Sunday, November 9, 2008

Delicate Vinaigrette Tames Wild Greens

I forgot to mention earlier that I see that the dogs have been taking care of my blog in my absence. Hmm, that might merit an extra treat or two! I'll just take a quick minute to briefly share this delightful salad recipe:


Lately the salad mix in my box of veggies has been a combination of several marvelous mustardy greens. They taste good mixed with milder greens in a tossed salad, but I wanted to highlight their particular character, so I tried this recipe (Gourmet, found on Epicurious) for Farmer's Market Salad made with "strongly flavored wild greens."

cook's notes

- I didn't have champagne vinegar (although I thought I did) so I used white wine vinegar.

- Each time I've made this I've (unintentionally) neglected to follow the specific directions for combining the ingredients. I just put it all in the bowl and whisked. It came together well enough, I think.

the verdict

I've been enjoying strong greens in my salads for awhile now and don't usually give them much special treatment - except when I make an Italian type arugula salad. In fact, I often skip the dressing entirely. Well, not anymore! This is a fantastic, deceptively simple dressing. It has a 2:1 oil:vinegar ratio, and not much else, but it is beautifully balanced and complements the strong flavor of the wild greens perfectly. I'm keeping a jar of this dressing in the fridge; with a quick shake and we have a wonderful salad!

4 comments:

natalia said...

Dear Nancy ciao ! this salad looks great (it would be great with the macaroni !) YOU KNOW ? In Italy nobody knows about macaroni and cheese ! I should try your recipe ! How was the yeast ?

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Hi Natalia! I'm going to have that salad with the leftover macaroni for supper this evening. It would be interesting to see what Italians think of macaroni and cheese - it's a very American dish.

My yeast is on the second rise. It's been great so far!

Nancy

Maria said...

This salad looks wonderful!

Audrey said...

Yum...I have never liked arugula, but we made a dressing this weekend with lemon juice, olive oil and lots of garlic that was out of this world (served over just arugula and good parmesan cheese) Yours has a lot of my favorite flavors, which is good because I am now a convert.