breaded chicken avocado caesar salad

 

happy FRIDAY!!! this week felt sooo slow. i am beyond happy to see that friday is finally here. we had the craziest wind storm this week (justin works in insurance, so he got the bulk end of it), but luckily modest house stayed in one piece. we just have broken twigs & branches galore to pick up this weekend. what are your weekend plans?!

okay, so don't let this long recipe below scare you from making this amazing caesar salad! it is SUPER simple, i promise. i just decided to go all ina garten & make EVERY component from scratch; the dressing, the croutons & the breaded chicken. i even raised the chickens myself! okay just kidding, i am not full barefoot contessa YET, but maybe one day. each of these components relatively uses the same ingredients in one way or another. what you are left with is the ultimate avocado caesar salad! hell, the ultimate salad! seriously, this puts every restaurant salad i have ever been served to shame.

the ripe avocado adds a rich & creamy texture to the dressing, i even used avocado mayonnaise. the homemade garlic bread croutons have so much flavour, i just want to eat a bowl of these on their own (i had to stop myself from finishing them before i even assembled the salad for photos). lastly, the chicken strips breaded in crushed harvest snaps' caesar flavoured snap peas instead of bread crumbs adds that extra level of caesar flavour that all the other caesar salads are missing! plus it offers a healthier & lighter breading. just wait till late spring & early summer, THIS is the salad you'll want to show up to every BBQ with.

NOTE: i do not like anchovies, so i did not include them in the recipe. but feel free to do so if they are your jam!

ingredients

for the caesar salad

  • 2 hearts of romaine, torn into bite size pieces
  • 1/2 cup avocado caesar dressing (recipe below)
  • 2 cups garlic bread croutons (recipe below)
  • 1 pound crispy bacon, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup parmesan, freshly grated
  • 1 lemon, sliced for garnish
  • 6-8 snap pea breaded chicken strips (recipe below)

for the avocado caesar dressing

  • 1 ripe avocado
  • 1 clove of garlic, grated
  • 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
  • 1/2 cup avocado mayonnaise (can substitue regular mayonnaise)
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • salt & pepper, to taste

for the garlic bread croutons

  • 1 white baguette, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons dried parsely
  • 2 garlic cloves, grated
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
  • salt & pepper, to taste

for the snap pea breaded chicken strips

  • 2 eggs, whisked
  • 1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
  • 2 cups crushed harvest snaps caesar snap peas
  • salt & pepper
  • 8 fresh chicken strips (or two chicken breast cut into 8 strips)
  • vegetable oil, for pan frying

directions

for the caesar salad

  • in a large salad bowl add the romaine, garlic bread croutons, crispy bacon & desired amount of dressing. toss until well coated.
  • finish with freshly grated parmesan.
  • top with sliced lemon & breaded chicken strips.

for the avocado caesar dressing

  • in a large bowl using an immersion blender puree together the avocado, garlic, parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, dijon, lemon juice, salt & pepper until smooth.
  • set a side until you are ready to assemble the salad.
  • dressing will last in the fridge up to one week covered.

for the garlic bread croutons

  • in a large mixing bowl add the cubed bread followed by the olive oil, parsely, garlic, cheese, salt & pepper.
  • toss well to ensure each piece is well coated.
  • bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown & crunchy!
  • set a side until you are ready to assemble the salad.

for the snap pea breaded chicken strips

  • in three large bowls add the eggs in one, the flour in one & the crushed harvest snaps in the other. season each with a touch of salt & pepper.
  • gently toss the chicken in the flour, followed by the egg, followed by the harvest snaps.
  • repeat this step until each chicken strip is coated.
  • in a pan over medium high heat add the oil. once hot fry each chicken strip on each side & place on a baking sheet.
  • finish off in the oven until the chicken is fully cooked, about ten minutes.
  • assemble salad while the chicken bakes!

this post was created in partnership with harvest snaps! thank you for supporting the brands that keep me doing what i love. xo

lemon watercolour cake

 

hi! i hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. with all that spring weather we've been having lately, it actually SNOWED yesterday morning! i was way too excited about it.. shocked, but still pretty excited. i just think the town looks so much prettier when it is covered is a little dusting of snow & i wanted to see it one more time before spring starts for real. besides, i brought the spring time inside with this pretty water colour frosted lemon cake!

i have been meaning to test out this frosting technique for so long & a lemon flavoured cake seemed like the perfect opportunity to go with a pastel coloured buttercream. the flavour of the cake AND frosting is lemon. to achieve ultimate lemon flavour i used three forms of lemon: freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest & lorann oils lemon emulsion. the lemon emulsion is water based instead of alcohol based & is stronger then an extract once baked. the flavour really comes through! if you like lemon as much as i do, this cake is for you. the lemon emulsion would work so well in a lemon pie or tart, 100% next on my list of things to make!

lastly, i used just a touch of almond flour in this cake recipe, but in the first testing of this cake i tried to use ALL almond flour! needless to say it did not turn out so i strongly advise against it. it honestly looked like a flat, moist pancake (lol) so learn from my mistake & substitue gluten free flour if you wanted to go the GF route. if you really want to use 100% almond flour i would advise making this in a baking dish & lightly frosting the top.

ingredients

for the lemon cake

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 1/2 cups raw sugar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon lorann oil's madagascar vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lorann oil's lemon emulsion

for the lemon buttercream

  • 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon lorann oil's madagascar vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lorann oil's lemon emulsion
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, or to taste
  • 1 pinch of salt

directions

for the lemon cake

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in a large mixing bowl sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, & salt. set aside.
  • in a separate bowl beat the sugar, oil, lemon juice & eggs until light + fluffy.
  • alternate between adding the dry ingreidnets & the whole milk.
  • finish off by folding in the zest, vanilla & lemon emulsion.
  • divide evenly between three greased 6-inch round cake pans or two 8-inch round cake pans.
  • bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cake bounces back to touch.
  • let cool while you prepare your frosting.

for the lemon buttercream

  • in the bowl of a standmixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the butter, lemon zest, vanilla extract, lemon emulsion, powdered sugar & salt.
  • beat until light & fluffy, about 8 minutes.
  • frost as desired!

note: if you want to decorate using the water colour frosting technique here is how:) start with a crumb coat followed by a second coating of the white frosting. divide remaining frosting into three bowls & colour with yellow, orange & pink food colouring. using an offset spatula randomly dispurse these colours over the white frosted layer. use a cake scraper to blend in the colours until smooth!

matcha chocolate twist cupcake

 

happy MARCH! wait a second, how is it march already? didn't we just celebrate the new year? i originally had this post schedueled for the last day of february to kick off a certain green holiday in march, but then i realized there is no february 30th this year, or ever (LOL fail, huge fail). oh well, who is ready for saint patrick's day! i usually put green food colouring in anything i can possibly think of, but what about a more natural green route this year. matcha powder! i used aiya matcha's cooking grade matcha powder in both the chocolate cake portion & buttercream frosting. it is a special blend that doesn't lose its flavour when mixed with other ingredients. to give it a fun, festive, twist i did a two tone frosting of half vanilla buttercream & half matcha buttercream. how pretty do they look? i had several taste testers devour these cupcakes & they all agreed it was the perfect amount of matcha to chocolate flavour.

enjoy! xo

ingredients

(makes one dozen cupcakes)

for the chocolate matcha cake

  • 1 cup raw sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup dutch dark cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons aiya matcha powder (i used the cooking grade blend)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup full fat sour cream or yogurt
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup boiling water

for the vanilla matcha buttercream

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2-3 cups powdered sugar, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
  • 1 pinch of sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon matcha powder
  • chocolate sprinkles, for topping

directions

for the chocolate matcha cake

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in a large mixing bowl add the raw sugar, oil, vanilla, cocoa powder, matcha powder, egg & sour cream. beat until well combined.
  • sift in the flour, baking soda & salt until well combined.
  • slowly pour in the boiling water until silkly smooth.
  • divide evenly between 12 lined cupcake tins & bake for 15-18 minutes.
  • let cool while you make the frosting.

for the vanilla matcha buttercream

  • in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the butter, sugar, vanilla & sea salt. beat until light & fluffy, about 8 minutes.
  • divide frosting between two bowls & add the matcha powder to half. stir until the frosting is a smooth green colour.
  • in a piping bag alternate between adding a heaping spoon full of vanilla buttercream & matcha buttercream.
  • pipe as desired & top with chocolate sprinkles!

thank you so much to aiya matcha for sponsoring this post! all opinions are my own. the cooking grade matcha blend that i used is available here. xo