Simple Green Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette
Simple Green Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette is really simple (who could’ve guessed that??) and can be prepped ahead of time for easy day-of assembly.
I recently made a YouTube video with my friend Marion Ringborg. She is a former chef, current event caterer here in Stockholm, and she makes the most gorgeous food. We wanted to do a video all about brunch and do a menu that would be easy, fun, and springy. We created a menu filled with quiche, bread pudding, and a grand aioli platter. Everything was filled with vegetables, but it still didn’t seem fresh enough. We wanted something to give respite to the onslaught of rich, creamy, eggy dishes that this brunch had become. So we decided to add in a simple salad.
What makes this salad fun is the type of lettuce you use. Use the most fun variety you can find. You could use really anything, but I like this with greens like frisée, radicchio, or red leaf lettuce.
The vinaigrette is also easy and comes together quickly. It can also be made several days ahead of time as it lasts in the fridge and is, in fact, better the next day when all the flavors have time to mellow. You could use brown or white onions if that’s all you had, but shallots are sweeter and have a more delicate flavor. They lend themselves better to a salad like this.
Simple Green Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette is designed to be a side salad. To make it into more of a meal, I would add more cheese, some salted almonds, another sort of lettuce, and some cucumber. This salad would also be great with the addition of fresh herbs like tarragon or parsley.
Simple Green Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 small head of “fun” lettuce
- 1 Shallot
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Lemon
- Salt and Pepper
- Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
- Peel and slice the shallot into 1mm thick pieces.
- Place the sliced shallot in a cold pan and drizzle a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil over the top.
- Turn the heat to medium-low and cook the shallots until tender, stirring occasionally.
- While the shallots are still cooking, zest the lemon directly into the pan. Add the juice of half of the lemon and salt and pepper to taste. Adjust the seasoning according to your preference.
- Transfer the shallot vinaigrette to a container and refrigerate overnight.
- Take whole leaves of lettuce and arrange them in a single layer over a wide shallow serving dish.
- Taste the shallot vinaigrette and adjust the flavor by adding more lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper as necessary.
- Drizzle the shallot vinaigrette over the greens.
- Sprinkle the salad with a bit of salt and pepper.
- Grate Parmesan cheese across the entire salad and serve immediately.