Apple Caesar Salad

The week after Easter has a particular quality: all the holiday energy discharged, the extra food eaten or distributed, the house returned to its ordinary state. I made a big pot of spring vegetable soup on Monday with the leftover ham bone from Easter and whatever was in the vegetable drawer — carrots, celery, a parsnip, some wilted kale I rescued with heat. Ham and bean soup is the correct use of a leftover Easter ham bone and I have been making it since my first Easter with Ryan's family, which is now our family, which is my family.

The school year has three months left and I am in the stretch that is always simultaneously too short and exactly right. Darius has started receiving pull-out services twice a week and the change in him over the last month is the thing I became a teacher to see: a child who was working too hard just to participate in ordinary classroom life having some of that effort taken off, redirected, supported, and the energy it frees up going into actual learning. He turned in his first complete book report last week. He looked surprised when I praised it. I told him: this is what you can do. He filed it. He will come back to that.

Owen and Nora discovered chalk this week. Sidewalk chalk, the big chunky kind, which Patty bought and which the twins used in the backyard on Saturday in the first warm enough day to be outside without coats. Owen drew lines methodically, covering the entire section of sidewalk in parallel lines, a project undertaken with complete seriousness. Nora drew what she described as "dog" and then "Daddy" and then "more dog" and then requested my assistance with "big circle," which I provided. The sidewalk is an archive now. It will rain and it will be gone and they will do it again.

April is coming and with it the home stretch of the school year and the specific metabolism of spring in Chicago, where the lake is still cold and the trees are making their decisions and every warm day feels like something that has been earned. I love this city in April. I love it in every month, but April is particular: the city remembering what it is when it is not winter, recognizing itself, coming back.

After the ham bone soup did its work and the refrigerator finally looked like itself again, I wanted something that felt like April — crisp and light and a little bit surprising. This Apple Caesar Salad has been on my rotation since I first made it a few springs ago, and it has exactly the right energy for this week: nothing heavy, nothing that requires much of you, just good ingredients arranged simply and eaten at the kitchen table while the sidewalk chalk is still out there holding its archive. The apple in a Caesar feels like a small act of optimism, which is what this city asks of you in spring.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 10 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 large heads romaine lettuce, chopped
1 large crisp apple (Honeycrisp or Fuji), cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup shaved or freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup seasoned croutons
1/3 cup Caesar dressing (store-bought or homemade)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Optional: 2 tablespoons toasted walnuts or pecans

Instructions

Prep the greens. Wash and dry the romaine thoroughly, then chop into bite-sized pieces. Place in a large salad bowl.
Slice the apple. Core the apple and slice it thinly. If not serving immediately, toss the slices in the tablespoon of lemon juice to prevent browning and add brightness.
Dress the salad. Drizzle the Caesar dressing over the romaine and toss until the leaves are evenly coated. Start with less dressing and add more to taste.
Add toppings. Arrange the apple slices over the dressed romaine. Add the croutons, shaved Parmesan, and a few grinds of black pepper. Add toasted nuts if using.
Serve immediately. Caesar salad is best eaten right away, while the croutons are still crisp. Toss once more lightly at the table before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Apple Caesar Salad — The Week After Easter, Eating Light Again