This is a simple salad that works well for any occasion and one of my favorite original recipes. I recommend serving it with just some good oil and balsamic or red wine vinegar for the dressing. To me, ranch, house, and other intensely flavored dressings are what you put on bland, boring salads that do not have much going on flavor-wise. The overly-powerful flavor of something like ranch dressing ruins the delicately balanced flavors of a good gourmet salad in my opinion. If the flavors of the ingredients of the salad are to shine through, such as with this recipe, something light like oil and vinegar must be used.
Serving Size: 4 people as a main vegetable dish, 8 people as a small side.
Ingredients:
*About 4 quarts of Salad greens, either spring mix or red of green leaf lettuce. Do not use ice-beg.
*1/2 a Red Onion, thinly sliced
*6 or so Radishes, thinly sliced
*1/2 cup chopped Pecans
*1/2 cup dried Cranberries
*8 strips of Bacon or 8 pieces of Prosciutto
*Vinegar to taste - either red wine or balsamic
*Olive Oil to taste - be sure it is oil of good quality an has a good flavor
*Blue Cheese or Gorgonzola to taste (optional)
Preparation:
1) If using whole heads of lettuce, tear into bite sized pieces. Wash lettuce and allow to drip dry.
2) Wash radishes and slice into thin circles.
3) Slice red onion into thin, bite sized pieces. Do not cut them too small or they will not rest on a fork properly.
4) Chop pecans if they did not come pre-chopped.
5) If using bacon, cook bacon, crumble, and set aside. If using prosciutto, tear into bite sized pieces.
5) Top salad with onion, radish, pecan, cranberry, and bacon or prosciutto, and blue cheese, if using. Toss with oil and vinegar and serve.
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