Romaine Heart Salad With Creamy Dressing Recipes

HEARTS OF ROMAINE WITH CREAMY FETA DRESSING

Steps:

• Cut each heart of romaine in half lengthwise. Arrange romaine on a serving platter.
• For dressing, in a food processor or blender combine Basic Vinaigrette, 1/2 cup cheese, the water, oregano, garlic, and salt. Cover and process or blend until smooth.
• Drizzle dressing over romaine; sprinkle with cayenne pepper. Top with 1/4 cup cheese. To serve, cut romaine halves crosswise into quarters. Basic Vinaigrette
• In a small screw-top jar combine oil, lemon juice, and vinegar. Cover and shake well. Out of feta? Use goat cheese (chèvre) instead. For a change of texture, use baby greens in place of the romaine. Go Middle Eastern and use a teaspoon each of ground cumin and coriander instead of the oregano. For an Asian spin, use 3 tablespoons peanut oil and 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil for the olive oil, lime juice for the lemon juice, and rice wine vinegar for the white wine vinegar. Want a French Vinaigrette? Add 1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard and 1 tablespoon minced shallot. Want a heartier flavor? Use red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar in place of the white wine vinegar.

ROMAINE WITH CREAMY GARLIC DRESSING

Steps:

• Make dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic, and 2 tablespoons water. Stir in oregano, if using; season with salt and pepper.
• Remove dark-green outer leaves from each head of romaine, leaving just the paler-green hearts. (Reserve outer leaves for another use.) Halve hearts lengthwise. To serve, drizzle romaine with dressing.

ROMAINE SALAD WITH BREADCRUMBS AND SIMPLE DRESSING

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a bunch of grinds of pepper (about 20 grinds) and cook, stirring constantly, until the crumbs are golden brown, about 5 minutes. It's important to stir the whole time to make sure that they do not burn--which will happen if they sit too long in the skillet untouched. Once golden, immediately transfer them to a plate to cool and stop the cooking process. Set aside.
• Whisk the yogurt, mustard, Worcestershire, lemon zest and juice, garlic, 3 tablespoons water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and about 20 grinds of black pepper in a small bowl until smooth, creamy and combined.
• And add the romaine to a serving bowl. Sprinkle in 3/4 cup of the breadcrumbs, 3/4 cup of the Parmesan and the dressing and toss until the lettuce is nicely coated. Sprinkle the remaining breadcrumbs and Parmesan on top and serve immediately.

ROMAINE-HEART SALAD WITH CREAMY DRESSING

Steps:

• Make dressing: In a medium bowl, place sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and chili powder; season with salt and pepper. Whisk to combine.
• Remove dark outer leaves from each head of romaine, leaving the heart; place leaves in a plastic bag lined with a paper towel, and refrigerate to use later in Chopped Romaine Salad. Slice hearts in half lengthwise. Place one half on each plate; top with dressing. Sprinkle with scallions and serve.

CREAMY, LEMONY, PEPPER-PARMESAN DRESSING ON ROMAINE LETTUCE SALAD

Steps:

• Combine the mayonnaise, lemon zest (grated yellow part of lemon) and lemon juice. To get the juice out of a lemon, heat it up in microwave for 10 seconds on high. Cut the lemon across in half. Squeeze the lemon halves while holding them upright over the dressing bowl so that the seeds stay with the lemon halves, not in the dressing! Add pepper to the dressing bowl, too. Whisk the dressing and pour in the extra-virgin olive oil while you whisk. If you pour in a slow, steady stream, 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil will pour out in a count to the number six. Once the oil is combined with the acid (the lemon juice) and the mayonnaise, you can switch utensils and stir in the cheese and a pinch of salt with a spoon or rubber spatula.
• Chop up the lettuce into 2-inch pieces. Place the lettuce in a salad bowl and top with the dressing when you are ready to serve dinner.

ROMAINE SALAD WITH CHOICE OF RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE OR CREAMY ITALIAN DRESSING

Steps:

• For the raspberry vinaigrette:
• Add the vinegar to a blender, replace the lid, turn it on, and through the feed opening, add, 1 at a time, the shallot, black pepper, salt, mustard, and thyme. Then leaving the blender running, add the olive oil in a slow thin stream.
• Wash and dry the blender to have it ready to prepare the other dressing.
• For the creamy Italian dressing:
• Add the vinegar to a blender, replace the lid, turn it on, and through the feed opening, add, 1 at a time, the garlic, black pepper, salt, red pepper, and Parmesan. Then leaving the blender running, add the olive oil in a slow thin stream.
• For the salad, toss the lettuce, red onion, sweet onion, tomatoes, Parmesan, and parsley together in a large bowl. Top with croutons, and serve the dressings on the side.

ROMAINE HEARTS WITH GREEK DRESSING

Steps:

• Cut each of the romaine hearts in half, leaving the stem end intact so the leaves stay together. Top each with a few rings of onions, and place 5 olives in a small pile on each plate.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle some dressing over each lettuce half and serve.

ROMAINE SALAD WITH CAESAR DRESSING

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper. (If mixture is too thick, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water.)
• Add lettuce; toss to coat with dressing. Top with shaved Parmesan, if desired.

ROMAINE SALAD WITH CREAMY GARLIC DRESSING

Steps:

• Tear lettuce into bite-size pieces, you should have about 12 cups.
• Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.
• Combine garlic and salt in a small bowl and mash with the back of a spoon into a paste, or (and this is what I do), mash with a mortar and pestle and transfer to a bowl.
• Mix garlic paste with lime juice, add egg* and beat until foamy.
• Stir in mayo and worcestershire.
• This can be made ahead, just cover and refrigerate.
• Just before serving, peel, pit and dice avocado.
• In a large salad bowl, combine avocado, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, onions and croutons.
• Stir dressing and pour over salad then toss until well mixed.
• *If you are pregnant or nursing, or have a compromised immune system you may want to consider using a purchased pasteurized egg product.