Raspberry Salad with Baby Greens and Raspberry-Golden Balsamic Vinaigrette (from Straight from the Earth, by Myra and Marea Goodman, Chronicle Books)
Raspberry Salad with Baby Greens and Raspberry-Golden Balsamic Vinaigrette, from What’s Cooking? June 2014
“These ingredients come together beautifully in this delightful salad, and they are perfectly complemented by creamy avocado, sweet, crunchy pecans, and a red-tinged raspberry-golden balsamic vinaigrette,” says Myra Goodman.
Serves 4
Raspberry-golden balsamic vinaigrette
2 cups raspberries
¼ cup golden balsamic vinegar
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
⅓ cup toasted pecan oil or toasted walnut oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Salad
5 ounces spring mix
1 ripe avocado, cut into bite-size pieces
½ cup raw, unsalted pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
To make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, combine ½ cup of the raspberries with the vinegar. Mash the berries with a fork until they have thoroughly blended with the vinegar. Allow them to sit for 20 to 30 minutes, and then strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing with a fork to release all the juices. Discard the seeds. You should have about ⅓ cup raspberry vinegar.
Place the olive and pecan oils, mustard, salt, pepper, and the raspberry vinegar in a glass jar and seal the lid tightly. Shake the jar vigorously to combine.
To make the salad: Toss the spring mix with ½ cup of the dressing. Taste and add more if desired. Divide the greens among four salad plates and top each serving with some of the avocado, pecans and the remaining raspberries.
Serve immediately.