Salads in Bloom: 2 Fresh Recipes

Your Insta and Twitter feeds are likely swarming with PSL posts, pumpkin patch pictures, and snaps of cozy sweaters as the weather has officially transitioned to cold and windy. But let's bid summer one final farewell with 2 delicious, fresh, healthy salad recipes. A final hurrah before we're all stepping over ourselves to get away from the snow.

First up is a light Boston lettuce and citrus salad.

Ingredients
1 Boston lettuce
1 Florida orange, peeled and cut into cubes
1 tbsp diced red onion
1 Alfonso mango, peeled and cut into cubes
A few edible flowers (these can often be found at Loblaws)
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/3 cup sunflower or grape seed oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tsp organic honey

Method
1. Tear the lettuce leaves apart into a large bowl along with the orange, mango, and red onion.
2. In a small bowl mix the poppy seeds, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and honey until well combined. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well, making sure not to over-saturate the leaves. This salad should be light and bright.
3. "Casually" drop some edible flowers on top, as though they had just sprouted there, for that magazine-ready look.

Crispy dandelion leaves with fresh fruit

Ingredients
1 bunch of dandelion leaves
1 ripe peach, diced
a handful of ripe figs (green or red) cut into halves
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp good balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. In order to get that bitter taste out of the dandelion leaves you just need to soak them in a bowl of cold water for several hours before prepping this dish. So it pays to plan ahead! If you don't soak them it's not the end of the world. But it's better if you do.
2. Dry off the leaves using paper towel. Heat up the oil in a non-stick pan. When the oil is hot (but not burnt - olive oil has a low tolerance for burning) drop the leaves in and let them crackle. You can use a grease guard to prevent spattering. This will only take a few minutes. When the leaves appear crispy around the edges you can add the vinegar and let it continue to sizzle away. Turn the heat off and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Immediately pour into a serving dish and add the fruit on top.

This salad isn't just delicious, it's also very high in nutrients and will add some fresh beauty to your next weeknight dinner.

Pomegranate Salad with Saffron Dressing

Would you believe that this colorful, fresh salad was the product of a fridge clean-out? Sometimes letting fruit come to its full ripeness on your counter or sitting in the crisper can yield tasty results. See the recipe for this high-fibre side dish below.

Allergen Info
This recipe does not call for any dairy, nuts, peanuts, soy, or shellfish. It can be made gluten-free by excluding the mustard

Ingredients
1 large blood orange (any type of orange will work)
Seeds from 1 pomegranate
A few good handfuls of spring mix or your favorite baby lettuce
1 pinch of saffron
1/3 cup good extra virgin olive oil
the juice of one lemon
the juice of half a lime
1 dollop of organic honey
freshly ground black pepper
good sprinkling of sea salt to taste
1 tsp Dijon mustard (optional)

Method
1. Remove the seeds from the pomegranate by scoring the top of the skin with a paring knife and then ripping the fruit into 4 chunks. Fill a bowl with cold water and plunge the fruit, and your hands, into it. Proceed to remove the seeds underwater and then drain and dry.
2. Peel the orange and cut into segments. You can cut the chunks as large or small as you like.
3. Arrange the lettuce, orange, and seeds on a platter and set aside. Dress right before serving.
4. You will need a small mixing bowl for the dressing. Pinch the saffron in your finger tips to break up the strands or grind them down using a mortar and pestle. Add to the bowl along with the salt, pepper, lemon juice, lime juice, olive oil, and honey. Beat well. For a thicker dressing you can add some Dijon mustard but it’s not a necessity.

Serves 4

Roasted Lettuce

Lettuce is one of those veggies that people think you aren't supposed to roast. Whenever I talk about roast lettuce, I get some confused looks and some "how is that even possible?" remarks. But although it can be hard to conceptualize since lettuce is so darn watery, it's actually one of my favorite greens to roast. And it's so incredibly easy to make.

You'll need 1/2 a medium-sized lettuce per person as it shrinks down quite a bit in the oven. I use red leaf mainly (pictured here) but romaine also works well. It should be a hearty, flavorful lettuce with a deep green color. Avoid iceberg and Boston varieties. You'll also need about 1 tbsp of olive oil per half lettuce.

Method
1. Cut the lettuce in half and remove any suspicious-looking outer leaves.
2. Wash gently with water to remove any dirt from between the leaves and then dry well with paper towel.
3. Place the halves inside-up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Use a brush to baste each lettuce half with olive oil, making sure to get it in between the leaves. Be careful not to oversaturate the leaves or they'll just end up a greasy mess.
5. Sprinkle generously with sea salt and black pepper.
6. Place in a preheated 400F oven and roast for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until the leaves are wilted and caramelized. The oven time will depend on the size of the lettuce so keep an eye on it the first time you try this recipe.
7. Remove from the oven and serve immediately. I like to add a dollop of grainy mustard (look for gluten-free mustard!) and a side of pickled green tomatoes. If your grandmother doesn't make pickled green tomatoes every summer like mine does, you can serve your favorite pickled vegetable instead. I also like to sprinkle with shelled flax seeds or sometimes with good balsamic vinegar.

Tips/Suggestions
You can also do this on the BBQ!
Try making this recipe with radicchio and increase the cooking time to 30 minutes. It's a rich taste your guests will love.