Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with Avocado Fries

We just couldn't stop grilling and enjoying the great weather this week! After burger night, we decided to ease off the red meat and grill some chicken and lighten it up a bit and eat a salad! That's when we turned to one of our favorites - grilled chicken caesar salad!

This is super easy to put together. Bryan seasoned the chicken breasts with chicken seasoning and cracked pepper. While the chicken was on the grill, I got the mixed greens ready and tossed them lightly in the caesar dressing (we use Marzetti Caesar Dressing). Top the greens with the sliced chicken, grated parmesan and more cracked pepper.

So incredibly delicious and pretty healthy. We served the salad with some red wine! I've been dying to make this recipe some friends recommended to me: avocado fries! I thought it would be the perfect side for our salad, and it definitely was!!!

The avocado fries take a little bit of work to prepare, and they are a little messy, but they are SO worth it! The outside layer offers a light crunch into the gooey and delicious avocado inside! They were so delicious and Bryan was super surprised at how amazing they were!

I read the recipe and immediately thought they needed a dipping sauce, but the recipe didn't suggest one. So, after about 5 seconds of thinking, I knew that a mayonnaise based garlic sauce would be perfection. I sliced up one chive and pressed out a few garlic cloves and placed them in a small serving bowl. I added a couple large dollops of mayo and drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil on top. I gave it a good stir and tasted it - MMM was all that came out! It was incredible and went just perfectly with the avocado fries!!! I would highly recommend this side recipe for any night of the week, or if you want to have a tasty appetizer for friends! It will definitely be a crowd-pleaser!!!

Avocado Fries
Adapted from My Recipes

Ingredients:

For the avocados:

Canola oil for frying
1/4  cup  flour
About 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
2  large eggs, beaten to blend
1 1/4  cups  panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
2  firm-ripe medium avocados, pitted, peeled, and sliced into 1/2-in. wedges

For the sauce:

One chive
3 cloves of garlic
Mayonnaise
Extra virgin olive oil 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200°. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 1/2 in. oil until it registers 375° on a deep-fry thermometer.
2. Meanwhile, mix flour with 1/4 tsp. salt in a shallow plate. Put eggs and panko in separate shallow plates. Dip avocado in flour, shaking off excess. Dip in egg, then panko to coat. Set on 2 plates in a single layer.
3. Fry a quarter of avocado slices at a time until deep golden, 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer slices to a plate lined with paper towels. Keep warm in oven while cooking remaining avocados.
4. Prepare dipping sauce: slice up the chive and mince or press the garlic cloves and add to a small serving bowl. Add a couple large dollops of mayonnaise and drizzle a little bit of extra virgin olive oil on top. Stir and serve with avocado fries!