Who doesn’t love the good old classic caesar salad! This is definitely a bit of a twisted caesar salad, with the addition of pumpkin, and sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes. I am not a huge fan of fresh tomatoes in a caesar salad, I don’t know why, because I love tomatoes, but always find when I am eating a caesar salad, I leave the tomatoes! So I opted to try it out with sun-dried version and I was very pleased with the results! I also used rocket instead of cos lettuce, so really one could argue that it isn’t really a caesar salad at all, but the dressing definitely has the qualities of a caesar salad!
This Pumpkin, Bacon & Sun-Dried Tomato Caesar Salad is seasonally versatile, and pretty hearty with the chicken, croutons and pumpkin. It will quite easily feed 4 hungry tummy’s. I opt for free-range chicken and bacon where ever I can, although it is a little more expensive, the reassurance that the animal was bred as close as it can be to it’s natural environment, and was (hopefully) well cared for and lived a happy life is totally worth it for me. It also has a lot more flavour, and is a lot better for you without the added hormones and preservatives.
I have chosen to create crunchy crouton’s from wholegrain rolls, you could easily make this salad gluten-free by choosing a gluten-free bread to toast, but make sure you add in some form of crouton as it really pulls this salad together! I have made this countless times for group barbecues or events and it almost always gets devoured. Make sure you toss the dressing through the salad before adding in the croutons and egg to avoid mushy croutons and crushed egg. Place your egg quarters, or halves on top of the salad when ready to serve, which look beautiful.
While I am here I just need to talk about mayonnaise. Kewpie mayonnaise is a MUST. I cannot give this mayo enough credit, it is honestly the best thing since sliced bread. The point of difference Kewpie mayo has, is that it is made from egg yolk, compared to whole egg, giving it a really creamy rich flavour. Kewpie brands itself upon using only the highest quality ingredients (eggs, vinegar, vegetable oil & spices). Fun fact: During World War II, when high quality ingredients were hard to come by, the founder of Kewpie Mayonnaise decided to cease the production until he could get hold of excellent quality ingredients suitable for Kewpie Mayonnaise. Kudos to them, the quality of this mayo definitely reflects fine ingredients.
Enjoy this delicious, creamy, warming, moorish salad, don’t forget the Kewpie mayo!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Serves: 4
For the salad:- 500 grams of free-range chicken
- 2 tablespoons of cajun seasoning
- 1 med butternut pumpkin, skin removed and diced into 2cm cubes
- 2 wholegrain bread rolls, cut into 2cm pieces
- 1 red onion quartered
- 1 avocado, diced
- 2-3 free-range eggs
- 6 rashers of free-range bacon cut into 1cm pieces
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 6-8 sun-dried tomatoes, halved lengthways
- 2 cups of rocket foliage (arugula)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt and cracked pepper
- For the dressing:
- 2 heaped tablespoons of kewpie mayonnaise
- Juice & zest of 1 large lemon
- Sea salt & cracked pepper
- Start by preparing dressing,combine mayonnaise, lemon juice & zest and whisk well to combine.
- Preheat oven to 200°C and line 2 oven trays with baking paper. Dice pumpkin and onion and drizzle over 1-2 tablespoons of oil and season with 2 tablespoons of cajun seasoning and salt and pepper, bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden, turn halfway.
- When the pumpkin & onion have 5 minutes remaining, toss the cut bread rolls in 2 tablespoons of oil and season generously with sea salt. Bake for 3-5 minutes or until crunchy, remove and set aside.
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil, place, shell and all into the water and reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and douse with cool water to stop the eggs from over cooking, peel and cut into quarters just prior to serving.
- Heat a drizzle of oil in frying pan and cook bacon until browning (2-3 minutes), remove and set aside of paper towels to absorb oil.
- Pat chicken thighs with a paper towel, season well with salt and pepper and a generous sprinkling of Cajun seasoning, set aside.
- In the same pan place chicken thighs (I cut mine in half as otherwise they will be too thick) and cook for 2-5 minutes per side or until cooked through, set aside on a plate and cover with foil to rest. Once cool slice thinly.
- Prepare the remaining salad ingredients, slice sun dried tomatoes, grate parmesan, combine bacon, rocket, pumpkin, avocado, onion, parmesan, tomatoes and chicken. Toss with the dressing and place into serving bowls, place desired amount of egg quarters and crunchy bread on top to serve.
