Sunday, May 24, 2009

Spring Lettuce with Sweet Cream Dressing

Winter is officially history with the start of Boston's farmer's market, but with a temperature of 88 on Friday, I hardly think this can be called spring.

This year, I purchased a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm share that I am quite excited about. Year after year, I've looked enviously at the share boxes, but the situation never seemed quite right for us. We don't have a car to pick up a box of produce, we aren't that adventerous in eating, and we don't have a large refrigerator. But this year, one of the Boston farms was offering a share that is essentially a credit at their market stand. Perfect - I can buy as much as I want of what we'll eat. On Friday, I bought myself basil, parsley, and cilanto starts to plant on our fire escape. I also bought some rhubarb and a head of spring lettuce.

I am so in love with spring lettuce - those floppy, sweet, tender heads. Hardly anything can improve them, but the tradition in our family is to toss them with a sweet cream dressing. I happily comply; it makes for a dreamy thing to eat. So, if you find yourself staring at a gentle head of lettuce this season, grab it and toss it. You'll wish it was spring all year.


Sweet Cream Dressing
2 T. real mayonaisse
1/4 c. half & half
1 T. white vinegar
dash of salt and pepper
1 T. sugar*

Put all the ingredients into a container and shake it. Set it in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to allow the dressing to thicken. Meanwhile, prepare the lettuce. Add the dressing slowly to the lettuce while tossing until covered as desired. Serve immediately. Makes enough for at least two heads of lettuce.

*This dressing can be tossed with cucumbers, lettuce, or any other mild spring vegetable. Vary the sugar according to taste. I like the sugar on lettuce but not on cucumbers.

5 comments:

Sarah said...

OK, I think I'll make this tonight. It sounds amazing.

Axon said...

Thanks Mel! I've been waiting for this!

parTea lady said...

That is a great idea having a credit instead of a CSA box. The spring lettuce looks so good. I've never tried sweet cream dressing, but it sounds yummy.

Sarah said...

Mel- You might have changed our eating lives with this. Wow. I think I'll actually look forward to salads now. This was absolutely amazing. By 'real' mayonnaise I took you to mean homemade, I used Orangette's Meyer Lemon Aioli and it was fantastic. Thank you!

Melanie said...

Actually, I just meant that you should use Best Foods, not Miracle Whip. I've not gotten around to making Orangette's recipe yet... someday!