Green Salad with Strawberry-Sherry Vinaigrette

 

Once a week, I prepare a salad for dinner. I usually used whatever we have in our pantry. I have been trying to incorporate more salads into our dinner rotation and love it. The secret to a really good salad is serving it with crisp and refreshing lettuce. I learned this years ago (from a restaurant I used to work) and it really does work. This trick makes them crisper and refreshing with minimal time and effort. You can also do this with white onion. Soaking onions in ice water for 10 or 15 minutes mellows out the flavor. This trick makes them palatable even to those who don't like onions.

How to Crisp Lettuce/Onions

Put ice into a large bowl.
Put lettuce/onions (washed) into the bowl.
Fill the bowl with water, keeping the lettuce as fully submerged as possible.
Wait 10-15 minutes.
Remove the lettuce from the water and dry it in a salad spinner.
Serve immediately.

Ingredients:
Lettuce: Romaine & Lola Rosa
Black olives
crab nuggets
tomatoes
onion rings
cream cheese
chili flakes
toasted garlic flakes

For Strawberry-Sherry Vinaigrette:
Sherry wine vinegar
strawberry preserve
chili flakes

Instructions:
Deep-fry crab nuggets in hot oil until golden brown. Put in a strainer with paper towels to remove excess oil. set aside. Combine all vinaigrette ingredients in a container then mix. Refrigerate. Soak lettuce & onions in ice water for 10 or 15 minutes. Remove the lettuce from the water and dry it in a salad spinner. Mix all salad ingredients in a salad bowl. add the vinaigrette by the spoonful and toss to desired taste.