Diary of a Nutritionist

This weekend my husband joined me in the kitchen and took over my dressing prep for the habitual romaine salad I tend to serve up to everyone. Although I had intended to “step out of the box” a tad, my go-to, quick and easy dressing generally consists of lemon, olive oil, a touch of stevia, and sea salt. “Boring,” but simple and delicious.

Sautéing up some shrimp for himself and the kids, I did not argue when he offered to make the dressing also. In fact, I could not have been more excited to have someone not only cooking for me, but I was eager to see what fun and creative recipe my culinary expert would whip up.

The result of fresh herbs and flavor, plus the advantage of knowing the audience better than themselves?

Deliciously satisfying. 

I was wowed with the simplicity and dimension of this cilantro dressing. It was the absolute perfect compliment to the crisp and sweet corn, crunchy romaine, pungent red onion, and creamy roasted red pepper.

The dressing itself was refreshingly light and cool with a mild tension derived from the jalapeño and shallot’s spiciness. The finished product was perfectly balanced with a new dimension of enticing sweetness that left me licking the plate (politely).

I loved this dressing and salad combo so much, I just had to share it asap.

Dressing:

The first 4 ingredients were prepared by finely chopping ingredients separately in the Magic Bullet. Extra ingredients were put to the side to season steamed veggies.

• 1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
• 1 tbsp raw garlic
• 1 tbsp jalapeño (seeds removed-but a few can be added back for more heat)
• 1 tbsp raw shallot
• juice of 1 giant lime (aprx 4 tbsp)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp raw honey

For the salad:

• 1 large head of romaine, finely chopped, 8+ cups
• 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
• Raw corn, cut directly from 2 cobs (organic)
• 1 roasted red pepper, sliced into long pieces

To roast pepper: slice in half and deseed. In a 400 degree preheated oven, place halves onto cookie pan, or cooking foil. Cook until pepper is hot and outer skin is wrinkly (about 10-12 minutes). My culinary expert husband informed me that one must peel the skin. Set aside to cool, and then cut remaining halves into horizontal pieces.

Toss all ingredients with dressing and season with a sweet pink himalayan sea salt– to taste. Add black pepper and red chili flakes for extra heat.

The family enjoyed this salad with cajun shrimp, me a giant steamed artichoke and broccoli.

Add-ons? This salad would be fantastic mixed with artichoke hearts, barely steamed asparagus, hearts of palm, and avocado. It was fantastically refreshing, and oh-so-simple to make. In fact, I made it last night also.

Enjoy!

I would love to hear your variations for this salad.