Nutty salad

Ok, maybe you don't really need a salad recipe. I mean, it's just lettuce, dressing, and other stuff, right? But maybe you do need some inspiration to go out a make one. This is a little salad I whipped up with the spiced nuts I made the other day (ok, I didn't actually use those spiced nuts, but I could have -- these were from another batch and a different recipe that didn't achieve total awesomeness like the one I posted.)

First step: make a Key lime pie and use the leftover egg whites to make spiced nuts.

Next step: clean your lettuce. (Ugh, this is the reason I put off making salads more than I should. It's no fun. But there's no way around it, so SOLDIER ON!) It's a good idea to dry your lettuce after you wash it, othewise your salad will suck.

Back in a former life, I grew salad greens on top of a warehouse in Toronto. I had set up a little feasibility study to see if I could make a buck at it. It worked out pretty well, but I realised I was out of my league when the owner of an Italian restaurant, after sampling my arugula and declaring it the best he'd ever tasted, asked me how many crates I could get him (my scale was of the ziploc freezer bag magnitude, so that was pretty much that). ANYWAY, cleaning greens was a big part of the operation (maybe that's why I don't like doing it anymore?).  Just rinse the leaves in a big bowl with a couple changes of water. Then spin them in a salad spinner, or, if you don't have one, or if you do but are prone to theatrics, put them in a teatowel (or even better, an old onion sac -- you know, the mesh ones) and go outside and swing the package of greens around in a big circle until all the water flies away (I'm beginning to see why I don't make salad much -- this is a major production!).

I make my vinaigrettes on the fly by squeezing a lime or some lemon into a bowl. Then I pour enough olive oil in so there is a 50-50 or 3 to 1 ratio (depending on how zippy I'm feeling). Then a blob of mustard goes in (I like Meaux in those cool clay pots with the cork and the wax lid), add some salt and pepper, and I`whisk it all up.

Next step is to dump the shredded greens into the vinaigrette and mix them all around. I use my hands for this, since they are, as I've mentioned before, the best tools in the kitchen.

I put some avocado in this salad. Here's a nifty way to prepare them. First slice them in half and pop out the pit.

Then slice a grid pattern into each half (careful, your hand's under there!).

And finally, spoon it out into nice little cubes. Nice and tidy -- those dudes are slimy, messy city on a cutting board, so this is a good way to avoid that whole scene (you can makes slices the same way too).

Here's the final product. Some chopped tomato, the avocado, a bit of Reggiano, and the spiced nuts all tossed in after the greens were dressed. Well worth the effort. I've posted this so that when I feel salad laziness coming, I can come and check out the picture and remember that it's all worth it.

Buon appetito!