Welcome to the dark side of salads with this Ghostly Caesar Salad. This Halloween-inspired twist on the classic Caesar salad combines crisp romaine lettuce with eerie ghost croutons, bone-chilling mozzarella skulls, and spooky parmesan crisps.
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Ingredients and Tools - Here's What You'll Need to Make this Ghostly Caesar Salad
- The Lettuce: Crisp fresh Romaine lettuce forms the base for this creative salad.
- The "BOO": The salad decoration starts with "BOO," made with Colby Jack cheese and B and O cookie cutters.
- The Ghosts: For the ghosts, I used soft white bread and a little ghost cookie cutter (I'm not sure where I got my cutter, but this is similar.)
- The Skulls: I used fresh sliced mozzarella cheese and a silicone skull mold for the skulls.
- The Rest of the Ingredients: To finish the Ghostly Caesar Salad, I added some parmesan crisps and shredded parmesan cheese.
Prepping the Ingredients: Step-by-Step
Three components of this salad required some initial prep: The ghost croutons, the "BOO," and the mozzarella skulls
- I started by flattening the slice of bread with my rolling pin. Then, I cut ghost shapes out of the flattened bread using my little ghost cookie cutter.
- Next, I placed the ghost shapes in a 250°F oven for about 20 minutes to dry them out. I didn't want the ghost croutons to brown, dry out, or crisp up.
- While the ghost croutons were baking, I made the "BOO." I used a B and an O 2 ½-inch cookie cutter to cut the shapes from 1/16-inch thick pieces of Colby Jack cheese.
- Next, I turned my attention to the mozzarella skulls. I cut each slice of fresh mozzarella in half. I pressed each half into the cavity of the skull mold.
Once the skull mold was full, I popped it into a 350°F oven for six minutes. This was to soften the cheese, not brown it.
- After six minutes, I removed the skull mold from the oven. I used a small spoon to press the softened cheese into the mold and a paper towel to remove any excess moisture.
- Once the mozzarella skulls had cooled, I pressed them from the silicone mold.
Putting the Ghostly Caesar Salad Together.
- I started by adding torn romaine lettuce to my ghost bowl. Then, I positioned the "BOO" in the center over the lettuce.
- Next, I added the mozzarella skulls and ghost croutons to the salad.
- Finally, I sprinkled on the parmesan crisps and shredded parmesan cheese.
I served the Ghostly Caesar Salad with a store-bought Caesar dressing on the side for a festive and delicious salad!
So now you have everything to create a hauntingly delicious way to celebrate the season while still enjoying a nutritious meal. Whether you're hosting a monster mash or just want to add some Halloween magic to your dinner table, this delicious salad is the perfect choice. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can prepare some components ahead of time, but for best results, assemble the salad just before serving. Make the ghost croutons, BOO, and mozzarella skulls, up to a day in advance and store them in airtight containers. Wash and tear the romaine lettuce a few hours before serving, storing it in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator. Assemble everything just before your guests arrive to maintain freshness and prevent soggy croutons.
Absolutely! While the fresh mozzarella is great for creating the skull shapes, feel free to experiment with the other cheese. It's best to use a soft cheese that's thicker than the pre-sliced cheese for the letters. Rather than shredded parmesan, try Asiago cheese.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- I rarely purchase white bread. However, I wanted a soft white bread that could be easily flattened for the ghost croutons. I used "Walmart" special white bread, which worked well!
- When I first made this salad, I used sliced mozzarella cheese for the BOO cutouts. However, I thought that the cheese was too thin to hold its shape, so I tried a thicker cheese. First, I used 1/16-inch thick cheddar cheese. However, it was a bit too firm and broke when I tried removing it from the cookie cutter. I decided to use the Colby Jack because it was easy to cut and offered a nice contrast to the Romaine lettuce. Pepper Jack cheese also works well for the letters.
- I've only used fresh mozzarella cheese for the skulls, so unfortunately, I don't know how whole-milk mozzarella cheese would work. I have, however, used marinated fresh mozzarella cheese balls (ciliegine), which works well.
- When the fresh mozzarella cheese is softened in the skull molds, it tends to give off a fair amount of liquid. A paper towel is handy for removing this excess liquid.
Other Halloween-Themed Recipes
You might be thinking that it's just mid-August, so why the Halloween focus? It seems that more and more people are posting Halloween-themed recipes, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon! For other Halloween-themed recipes, check these out.
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Ghostly Caesar Salad: A Halloween Treat
Equipment
- Small ghost cookie-cutter
- 2 ½ inch B and O cookie cutters
- Silicone skull mold
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 slices of soft white bread
- 3 slices 1/16-inch Colby Jack cheese (See Tip 1)
- 5 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
- 6 cups fresh Romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
- 1 Tablespoon Parmesan crisps
- 1 Tablespoon fresh shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- Roll the bread flat with a rolling pin. Cut small ghost shapes from the flattened bread. Bake in a preheated 250°F oven for 20 minutes or until dried out and crisp. (See Tip 2)
- Cut one B and two O's from the Colby Jack cheese using 2 ½ inch cookie cutters.
- Increase oven heat to 350°F.
- Cut each slice of the sliced fresh mozzarella cheese in half. Press each half into the cavity of the silicone skull mold. Repeat with the remaining slices of mozzarella cheese.
- Heat the mozzarella cheese in the silicone skull mold in a 350°F oven for 6 minutes or until soft but not browned. Remove from the oven. Press each skull with the back of a small spoon to press the cheese into the mold. If necessary, use a paper towel to remove any excess liquid.
- Allow the mozzarella skulls to cool completely, and remove from the silicone skull mold.
- To assemble, add Romaine lettuce to a bowl. Place the BOO in the center of the bowl. Add the mozzarella skulls, ghost croutons, shredded parmesan cheese, and parmesan crisps around the BOO.
- Serve with your favorite Caesar salad dressing.
- Yield: 6 servings.
Video
Tips/Notes
- Pepper Jack cheese is a good substitute for the Colby Jack.
- Try to avoid browning the ghost croutons. You want them to be dried out and crisp.
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