Mixed Herb Salad With Borage : La Salade De Plusieurs Herbes

French Tart's Note:

A delightful old French salad recipe, which uses fresh aromatic herbs with fresh lettuce leaves and a simple dressing. Serve this with poached salmon or cold chicken for an elegant dinner party dish. Adapted from a 16th century French translation of a book originally written in Latin in 1474. NB: Borage is an excellent culinary herb and can be used in a variety of ways. Borage is far better used fresh, as the flavour and colour deteriorate when dried and some essential oils lost. Traditional recipes recommend borage leaves and seeds, together with fennel in salads for increasing the milk supply in nursing mothers. The leaves and flowers are still added for flavour and garnish to wine cups, Pimms and gin-based summer cocktails and the flowers are still candied for confectionary as cake and ice cream decorations.

• Total Time: 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 heads lettuce
• young tender borage leaves and fresh edible flower (1 handful)
• chopped fresh mint leaves (1 handful)
• fresh lemon balm leaves (1 handful)
• tender fennel shoots and fresh edible flower (1 handful)
• fresh chervil (1 handful)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon oregano or 1 tablespoon marjoram, flowers and leaves
• salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons wine vinegar

Directions:

1. Wash the lettuce and herbs well, dry them and place them in a large dish. Sprinkle with salt, add the oil and finally the vinegar. Let the salad stand a while before serving.