We eat a fair amount of salads in our household, but it's generally just lettuce, croutons and dressing.
Well, last year, leading up to our wedding, we were sampling dishes by a caterer. And one of the dishes we tried had fruit, nuts and a vinaigrette. So we decided to take a try at replicating the dish.
Melissa made a simple marinade of orange juice, soy sauce, ginger and onion powder for the chicken. Then she cooked it at 375 degrees until it reached 165 degrees F. (When the chicken is done, we cut it on the bias.)
Meanwhile, she toasted the walnuts and made the vinaigrette. The vinaigrette was balsamic vinegar, honey, olive oil, dijon mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Then, in a mixing bowl, she mixed up the ingredients -- romaine, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, feta cheese and the balsamic vinaigrette -- and transferred to a plate. We topped with the sliced chicken.
It was a pretty simple (and filling!) salad that had a great combination of crunchy and creamy, but it wasn't exactly the salad we remember. Oh, well, there's always another time.
Balsamic Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
Tell us: What's your favorite salad?
3 comments:
I love these simple salads, and you are right: this is the perfect flavor combination. I sometimes add thin slices of granny smith apples to this rather than the cranberries. Try it and let me know what you think!
My favorite salad is a creamy Caesar with long-leafed Romain lettuce and garlic croutons. Standard, yes. But some places do it so right (Envoy at the Ambassador Hotel).
Fruit and nuts are such a good addition to simple salads. We love candied pecans with bleu cheese and dried door county cherries.
I'm with Chris on Caesar salad. And Greek salads are fun to do up right. Lemon, garlic, & oregano marinated chicken... kalamata olives, feta cheese, tomatoes, and marinated red onions in a red wine vinaigrette. Perfect summer meal.
This sounds so tasty! Gonna have to try it soon!
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