A most delicious restaurant salad

[marmalady]

Had this at one of our favorite restaurants last week

mixed salad greens with lots of baby arugula mixed in
Thinly julienned Granny Smith apple
Julienned strips of country ham
blue cheese 'crumbles'
toasted pecans
Balsamic vinaigrette

So simple, and all the flavors just exploded!

 

[AllenOK]

That sounds like one or two of the salads I make where I work. We put sliced apples on several menu items, pecans, pecan pralines on one salad, bleu cheese, etc.

It seems to me that a lot of places are starting to use Mesclun (Spring Mix) as the base for salads. Heck, I've even seen the stuff in grocery stores, and seed packets so folks can grow it at home. Nothing like a mix of different lettuces, some sweet, some bitter, to add some flavor to a salad.

 

[mudbug]

mesclun is my favorite kind of salad base. Iceberg lettuce is for, well....icebergs.

 

[marmalady]

No, No, Mudbug - Iceberg lettuce is for tacos!

 

[GB]

I love Mesclun and just about every other type of lettuce, but I also love iceberg. I think I am probably in the minority, but I really do love it. I like the flavor. I like the crunch. And I like the "juiciness".

 

[mudbug]

Actually, geebs, I like it too for the crunch and juice, but it's not my fave. In my dotage I am preferring something a little sharper in taste.

 

[Pam Leavy]

I prefer a mixture of iceburg and other lettuce types. Plus iceburg is usually less expensive.

Pam

 

[mudbug]

You're right, Pam. And it's about the only kind my daughter and husband will eat besides butter lettuce. I'm shoving it down them every chance I get and trying to turn them on the mesclun and other varieties, but - alas and alack.

 

[GB]

but - alas and alack.

 

[Pam Leavy]

I like that too. " alas and alack"

I am going to remember that one.

Pam

 

[norgeskog]

mesclun is my favorite kind of salad base. Iceberg lettuce is for, well....icebergs.

Iceberg is to be left in the produce department to keep the cilantro company :p

 

[marmalady]

Awww, c'mon - a wedge of icey cold iceberg, smothered with your very best blue cheese dressing? Come on, tell me that doesn't sound awesome!!

 

[DampCharcoal]

I love fresh Iceberg Lettuce! Show me a Chef or Cobb Salad that doesn't use Iceberg! Mmm, I'd love a good salad right now! Mesclun mix tastes like lawn clippings. I know it's fashionable to order Mesclun but it tastes terrible.

 

[kitchenelf]

I love all lettuces but on a hot summer day there is nothing better than a really cold bowl full of really cold crispy iceburg lettuce with the dressing du jour.

I still like the peppery, bitter lettuce found in some mesclun mixes - with those I like a simple vinaigrette made with shallots and dijon mustard.

 

[SierraCook]

I enjoy mixed greens and romaine lettuce. But I agree nothing like iceberg lettuce. I like mine with shredded carrots, sliced radishes, green onions, and Thousand Island dressing. Keep it simple!!

 

[mudbug]

Iceberg is to be left in the produce department to keep the cilantro company :p

 

[norgeskog]

Awww, c'mon - a wedge of icey cold iceberg, smothered with your very best blue cheese dressing? Come on, tell me that doesn't sound awesome!!

When I was younger I loved that wedge with dressings, now I do not eat it at all (no nourishment in it). I always buy romaine and sometimes mesculin or raw spinich.

 

[licia]

Some foods just enhance the rest of the meal. I like iceberg, but it also makes the rest of the meal so good. I've grown mesclun, but our summers get so warm I must grow it in the winter only. I use every type of salad greens available, but my gd always picks out the frisee. She said it tickles her throat. My very favorite is romaine - so versatile - but I'm still not into cooking or grilling it. I want mine raw - as well as spinach - raw only.

 

[CookBrian]

That sounds delicious... What was the price on something like that?

 

[marmalady]

ChefBrian, from what I can remember it was may $7.95-$8.95? It was a lunch special, not on the regular menu - here's the restaurant, one of our faves!

http://www.mavericksouthernkitchens.com/snob/index.html#