One time at a restaurant – I think it was Palazzo Giuseppe’s in downtown San Luis Obispo – I had a really good salad. I vaguely remember butter leaf lettuce, peaches and vanilla vinaigrette.
Over the years I’ve thought about that salad. For some reason it took me until now to recreate it. This cooking blog really is bringing out the best in me.
The star of this salad is the vinaigrette. It’s light, not overly sweet and has a delicious vanilla flavor.
This time of year fresh peaches are pretty hard to come by, so I used canned. Not the best, but they seemed like a better alternative to frozen.
The butter lettuce I found at the store was Living Butter Lettuce – “absolutely fresh because it’s still alive!” Basically the head came in a big plastic container with its roots still covered in dirt. All that “living” stuff made me kind of feel like I was murdering the lettuce when I tore it apart.
Whisking the dressing is the hardest part about this salad. Other than that, it’s just a matter of arranging everything prettily on a plate. Perfect for an easy yet elegant Valentine’s Day!
Recipe: Butter lettuce, peach and goat cheese salad with vanilla vinaigrette
For the salad:
- Butter leaf lettuce
- Peaches, fresh or canned
- Goat cheese
- Glazed walnuts (I used Emerald Original Glazed Walnuts)
Adapted from foodreference.com
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon tarragon leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- Whisk together all ingredients. Drizzle over salad.
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1 comment
Sarah
February 8, 2010 at 10:25 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I can’t wait until peaches are in season so I can try this recipe with the real thing!
(I bet other fruit, such as raspberries, would be just as tasty.)