Chipotle Caesar Salad with Cornbread Croutons
Morita chiles are red, fully mature Chipotles. This gives them a unique, medium – hot smokey flavor which is popular in many Southwestern dishes. These can be added to sauces (including Mole) to add smokey flavor and maintain the red color of the sauces. These peppers are about 2-4 inches in length, 1 inch in width, and have a deep brick reddish brown color. The word Chipotle translated to smoked chile. Consider the Chipotle a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the hottest). Scoville heat units 7,000-25,000.
Suggested Use:
Use Morita in enchilada sauces, chili, stews, barbecue ribs, and corn bread. Their smoky quality combines well with poultry, meats and fall squash.
Serves: Serves 4
Ingredients
Chipotle Caesar Dressing:
1 chipotle pepper, rehydrated in hot water
1 head roasted garlic
2 small cloves fresh garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp capers
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 lemon, juiced
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup olive oil
1 loaf cornbread*
1 head romaine lettuce, rinsed and torn
1 avocado, sliced
¼ cup corn niblets, roasted**
Instructions
Blend all dressing ingredients except olive oil together using a blender or immersion blender. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil to emulsify the dressing and bring everything together.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice cornbread into 1 inch cubes. Lay in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes (watch this closely), until lightly browned and crispy.
In a large bowl, toss romaine with dressing. Sprinkle liberally with roasted corn and avocado.
Slightly adapted from a recipe from portandfin.com