We were entertaining visitors from back east and I thought, considering the arrival of so many local goodies in the market, that our guests should be treated to our very own “locavore” dinner. I created this salad with little gem lettuce, Italian parsley and arugula growing in the garden, to accompany a barbecued chicken. For dessert, what else but local strawberries!
Makes 4 Servings
4 to 5 cups mixed salad greens
1 lb. or so of fresh, young English peas, shelled
1 bunch young radishes, thinly sliced (French Breakfast would be great)
½ cup Italian parsley leaves
3 green onions or an equal amount of chives, sliced into 1/4” slices (feel free to use the chive blossoms if you have some)
2 eggs
Meyer lemon vinaigrette
Make the Meyer lemon vinaigrette & place in the fridge until ready to dress the salad.
Place the eggs into a small pot & cover with cold water. Cover & bring to a boil; remove from the heat & let stand for 8 minutes. Drain the eggs & run cold water into the pot until the water remains cold. Once the eggs are cold, remove the shells & set aside.
Bring a medium sized pot to a boil; add salt then add the peas & blanch for 30 seconds. Remove from the boiling water to a bowl that is filled with ice-water & let cool.
Toss the salad greens, Italian parsley leaves, green onions or chives in a large serving bowl. Scatter the sliced radishes over the greens; drain the peas well & scatter on top of the greens. Drizzle with the Meyer lemon vinaigrette & toss salad together until ingredients are coated, to your liking, with dressing. Using an egg slicer, carefully slice the eggs and lay on top of the salad; drizzle a little dressing on the egg slices & serve the salad immediately.
This salad can be adapted using blanched & peeled fava beans or blanched asparagus that have been cut into 2” pieces. Instead of the egg you could use a nice, fairly young Pecorino or maybe both. It’s up to you!
Here’s the link to make the vinaigrette. Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette.
