A Night in the Garden: Lemon Chicken Caesar Salad

One of our other holiday traditions is visiting the Garden of Lights at the Botanical Garden.  We like the Botantical Garden year round, but when it's all lit up for the season, it really is the most wonderful time of the year.

As soon as we got there, Thatbaby was anxious to see "Samta."  Thatboy graciously offered to stand in line while Thatbaby ran around like a crazy person.

Once again, the idea of Santa outweighed the reality and Thatbaby was thrilled to see Santa up until it was actually his turn.  Then he wanted to stay far far away.  

He was pretty happy with the candy cane he got after the visit though!  And continued to talk about "Samta" for the rest of the evening.

We grabbed dinner at the garden, and then walked around enjoying all the lights.

The Garden brings in snow every year, but only on certain nights.  According to the schedule, the night we went wasn't supposed to have snow, but as we were walking around and looking at the lights, a couple remarked that we needed to take Thatbaby over to the snow area.  Apparently the schedule was off.  Or wrong.  So we headed over to the Children's Garden for some snowtime fun.  But not without a stop to see the trains.

The model railroad set up for Christmas is always fun, with Santa driving the train.  The next stop was the snow.

We took Thatbaby to see the snow last winter, but I don't think he remembers it.  He had a blast running around the slippery white stuff, but didn't love it when his hands got cold, wet, and "dirty."

In honor of our evening in the garden, I bring you a garden-style dinner.  It may seem odd to have a salad in the winter, but our recent cold spell (It's been in the 40s on my morning runs!) turned much much warmer on Sunday.  I don't think we've hit spring yet, but I'll take it where I can!

Lemon Chicken Caesar Salad

2 lemons

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb boneless, skinless, chicken thighs

1 head romaine lettuce

Caesar Salad Dressing

1. Combine the zest and juice of the lemons with garlic, salt and pepper in a ziplock bag.
2. Add the chicken to the bag and refrigerate overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 425.  Place chicken and marinade in a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.
4. Slice the chicken.  
5. Tear the lettuce and top with the sliced chicken.  Drizzle the dressing over.