A Restaurant Quality Salad! A creative mix of Butter Lettuce, Roasted Green Beans, Aged Italian Cheese, Pistachios, Figs and Watermelon Radish with a Pickled Radish & Apple Dressing. Simply Delicious.
Bravo! ( If I do say so myself!) A salad thats colorful, textural, satisfying and bursting with health benefits.
When you read many enticing menus in farm-to table and upscale restaurants, you will see many salad offerings with the freshest and unique flavor combinations.
What is considered is the play on colors and contrasting flavors. I touch on all the senses with this salad, it is a joy to join these ingredients together and a pleasure to look at… and dig into and savor.
Mellow, tender red-tipped butter lettuce is paired with crunchy and earthy pistachios, assertive and sharp crumbly Italian cheese, powerfully pungent fuchsia watermelon radish slices, perfectly roasted farm-fresh green beans and sweet and sticky figs… all laced with a Pickled Watermelon Radish and Apple Vinaigrette.
On a recent trip to Eataly in NYC, I tasted a delicious pecorino cheese from Tuscany – “Pecorino Gigante”. A wonderfully sharp sheep milk variety, which I included in this recipe. It’s so creamy, it crumbles in your hands. Just a bit tossed over the salad adds a robust bite.
The vinaigrette starts by quickly “pickling” the diced radish and green apples in Apple Cider Vinegar. Red onion and seasonings are stirred in, and extra virgin olive oil is streamed in slowly until emulsified.
Enjoy this special, restaurant quality salad for yourself at home, and create it for company – a memorable experience for all.
Best to you,
Karen
