Divine Salad with Herbal Dressing

Divine is a strong word. But the deliciousness of this salad may just have you shouting "hallelujah."

Step One: Make the Herbal Dressing
Here's what you'll need:

Blend ingredients together in blender.

Waitaminute. You wanted an exact recipe? Where's the fun in that? Oh alright, I'll do you one better. Let's learn to speak Vinaigrette.

Now, unless we're talking baking, measurements (and ingredients for that matter) are a question of taste. Here are some guidelines to help you not only perfect this dressing, but become a dressing master.

First, I would suggest equal parts citrus juice and champagne vinegar (feel free to substitute with any light colored vinegar you like - apple cider or white wine vinegar work very well). A good vinaigrette typically follows a three parts oil to one part acid rule. So, if you total the amount of vinegar and citrus juice together and multiply it by 3 you will have the amount of oil you should add. For example, if you add 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 1 tablespoon each of lemon and lime juice, you have 4 tablespoons total acidity. Multiply it by 3 and you have 12 tablespoons oil (in other words 6 ounces or 3/4 cup).

Garlic, herbs, S&P, and sweetener amounts I leave to your liking. I like demerara sugar because it's regional and my brand claims to be carbon free; however, you can use any sweetener you like. Honey or agave nectar work nicely. Likewise, feel free to change up the herbs - you can even used dried in a pinch. (Get it?)

Then blend ingredients together in blender. This stuff is great on chicken, shrimp, or little toasted French bread rounds. But we're making salad.

Step Two: For efficiency's sake, start by toasting your pine nuts. It doesn't take long over medium heat in a cast iron (or any kind really) skillet, but you can chop the veggies while they toast. Just give the pan the occasional shake until they look like this:

Step Three: Build your bowl.

Chopped romaine lettuce.

Tomatoes. I used grape tomatoes cut in half. I have a strong conviction that slicing grape tomatoes in half is the best way to serve them in salads because the inner flavor is immediately delivered to the taste buds on arrival. But that's just me.

Hearts of Palm. This is where divinity comes in.

Finish the salad with the toasted pine nuts, creamy goat cheese crumbles, and the herbal dressing.

So good.

By the way, while collecting the parsley and basil from my garden, I also gathered these goodies:

The strawberry was dessert! But what to do with the Kentucky pole beans? But then that's another blog.