Green Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Green Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

You really can’t have too many easy green salad recipes in your repertoire.

This salad recipe proves that simplicity is the best way to create a great dish using a few quality ingredients. As you might have guessed, this recipe came about in a pinch using ingredients we had on hand. This recipe calls for romaine, but you could easily substitute little gem lettuce or red leaf hearts. A simple mustard vinaigrette, romaine, parmigiano reggiano, lemon zest, and some butter-toasted pine nuts quickly pulled together at dinnertime to create a light and impressive salad. We’ve since remade this recipe several times.

Main Ingredients:

Romaine Hearts: Crispy and sturdy romaine hearts hold up to the dressing. You can substitute with little gem lettuce or red leaf lettuce hearts.

Mustard Vinaigrette: This dressing is a breeze to make. It’s a simple mix of dijon, mayonnaise, rice wine vinegar, and honey. No fancy equipment needed-just a small bowl and a whisk or a fork. You can whip up this dressing without any worry of emulsifying, making it a perfect addition to your salad.

Lemon Zest: The secret to the amazing citrus flavor in this salad? The zest of the lemon. By using only the zest, you get the bright, fresh taste without the tartness of the juice. Use a microplane to create a fine zest that easily mixes into the salad.

Butter-Toasted Pine Nuts: Pine Nuts are a great addition to this salad, and a little goes a long way. Keep the toast light, and don’t brown the pine nuts too much.

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Green Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

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Course: Salads, Sides

This salad recipe proves that simplicity is the best way to create a great dish using a few quality ingredients.

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

5

minutes

Total time

15

minutes

Cook Mode

Keep the screen on while I cook

Ingredients

• 2 romaine hearts
  (chopped into about 1″ pieces and washed)

• parmigiano reggiano, as needed

• 1/3 cup pine nuts

• 1 tbsp butter

• 2 lemons, zest only

• Mustard Vinaigrette

• 3 tbsp dijon mustard

• 1 tbsp mayonnaise

• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar

• 1 tbsp honey

• salt and pepper, to taste

Method

• Toast the Pinenuts: Melt the butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Add the pine nuts and cook while stirring or tossing in the pan. Keep them moving as you go for an even color. Once they are light brown, remove from the heat and pour onto a paper towel-lined plate.
• Make the Dressing: In a small bowl, mix the Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, rice wine vinegar, and honey. Combine well and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
• Mix the Salad: In a mixing bowl, toss together the romaine hearts and lemon zest. Mix to distribute the lemon zest evenly. Pour in the vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper. Gently toss the greens to dress. Transfer to a serving bowl (if you wish) and garnish with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and toasted pine nuts.

Field Notes

• If you do not have rice wine vinegar, you may substitute apple cider vinegar.