Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Super Salad


Just sharing another salad from the heat wave last week. I had seen a couple people talking about reduced balsamic vinegar, and I went down to make lunch with the thought that I was going to reduce some! I just wasn't sure what to do with it. As I looked around the kitchen, I came up with a delicious salad.

To reduce the vinegar, I put a 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar (Use four times what you want to end up with; I used 1/4 cup to get a tablespoon of reduction.) in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Once it boiled, I lowered the heat a bit. You'll start to smell the vinegar burning off, and the reduction will thicken. When it stuck to my spoon, I took it off the heat.

Then, I tossed a small handful of walnut halves in a frying pan over medium heat, tossing and paying attention so they'd toast but not burn (It takes three or four minutes).

Meanwhile, I filled a plate with spring mix. I sliced an apricot (a plum, nectarine, or even blackberries would work nicely too) and arranged it on the plate.

I drizzled about 2 tsp. walnut oil over the salad. Then I drizzled the reduction over it all, and enjoyed a light salad that was really rich in flavor.

No comments: