Shades of Green Salad

If you ever have the chance to check out http://www.Food52.com , do it. It’s such a fun cooking website that I heard about from my mother-in-law. She’s a fabulous cook with so many great recipes up her sleeve.

This is one of my favorites. You could eat an entire bowl just for dinner (and breakfast, and lunch and to snack on…) Yum. The tartness from the apple, the acidity from the dressing and the creaminess of the cheese  & avocado come together so nicely. It just melts in your mouth.

*Drooling just thinking about it.

“Fast-forward to summer. Admittedly, we’re tiptoeing a bit out of season here in the Northeast for this salad, but trust us, it’s worth it. Fortheloveofyum has assembled a cool palette of greens — crisp cucumber, tart Granny Smith, crunchy pistachio, sweet golden raisin, and a sparkly creme fraiche and chive dressing to hold it all together — all while cleverly sidestepping the distraction of the classic salad green: lettuce. Bites of salty bleu sharpen the focus. We say: let the sun shine.” – A&M

Serves 2-3

for the chive dressing

• 1 small clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
• 1 teaspoon creme fraiche
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon chopped chives
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• sea salt and black pepper, to taste

1. In a blender, add in the garlic, Champagne vinegar, creme fraiche, honey, chives, salt, and pepper. Blend until combined.
2. With the blender still on, through the top, stream in the olive oil. Blend until combined. Taste for salt and pepper. Set aside.

for the salad

• 1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
• 1 Hass avocado, chopped
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 english cucumber, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
• 1/4 cup green raisins
• 1/4-1/2cup (depending on how much cheese you like in your salad) crumbled gorgonzola cheese, at room temperature
• chive dressing (recipe above)
• salt and black pepper, if necessary
• chopped chives, for garnish, optional

1. Toss the apple and avocado in the lemon juice so they don’t oxidize. Then, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and toss with the chive dressing. You may not have to use all of the dressing, it depends on how you like your salad. I don’t like mine too wet. If necessary, add extra salt and pepper. Garnish with some chopped chives. This salad can be made up to 3-4 hours in advance. If you are making the salad in advance add in the room temperature gorgonzola when you serve the salad.