Ceasar Salad Boats

This is a fun take on the classic salad.  Add chicken to turn this into a more hearty appetizer.

Ingredients:

Endive or romaine lettuce leaves

Caesar salad dressing

Mini croutons (prepared, or homemade!)

Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Trim the endive or romaine, keeping the boats as close to the same size as possible and reserving any pieces that are too large or not uniformly shaped.  Rinse and set leaves aside.  Take discarded portions and chop.  Toss with dressing and spoon into endive boats.  Garnish with croutons and parmesan cheese.

Tips:

If you have never made homemade croutons, this would be a good time to try!  There really is quite a flavor difference between fresh ones and store bought.  For homemade croutons, simply slice a loaf of french bread into desired size cubes.  Season with salt, pepper, garlic and fresh chopped thyme.  Saute in olive oil until brown and crisp.  Yum!

The first time I made this, they didn't have endive leaves at the grocery store I went to, so I used romaine.  It actually worked out fine because I was able to trim the leaves and shape each one into several boats, so endive or romaine will work, just a bit more chopping involved if you use the romaine.  Enjoy!