Don’t toss the salad
For a luxurious lettuce dish, all you need is three things
How often have you tossed the dinner salad? And, I am not talking about tossing it with dressing!
If I had a nickel for every time that I’ve seen the salad bowl, left untouched and droopy at the end of the night — tossed into the trash can — I would have a lot of nickels.
This fact is understandable as it is difficult to make a dinner salad that is as appealing as the main course. My solution to this common problem is to make a simple salad that complements the other dishes instead of making a salad that is an afterthought and misses the mark.
My recipe is tied to my longstanding love affair with the simple French “salade verte” (green salad). Whenever I am in France, I order a salade verte with everything that I eat. It is a simple salad traditionally made with butter lettuce-sometimes called Boston lettuce-and a mustardrich perfectly emulsified vinaigrette dressing. The perfect emulsion makes it creamy and it clings lightly to the lettuce, accenting the sweet delicate leaves with just the right amount of tang.
My Luxurious Lettuce Salad is deceptively simple but relies on the absolute best ingredients for it to be a success. That is, fresh butter lettuce — I like the living lettuce or farmers market lettuce-fleur de sel (coarse sea salt from Brittany) — and your favourite first-press extra-virgin olive oil. Servings: 2
Start to finish: 10 minutes 1 head Boston or Butter lettuce, washed and dried
Fleur de Sel (a few pinches) Best quality extra-virgin olive oil Fresh ground pepper
The method is very simple. Place the lettuce leaves in a large bowl, sprinkle with about 2 pinches of fleur de sel or coarse sea salt. Toss. Drizzle with 1-2 teaspoons (or more to taste) of olive oil, toss very well to coat all the leaves.
Let sit for 5 minutes and toss again. Add a little more oil if the leaves are not coated but be careful not to use too much oil, otherwise the salad will be heavy and the lettuce will get soggy. Add freshly ground pepper if desired.
Nutrition information per serving: 53 calories; 44 calories from fat; 5 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 244 mg sodium; 2 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 1 g sugar; 1 g protein. Servings: Makes 20-22 bars Start to finish: 60 minutes, plus additional cooling time
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 scant teaspoon fine-grain sea salt 1 generous cup pecans halves 1/2pound unsalted butter, melted 1 cup packed light brown sugar 1 cup packed dark brown sugar 2 large eggs, mixed together 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of your favourite bourbon
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Toast pecans in a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes at 250 F. When cool, chop the pecans and set aside.
Melt butter and pour into a bowl. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add Bourbon and mix again. Stir in the flour mixture and mix well, turning the batter several times to make sure that all the flour is incorporated.
Add the chopped pecans, the toffee bits, coconut and white chocolate. Stir together with a blending fork to make sure that the add-ins are equally incorporated. Prepare your baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spread batter
Nutrition information per bar: 320 calories; 158 calories from fat; 18 g fat (9 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 46 mg cholesterol; 134 mg sodium; 38 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber; 27 g sugar; 3 g protein.