This Shrimp Caesar Salad Is Actually Super Healthy
A Mediterranean version of the recipe lightens things up.

Caesar salad has a rich, if not confusing, history. Many people think the salad has something to do with Julius Caesar, but the salad was actually invented by an Italian man named Caesar Cardini, who immigrated to Mexico. His Caesar salad originated in Tijuana, Mexico—not in Europe, as many people believe.
Still, this Shrimp Caesar Salad shares more qualities with Mediterranean diet food than the typical Mexican dish. In this episode of To Eat With Love, our Mediterranean diet cooking show, nutritionist Fiorella DiCarlo, RD, CDN, shows how to make a Shrimp Caesar Salad that celebrates the healthy Mediterranean diet. Although a traditional Caesar salad recipe can be a heavy and not-so-nutritious salad in some American restaurants, this healthy version of the Shrimp Caesar Salad sticks to fresh, good-for-you ingredients.
No bottled dressing here! Instead, you’ll whisk together extra virgin olive oil, low-fat buttermilk, fat-free mayonnaise, dijon mustard, and minced garlic. (Use this trick to make mincing garlic easier.) Consider using yogurt instead of buttermilk for a healthier way to cut fat or vegan mayonnaise (such as Just Mayo or Earth Balance), which tastes the same with less fat and zero cholesterol.
Preparing a healthy version of crostini is also an important part of this recipe. (Crostini is just a classy Italian word for toast.) Although a baguette is typically used for crostini, choosing this whole grain bread will boost the fiber content of your meal, which will help you feel full longer and keep blood sugar levels in check.
To make the crostini even healthier, you’ll spread on a thin layer of pesto, which has bold, peppery flavor from its fresh basil and healthy fats from the extra virgin olive oil and pine nuts. You can make your own pesto, or you can buy it at the store. If you make pesto yourself, you can play around with the ingredients. Try supplementing the basil with arugula or mint, or swap the pine nuts for other heart-healthy (and cheaper) nuts, like walnuts or pistachio. (This pesto recipe uses kale and almonds!)
To assemble the Shrimp Caesar Salad, you’ll toss cooked, peeled shrimp and sliced red onion with the healthy Caesar salad dressing. Spoon this mixture on top of chopped romaine lettuce (or kale for a flavorful, antioxidant boost!). Sprinkle grated Parmesan Reggiano on top, if desired, and serve the pesto crostini on the side.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (1%)
- 2 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (or 1/2 tablespoon fat-free honey mustard)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 8 (1/2-inch thick) slices diagonally cut French bread baguette
- Cooking spray
- 4 teaspoons basil pesto
- 8 cups mixed greens such as Italian blend or 1 (10-ounce) bag
- 1/4 cup low-sodium Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 pound medium shrimp, cooked and peeled
- 1/2 cup sliced red onion
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350º. 2. Combine buttermilk, mayonnaise, olive oil, Dijon mustard and minced garlic in a bowl; cover buttermilk mixture, and chill. 3. Coat both sides of bread with cooking spray. Place on a baking sheet, and bake at 350º for 5 minutes on each side. Spread 1/2 teaspoon pesto on one side of each slice of bread. 4. Combine greens and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss well. Add buttermilk dressing; toss well to coat. Serve with crostini.Nutrition Information
Nutrition Information Based on a Single Serving
*Percent Daily Value are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Dietary Needs

Carbohydrate

Fiorella DiCarlo is a registered dietitian in New York City.
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Hi, I'm Fiorella and
we are making classic Caesar shrimp salad,
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Mediterranean style with
basil pesto crostini.
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[MUSIC]
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We are making a crowd favorite today,
a shrimp Caesar salad with basil pesto.
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And we're gonna start
with a healthy dressing.
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We're gonna start with our
extra-virgin olive oil,
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which is a base-fat of the Mediterranean
diet and what makes it so healthy,
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it's monounsaturated and
has an anti-inflammatory properties.
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The next what we are going to do is,
we're gonna use our butter milk.
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This is a low-fat butter milk.
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You can definitely use a fat-free butter
milk or a fat-free yogurt as well,
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if you wanna make this recipe
a little more lower-fat.
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We're gonna put our
fat-free mayonnaise here.
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So that is going to further lend to
the creaminess of this delicious salad.
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We're gonna whisk that right in.
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And then we're gonna dab in our
spicy little Dijon mustard.
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It has Dijon mustard seeds,
which are very very grainy.
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And each of those seeds have a lot
of omega-3 fatty acids in them too.
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So we're gonna go ahead and
put that in here as well.
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And that's gonna kick up
with a little spicy touch.
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Put that there.
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And finally our garlic okay.
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We're gonna go ahead and
put our chunky garlic in here,
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filled with antioxidants and.
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There we are.
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We're gonna whisk that together.
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And that is going to be our
luscious dressing for the salad.
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[MUSIC]
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To make our lovely little crostini,
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we are going to cut up some
whole-grain crusty bread.
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And we're going to preheat
the oven to about 350 degrees.
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And cover each of the bread slices back
and front with an olive oil cooking-spray.
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So that reduces the overall fat
content of this recipe, but
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keeps the bread very very crispy.
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We are using whole-grain nutty bread for
this recipe, instead of baguette.
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Because the whole-grain bread has
extra fiber, which is great for
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keeping your blood sugar levels low.
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The more fiber your food or
your bread has, the better it is for you.
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We're gonna go ahead and take this and
we're going to put it into a 350 degree
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oven, for
about five minutes just to crisp up a bit.
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All of the nutty flavors out of this
bread have been enhanced by the baking.
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So we're gonna go ahead and
assemble our crostini.
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We're going to take our bread and
we're gonna take this lovely pesto.
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This pesto is made with basil,
fresh basil, some roasted pine nuts,
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Parmigiano-Reggiano which is
the king of Italian cheeses, and
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extra-virgin olive oil, and
a little bit of sea salt.
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Now what you can also
find in northern Italy,
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is lots of different versions
of this pesto sauce.
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And you can make it with different nuts,
you can make it with hazelnuts and
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almonds, and change the basil to a wild
arugula or you can make it with parsley.
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So we're gonna go ahead and
cover this up here.
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There we are, beautiful.
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You can smell the basil is amazing.
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I'm gonna go ahead and
put that there on the side.
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And we're gonna start to
assemble our Caesar salad.
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And what we're going to do is we're
gonna add our primary protein,
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which is very lean shrimp.
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Very classic for a Caesar salad.
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If you go through the Mediterranean, many
of the countries have the open-air fish
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markets which are beautiful and lively and
bustling with all these exotic fish.
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They're just amazing markets.
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These are peeled and cooked, and
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we're going to add our butter
milk dressing that we made.
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It's been chilling in the fridge.
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And this is a low-fat dressing that
is gonna make this super creamy.
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Very much like a classic Caesar salad.
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Then to add some more bite and kick,
we're gonna add our red onion.
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Now the red onion is
a power-packed antioxidant.
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Go ahead and just mix this together here.
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This looks gorgeous.
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Okay.
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We're gonna move on to our lovely,
crispy Romaine lettuce leaves and
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you can definitely substitute
kale leaves here too if you like.
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That would just give this more
power-packed antioxidants.
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And what you can also do here,
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is chop up some of these larger leaves
of the Romaine lettuce if you like.
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It's easier to eat.
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But at the same time, I love
the presentation of the larger leaves.
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It's just way more dramatic, and
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it's gonna look gorgeous
with our pesto crostini.
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So we're going to add this on here.
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Just put it onto our salad.
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It's okay to make a mess.
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That's what happens when
you're cooking at home.
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Make a little bit of mess.
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There we go.
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And we're gonna add our crostini,
whole-grain pesto basil crostini,
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just to give it an extra kick and crunch,
and it looks absolutely beautiful.
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And the finishing touch to this amazing
meal, my favorite Parmigiano-Reggiano,
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that you should pretty much splash over
everything, if it's in my opinion.
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And we're gonna go ahead and
drizzle right over this delicious salad,
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just to give it a little bit more oomph.
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And there you are, our shrimp Caesar
salad with basil pesto Crostini.
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This salad is a definite crowd-pleaser and
I hope you enjoy it.
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I'm Fiorella and I'll see you next time.
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[MUSIC]