Ireland's Simple Green Salad for 2 With Light Lime Vinaigrette

Submitted by COOKGIRl

"My sister in law brought the following fresh salad (using organic produce from our local farmers' market) to a family function and I loved the simplicity. Her version was served with one of the Newman's Own brand store bought salad dressings. I don't normally buy store bought dressings so I found this lime vinaigrette recipe on Food Network. I modified it by intentionally omitting all the herbs. Try your favorite dressing, preferably a light vinaigrette. Anything too heavy will overpower the salad."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 2

ingredients

• Lime Vinaigrette

• 2 limes, juice of
• 1⁄2 teaspoon grated lime zest
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons champagne vinegar or 1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt-free garlic powder
• 2 1⁄2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• Salad

• 4 -5 cups fresh baby spinach leaves, rinsed and dried to remove excess moisture
• 1 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 2 shallots, peeled and sliced
• 1⁄3 English cucumber, sliced
• 1⁄4 cup celery & leaves, sliced thinly
• 1 small carrot, grated
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chiffonade (my addition-optional)

directions

1. Prepare the salad dressing by whisking all ingredients together. Best prepared at least 1 hour in advance. Yield: approximately 1/4 cup.
2. Place the spinach leaves in an attractive wide salad bowl.
3. Arrange the tomatoes around the edges. Arrange the onion, cucumber, too in little mounds around the edge of the bowl. Toss in the celery.
4. Grate the carrot and place in in the center of the salad. Top with the basil, if using.
5. Serve dressing on the side and lightly drizzle.
6. Meal suggestion: Salad, corn on the cob, fresh fruit and crostini.

Reviews

[UmmBinat]

This salad was too sour also a little bitter from the lime. But maybe my lime was more bitter than it was meant to be. Maybe adding a a little sweetener to the dressing would help this taste better. I added a dash of organic apple cider vinegar and it made the dressing taste a little sweeter. I left out the other vinegars for religious reasons. I had to use garlic salt :X and added just a little with no additional salt. I used an unrefined extra virgin olive oil. The rest I followed without the basil a I didn't have any and I used grape tomatoes cut in quarters. I won't make this again.

 

[NorthwestGal]

This was a good salad, and the lime vinaigrette was very refreshing. I was a bit conservative on the basil (since it was fresh, I was afraid it would overpower the rest of the flavors). But I think next time, I'll stick to the recipe and go with the full amount of fresh basil. It worked really well in this recipe.