Pan Seared Chipotle Shrimp with Grilled Romaine and Homemade Caesar Dressing is the dinner salad you save for grown-up occasions. A little spicy, with perfectly grilled romaine and freshly made Caesar. It is the salad I make for my husband and I when we have the opportunity to sit down together and open a bottle of wine.
I love my kids more than anything in the world and the time we are all together as a family is priceless. But there are times it is nice to send them all on their way and spend time with just my husband. We both enjoy cooking and having the opportunity to slow down and spend time creating a meal together that we can share with no interruptions is a treasure. It also gives us a chance to eat things we love without having to compromise on things like spices and the inclusion of anchovies! We really love this Pan-Seared Chipotle Shrimp with Grilled Romaine and Homemade Caesar Dressing.
If you would really like bring out the flavor in delicate food like greens and shrimp, you need to do a few things:
Make sure you clean the ingredients first. Shrimp, romaine, it doesn’t matter. Remove anything, you don’t want to eat if that is shells or bruised leaves.- Make sure you dry your ingredients well before cooking. Extra water will make it steam, not sear. Steaming can make things mushy.
- Heat the pan to the right temperature BEFORE you add the ingredients. Don’t put your food into a cold pan or your food won’t cook evenly – or worse, it will absorb any oil you are cooking with making your food an oily mess.
- If you want pretty grill marks, don’t move things around too much. In fact, I usually press the romaine with my hands to make sure they get good contact with the grates to make grill marks. Not that I am suggesting you stick your hands in a hot pan like I do – use a flat spatula instead. 🙂
Make sure you clean the ingredients first. Shrimp, romaine, it doesn’t matter. Remove anything, you don’t want to eat if that is shells or bruised leaves.
Heat the pan to the right temperature BEFORE you add the ingredients. Don’t put your food into a cold pan or your food won’t cook evenly – or worse, it will absorb any oil you are cooking with making your food an oily mess.
Pan Seared Chipotle Shrimp with Grilled Romaine and Homemade Caesar Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 heads Romaine Lettuce trimmed and cleaned
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Kosher salt and fresh black pepper
- Chipotle Shrimp
- 1 pound shrimp peeled and cleaned
- 1 tbsp chipotle powder
- 2 tbsp butter
- Croutons
- 2 slices of your favorite hearty bread cubed
- Olive oil for brushing
- Caesar Dressing
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 egg yolk
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2-4 anchovies based on your preference
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush bread with a little olive oil, cut into cubes and lay in a single layer on a sheet pan. Cook bread until well browned and crisp. About 6-8 minutes.
- In a food processor, add grated or cubed parmesan cheese. Pulse until the cheese is mealy. Add garlic, lemon juice, egg yolk, salt and pepper, and anchovies. Place the cover on the food processor and through the small hole in the top slowly stream in the olive oil while the food processor is blending until a creamy dressing is emulsified. Taste and adjust salt and pepper and anchovies based on your taste.
- Wash and dry salad greens and shrimp. Cut Romaine in half. Drizzle halves with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Heat grill pan on medium high heat. Do not add additional oil to the pan. When pan is hot, place Romaine halves cut side down on the grill pan. You should hear the oil on the leaves sizzle a bit. Press the backs of the Romaine to make good contact with the grill grates. Allow the Romaine to cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- In the same grill pan, melt 2 tbsp butter. When the butter is melted, sprinkle shrimp with chipotle powder and add it in a single layer to the grill pan. Allow shrimp to cook for 3-5 minutes, turning occasionally. When shrimp is pink and turns opaque, it is done.
- Assemble salads with the grilled Romaine on bottom, topped with Caesar dressing, croutons and seared shrimp. Serve warm with a nice bottle of wine!
That shrimp looks divine! So good!
I never thought of making a fancy salad — but now I’m inspired! {client}