Spring Salad
Spring Salad Serves 4-6
This dish makes for a great first course, otherwise known in the Italian meal structure as a primo.
Ingredients:
For the Salad:
1 Beet, boiled until soft* and remove the skin. Cut into 1/4 inch rounds and quarter. Wash and pick the leaves.
4 Radishes, thinly slice on a mandoline OR cut into 8ths. Wash and pick the leaves.
3 Carrots (any color, I chose purple), peel and boil until tender but not soft; cut in 4ths.
6 Brussel Sprouts, thinly slice on a mandoline OR slice thinly by hand.
5 Asparagus stalks, cut off the tips and then cut the stalks on a bias to create a trapezoid shape.
20 sprigs of Dill, wash and pick.
20 springs of Parsley, wash and pick.
15 Mint leaves, wash and pick.
2 Tb Shallots, pickled. See recipe here.
Candied Walnuts. See recipe here.
Goat Cheese
Black Pepper, freshly ground
Optional:
Deviled Egg Yolk Filling. See recipe here.
*Save the boiled beet water for beet pickled eggs!
Method:
Once all of the preparations are complete, begin to build your salad. I began by starting with a base layer of roasted beets, and building up the dish with various ingredients creating layers. If you choose to use the deviled egg yolk filling it is great to adding bursts of creaminess throughout the salad.