LIGHTER CAESAR SALAD

As much as I adore loading up leafy green salads with all sorts of fruit and veggies and nuts and protein and cheeses galore, I think I will forever and always be a Caesar salad girl at heart. Which, on one hand makes me extremely happy (because let’s be real, caesar dressing is king), and on one hand makes me highly annoyed (because why do I always crave the least-healthy salad on the menu?)
Caesar salads are consistently some of the worst salads you can order out at a restaurant in terms of fat and calorie content. Plus, their dressings are often stuffed with unnecessary processed ingredients. And of course, many people still get iffy about the idea of eating raw eggs in their dressing.

The other key, if you’re lightening things up, is to go with homemade croutons. Because first off, homemade croutons are always 10x better than store-bought. But the other benefit is that you can choose your favorite kind of bread (whole wheat, gluten-free, whatever sounds good), and you can control the amount of oil (or butter) and seasonings you use to help crisp them up in the oven.

LIGHTER CAESAR SALAD RECIPE

Prep time: 10 mins  | Cook time:0 | Total time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 1 head of Romaine lettuce 
• 2 cups croutons, homemade or store-bought 
• 1 batch Greek yogurt Caesar dressing 
• 1/4 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese*, plus more for topping

DIRECTIONS: 
 Toss the Romaine, croutons, Greek yogurt Caesar dressing and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese together until combined. Serve immediately, topped with extra Parmesan cheese.