After weeks of holiday foods, I’m done. I don’t want any more triple-cream cheeses, shortbread, bisque, gumbo, pralines, brownies, coconut cake, truffles, shrimp dip, cream soups, or greasy little hors d’oeuvre bites. No eggnog, no dessert wine, no Prosecco, no stout. No standing over the stove or standing in line at the supermarket.
All I want is a nice salad, preferably not too complicated or too rich.
Like this one: baby greens, topped with shaved Parmesan, red grapefruit segments, and bresaola, drizzled with a Campari & Meyer lemon vinaigrette. Raw greens, citrus, and dry-cured, lean beef–a sure-fire cure for palate fatigue. No cooking required! Nothing more complicated than stirring.
Campari & Meyer lemon vinaigrette
- 3 parts extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 part freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice
- 1 generous pinch finely grated meyer lemon zest
- 1/4 tsp Campari
Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and Campari together. Add another drop or two of Campari, if necessary, to tint the dressing pale reddish-pink. Drizzle over a simple salad of young greens and grapefruit chunks. Garnish salad with shaved Parmesan, bresaola, and cracked pepper.
Bouillie 
Curious what your bresaola source is.
Bought it this AM at Martin’s Wine Cellar on Elmeer Ave. in lovely Metairie. Martin’s has good prices on charcuterie–cheaper than Whole Foods & a few other places in town. Prosciutto di Parma & San Daniele were both $20/lb, boquerones cost $10.99/lb, and the case was stocked with everything from Molinari’s hot coppa to five or six different kinds of pate. I heard from a Martin’s uptown employee that the original Baronne St. location should re-open in time for Thanksgiving 2011.
I had the most delicious salad on Christmas Day at Ca Brea restaurant in Los Angeles. Just crispy radicchio and arugula with a slightly mustard-y vinaigrette, topped with shavings of parmesan. Although not the only good food I ate during our visit to LA, it was the only thing that elicited a spontaneous “mmmmm.”
Aren’t the spontaneous “mmm”s the best? And often from the simplest foods! I wish my arugula patch was more than 1” high….it’s not growing very fast in my winter garden.
Heard you’re having freeze warnings. Are you frantically harvesting your citrus crop?
No–the temps have been low, but not for too many hours at a stretch. The fruit won’t freeze solid on the tree unless the temp is in the mid-20s for several hours. So I’m taking my chances….so far, no problems. I did bring in my MiracleFruit bush (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synsepalum_dulcificum)….maybe one day I’ll get fruit on it.
I’m with you. I recently had a salad with romaine lettuce, strawberries, nuts, feta cheese and poppyseed dressing. Yum. Would be a meal with shrimp or chicken.
With enough nuts & feta, I wouldn’t need the shrimp or chicken. Strawberries & poppyseed dressing–a very tasty combo, n’est-pas?
This vinaigrette sounds amazing. I’ve never used Campari in one before, but that is one of my DH’s favourite mixers. It’s always on hand at our house. I will definitely be giving this a try. I’ve also got some wonderful Marsh White grapefruit to use, too.
The Campari adds an intriguing note to the dressing….in combo w/grapefruit, it also makes an excellent sorbet or granita.