Fast and Fancy Salad

The star of dinner last Thursday was supposed to a cut of fresh, sushi grade salmon. Honest, it was! But this salad stole the show. Let me backtrack a little here...

So I spent last week fighting my next Homegrown Gourmet entry, which as you'll see in another upcoming post, did not go so well. I needed to get more high quality chocolate for the recipe as I had used up what I started with. I decided to stop in Browne Trading Company, a local gourmet food shop (maybe even a shoppe, it's so fancy) walking distance from my office to pick up the chocolate. Since I had no plans for dinner, I figured while I was there I'd get some fixin's for dinner that night too.

I got a beautiful fillet of salmon, as well as some mussels. Knowing I had strawberries and greens in the fridge, I picked up some blue cheese for a nice salad to accompany the fish.

Well, wouldn't you know, the way I cooked the fish was just ok, the brown rice I threw in there too was just an ordinary side, and the sweet strawberries, tangy balsamic, crunchy walnuts and shallots, and creamy cheese blew everything away. There were many a "Mmmmmm" coming from the couch as hubby and I chowed the healthiest part of dinner off our plates first! I wish the whole dinner was just this salad it was so good!


Upperclass Strawberry and Blue Cheese Salad

• 1 Shallot, sliced into thin pieces
  
• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
  
• 4-5 Strawberries, sliced
  
• 1/4 C. Walnuts, toasted
  
• 2 Tbsp. Blue Cheese, crumbled
  
• 2 C. Iceberg Lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
  
• 2-3 Tbsp. Strawberry Infused Balsamic Viniagrette

1. In a small saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add in the shallots and cook over low heat to caramelize, about 15 minutes. My oil was too hot so I mostly fried my shallot ribbons. This was still tasty, but not what I had in mind. If you fry yours by accident too, drain on a papertowel.
   
2. When cooked, remove shallots and set aside to cool. Turn off stovetop.
   
3. Toss together all of the salad ingredients, except the dressing. You may also choose to arrange on a plate to prevent the berries from getting smooshed.
   
4. Drizzle just a little viniagrette over the salad once plated.