Caesar Salad from the Heart

Note from Marie: This lovely and easy salad uses Hearts of Romaine lettuce. (Hence, the name -- from the heart :) You've probably seen Romaine lettuce. It's the one with the elongated head, and dark green outer leaves that lighten to a pale green in the center. The leaves are crisp and slightly bitter, and seriously succulent when drizzled with caesar dressing, flakes of Parmesan cheese, and freshly ground black pepper like in this recipe. The really great thing about this salad is that there is absolutely no chopping involved! For you, that is. Serve this salad with a fork and a sharp knife, as your guests will need to do the chopping themselves.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

3 large hearts of romaine

Your favorite caesar (or low-fat caesar) dressing

Freshly ground black pepper

Parmesan cheese, flaked

Instructions:

Purchase "hearts of romaine" lettuce at the grocery store. (Time saving tip: Look for these in the bagged-lettuce section at your grocery store.)

Pull off and discard the outer leaves, which are often wilted and broken. Make a stack of the fresh, inner leaves -- about 16 to 20 total. Trim the white stem (no more than 1/2 inch) off each leaf. Wash leaves and pat dry.

Place 4-5 leaves on each plate. Drizzle caesar dressing over leaves. Grind pepper over all. Using a knife or cheese slicer, slice of large flakes of Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle cheese flakes over dressed lettuce.

Serve immediately.