Market Salad with Vinaigrette
This is a very simple salad, using many of the ingredients from my weekly CSA, along with a good vinaigrette. Learning to make a simple and tasty vinaigrette is a good skill to have under your belt, because it will come in handy for numerous uses - marinading, dressing up greens and cooked veggies, etc. I believe it was Julia Child who said if everyone knew how easy it was to make a good vinaigrette, no one would ever buy one in a bottle again. I concur. Common wisdom uses a 2-1 ration of olive oil to vinegar, but I like to use equal parts; I like the bite of the vinegar, and it cuts down on the fat. In this recipe, the egg yolks also work to soften the bite of the vinegar, and the vinegars I've mentioned - Champagne, sherry, white wine, tend toward a softer taste than a red wine vinegar.
Market Salad - serves 2
1 bag mixed lettuces
a few radishes, cleaned, trimmed and sliced thinly on a mandoline or Japanese slicer
1 medium kohlrabi, peeled and sliced thinly
Or anything else you bought at the market this week, sliced thinly
Vinaigrette
1 small shallot, minced
1/4 cup champagne, white wine, or sherry vinegar
1/2 TBSP Dijon mustard
1/4 cup good extra virgin olive oil
3 hard-cooked egg yolks, pushed through a sieve or grated
salt and pepper
mixed chopped herbs soft herbs (not woody, like rosemary, but soft like tarragon, basil, oregano, etc)
Combine the shallot and vinegar and allow to stand for a few minutes. I think this softens the shallot and maybe "cooks" it a little, but that could totally be my imagination. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and whisk until you have a light emulsion. Toss with the lettuce and vegetables, enjoy.
