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This past week was insanely hot. Specifically Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday night, I was at Canobie Lake Park with my best friend so I was not home for dinner, although Wednesday all I had was gymnastics from 1-4 p.m. like I do every other Monday through Thursday. And man was it stifling out! To try to cool down our palates I decided to make a crisp, cool, experimental salad. I knew I wanted to make a raspberry vinaigrette, and what better to pair with fruit, than more fruit! My mind immediately went to watermelon. But, after some consideration, I realized the watermelon’s texture would probably not hold up to a vinaigrette. It would certainly get soggy and the flavor wouldn’t be able to shine through. Then I realized that apple would be the fruit that would hold up the best to the flavors and wouldn’t get soggy. A good curly green leaf lettuce would bed an amazing bed, and walnuts would add a sufficient crunch to the salad.
- 1/2 cup raspberries
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 tsp. sugar
- 2 Granny Smith apples
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- curly leaf lettuce
- feta
- I used fresh frozen raspberries so I measured out a heaping half cup and heated it for one minute to soften them. Place in a blender and purée.
- Mix the vinegar into the raspberries in the blender. Transfer to a small bowl.
- Stir in the sugar, one teaspoon at a time, and taste while you go, in case my palate is more acquainted to sweets than yours is.
- Set aside.
- Chop the apples into bite size pieces. (Quarter them, slice each quarter into three strips, then third each strip.) Chop the walnuts into small pieces before you measure them.
- Rinse the lettuce and then rip it into bite size pieces. Mix the apples, walnuts, and vinaigrette in a large bowl and let sit for at least one hour, longer if you want the flavor to soak in more.
- When you are ready to eat, divide the lettuce onto each plate as a bed.
- Scoop the nuts and apples onto your bed with a slotted spoon. Pour the excess vinaigrette over the salads evenly. Crumble the feta over the salads at the last minute so it does not get soggy.
- For meat eaters, oven-baked chicken pairs perfectly, cubed on top.
- If you want a carbohydrate with your dish, serve pita bread or rolls on the side.
Bon appetit!
