Between job hunting on Saturday morning, I took a stretch break and enjoyed a episode of Jamie at Home. The episode was entirely on summer salads and decided to make a few low-cal tweaks to his rendition of Jamie's Proper Chicken Caesar Salad, I hope you will enjoy.
4 whole free-range or organic chicken legs, skin on (can substitute a chicken breast with the legs if someone prefers white meat)
3-4 slices of whole wheat bread (I used Panera Bread) torn into thumb-sized pieces
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped
1-2 TBS Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 TBS Mrs. Dash Italian Seasoning
6-10 slices Turkey Bacon
3 ounces freshly grated Parmesan, or a few shakes of the stuff in the green can if you want to decrease the calories there
low calorie dressing of choice
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Place the chicken legs and/or breast in a snug-fitting roasting pan with the pieces of torn-up bread. Sprinkle with the chopped rosemary, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and Mrs. Dash. Mix with your hands to make sure everything is well coated, then lift the chicken legs up to the top, so they sit above the bread. This way, the bread will soak up all the lovely juices from the chicken, giving you the best croutons! Pop the pan into the preheated oven.
After 45 minutes the chicken should be nicely cooked. Take the pan out of the oven, drape the turkey bacon over the chicken and croutons, and put back for another 15 to 20 minutes for everything to crisp up. The chicken legs are ready when you can pinch the meat off the bone easily. When they're cooked, remove the pan from the oven and set it aside for the chicken to cool down slightly.
Pull the chicken meat off the leg bones - you can use 2 forks to do this, or your hands and tear it up roughly with the croutons and the bacon. Wash, spin dry and separate the lettuce leaves, tear them up and toss with the chicken, croutons, bacon and dressing. Scatter with some Parmesan.
