Our 10 great salad countdown continues with salad No. 5 - Grilled Salmon Caesar Salad.

This salad is hearty enough for a main course for dinner or lunch. It’s easy and quick to prepare and a great way to get in those healthy omega 3s. 

A Caesar salad is a salad of romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with parmesan cheese. The salad's creation is generally attributed to restaurateur Caesar Cardinii, who operated restaurants in Mexico and the United States, when in 1924, a fourth rush depleted the kitchen's supplies. A number of Cardini's staff have also have taken the credit to have invented the dish. Julia Child said she ate a Caesar salad at Cardini's restaurant when she was a child in the 1920s.

There are limitless variations of the salad. You can top it with grilled chicken, steak, seafood or fish. You can also use other varieties of lettuce, Romano cheese, anchovies, cherry tomatoes and bacon.

Grill the salmon indoors or outdoors. If you’re not a big salad fan, that’s ok, because the beauty of preparing grilled salmon, is that you can just eat it with your favorite potato and vegetable. This salad will become one of your go-to weekday recipes when you don't feel like "real" cooking. This salad is perfect for the 4th of July, so start your grills and have fun creating your own salads.

Happy Cooking and Eating!

Ingredients 

Salmon

• 2 garlic cloves
• 3-4 salmon fillets, skin removed
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup teriyaki sauce
• 1 package (10 ounces)/6 cups hearts of romaine salad mix
• ½ cup croutons

 Croutons

• 3 cups French bread
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 ¼ teaspoons sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

Preparation

Rub garlic over salmon filets. Place salmon in a large resealable plastic bag. Add teriyaki sauce. Seal bag and turn to coat, and refrigerate for approximately 10 minutes. Drain and discard marinade.

Method #1 (indoor cooking)

Heat up a cast iron skillet/frying pan with olive oil and cook salmon on medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until salmon flakes easily with a fork. Cool.

Method #2 (outdoor cooking)

Preheat grill over medium-high heat. Place salmon on greased rack of an uncovered grill. Grill 8 to 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Cool.

For croutons, toss the bread cubes, oil and garlic powder in a large bowl. In a nonstick skillet, sauté bread cubes for 5-6 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat; set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk the oil, lemon juice, mayonnaise, sugar garlic, salt and pepper. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Divide among four plates. Add croutons and cheese and toss gently. Arrange salmon sliced on top of salad.

Serves four.

Have a safe Independence Day!