Could you make...?

I love those 3 words. It's a challenge, like "What can you create with minimal time and without having to buy a king's ransom at the grocery store? Huh? Huh?!?"

A friend recently threw a birthday party for her husband and requested a lettuce salad. With a quick dig through my deep freezer*, and my brain, I came up with the following salad recipe. Of course when I told her what I was making she said, "Oh, I was just thinking lettuce, tomato and cheese." Ummmm, do you know who you're asking???

8-10 cups chopped Romain, or other crunchy lettuce (I used 2 Romain hearts)
1/2 cup roasted red pepper, chopped
1 cup roasted corn
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
5 slices thick cut bacon, fried and chopped
1/2 cup candied walnuts**
Fried dandelions (recipe follows)
Walnut oil vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Layer salad in this order - dressed lettuce, roasted red pepper, roasted corn, tomatoes, and bacon. Add the walnuts and dandelions right before serving so they remain crunchy.


Make ahead and set aside:
Vinaigrette
1/2 cup Roasted French Walnut oil
2 Tbsp high quality balsamic vinegar
1 tsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp basil, chiffonade

Whisk together right before tossing with the lettuce.

Dandelion flowers
1 cup dandelion flowers, stemmed and washed well
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2+ cup beer (use a little more if you need to thin the batter a bit)
1/2 cup oil (I used corn this time)

Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt and beer in a medium bowl. The batter should be like pancake batter, so if too thick add a little more beer, if too thin add in a little more cornmeal. Add in dandelion flowers and toss to coat.

Heat the oil in a small frying pan (I use my 5" cast iron frying pan as I don't like the wasted oil) over medium-high heat. Add the dandelions to the oil one-by-one, blossom side down and cook for about 3 minutes or until slightly browned. Turn over and cook the other side. Remove blossoms (I just use a fork) and place them on a paper toweling. Immediate sprinkle with kosher salt. Repeat with remaining blossoms.


The salad was a hit. Now I just need a name for it!

*This is where all of my harvest time labor pays off!
**If I need to put instructions on how to candy your own nuts, let me know.