Greens and Fresh Herbs Salad, Shallot Dijon Vinaigrette
This salad is just plain simple and delicious. A handful of garden-fresh herbs tossed between very small torn pieces of romaine lettuce greens lends a clean, distinctive flavor perfect as a starter or for a light, refreshing meal on a hot summer day.
It has been hot in Las Vegas. Very hot. The desert though also provides for no humidity and daily offers respite in the early morning and late evening hours comfortable enough for walking, hiking, or enjoying mountain views just sitting outside.
As midday sun daily covers the sky feeling mere miles away it has admittedly been a delightful surprise in the side yard garden prolific with many fresh herbs. The chives need top tip snipping to cut off bits of sunburn but besides that, provided you keep clipping you are rewarded with continual growth.
Rosemary grows wild in Las Vegas and regularly accents as a shrub both upright and elongated around homes and dotting between cactus along many trails.
Garden lettuce greens also grow well here in the spring until early summer similar to the east coast. August has passed that deadline so today’s salad contains a large-sized head of fresh romaine.
In the past, I’ve shared a red leaf spring lettuce with herbs from the garden using Garden Planter lettuce in a lemon poppyseed vinaigrette along with a lovely Spring Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette.
In this salad, the romaine takes about ten minutes to prep tearing the green leaves into very tiny pieces which better highlights with the small fresh herbs while letting each of the flavors to burst through.
I love preparing shallot Dijon vinaigrette as it feels so French, especially tossed with fresh scented herbs. I like to keep it light though so the flavors don’t compete with the salad flavors.
Chopping up some stale baguette slices then frying in butter until golden brown serves as the crunchy crouton topping. The topping also provides a modern twist as those little bread crumb toppings are trending these days.
I’ve been using feta crumbles for the finish but the feta was all gone when I went to photograph today so I alternatively used blue cheese, you can use whatever you have on hand, even some grated Parmesan would work well. Bon Appetit.
Greens and Fresh Herbs Salad, Shallot Dijon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- For the Dressing:
- 3 tablespoons finely minced shallot
- 1 scant tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- good pinch coarse kosher salt
- few grinds cracked black pepper
- For the Bread Crumb Topping:
- 6 half-inch slices stale baguette, chopped
- 1 tablespoon butter
- For the Salad:
- 1 large head romaine lettuce, washed, dried, torn into very small bite-sized pieces
- 1-2 generous handfuls of fresh herbs:
- thyme leaves stripped from stems
- mint, stripped from stems then torn into small pieces
- basil leaves removed from stems, stacked, rolled, thinly sliced
- chives snipped into half-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup feta crumbles, blue cheese or fresh shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- For the Dressing: Add minced shallot to a mixing bowl. Whisk in the Dijon mustard. Pour in the lemon juice and vinegar, whisk to blend. Slowly pour in the olive oil whisking continuously to emulsify. Sprinkle with a pinch or two of salt and pepper, whisk
- For the Bread Crumb Topping: Heat a small nonstick pan, add the butter and swirl to cover the bottom then add in the breadcrumbs, stir. Sprinkle crumbs with some garlic powder and a pinch or two of salt. Heat on medium-low heat stirring or shaking the pan until crumbs are golden brown. Remove from heat and transfer to a small bowl
- For the Salad: Toss romaine greens with fresh herbs. Drizzle in dressing a little at a time and toss adding more as needed. Top with cheese crumbles and sprinkle bread crumbs across the top
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