Classic Caesar Salad with Grilled Salmon

The other evening I had a taste for one of my favorite dishes, Classic Caesar Salad with Grilled Salmon.  Without hesitation I found myself wondering around Hiller’s grocery store shopping for ingredients.  Romaine Lettuce-check! Salmon steaks-check! Anchovies-check! Croutons-check! Parmesan cheese-check! and last but not least a good Caesar dressing-check! Note:  I usually like to make things from scratch, but weekday meals need to be prepared in less than one hour so I settled for Cardini’s Original Caesar Dressing instead.

Once I arrived home, I assembled all my ingredients together and got to work.  Since I was planning to grill the salmon steaks, I figured (for time’s sake) I should tackle preparing the grill first.  I tend to leave the grilling to the Grill Master (my hubby), but since he wasn’t home, I figured I could handle it, if just this once time.  I decided to use the hibachi (baby grill) instead of the big grill….and boy am I glad I did.  There’s just something scary to me about handling fiery hot charcoal briskets and since I’m naturally clumsy, I decided the baby grill was less of a risk.  And it was.  I was able to use the charcoal chimmey and wand to light the charcoal briskets and then transfer them to the grill quite easily (I won’t let my husband know that).

Once the fire was blazing hot, I transferred my seasoned salmon fillets to the grill (I seasoned them with Old Bay Seasoning, Paprika, Black Pepper, Dill and Cayenne Pepper).  They started sizzling immediately and flames started engulfing my fillets on all sides.  My intention wasn’t blackened Salmon but grilled salmon.  Realizing that the grill was probably too hot, I just sprayed the briskets with water and all was good.  The flames ceased and the cooking continued.  When I decided that my fillets had seared enough I put foil on the grill and placed the salmon on the foil to finish cooking.  I had some leftover frozen shrimp in the freezer so I added these to the party on the grill.

I hope the neighbors weren’t watching because they were probably wondering why I was running back and forth in and out of the house like a manic.  Note to self….it’s hard to grill, watch the meat and prepare dinner inside at the same time.  Much love goes out to the Grill Master who holds this part down.

Inside, I rinsed and dried my romaine lettuce and assembled my salad with the rest of the ingredients.  A Caesar salad is not complete (in my opinion) without the anchovies.  They add a special element that is so misunderstood.  They don’t taste fishy, but rather they melt in your mouth like salty butter goodness.  A true delight!!

Well, here’s the finished product (with a pomegranate martini).  It was as delicious as it looked.  Bon appétit!!!!