Mixed-Green Salad with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

My Aunt Ellen is a wonderful cook and this is a recipe from her that I make often. Even the kids like it, especially if they are served their salad first and then the main course. Trust me, it works!

There has always been a sophistication to Aunt Ellen's cooking that I admired. It could be in part that her husband is European and the same old Harrow standards weren't cutting it or it could be that my Grandma's love of food rubbed off on her the way it did me? I remember one year she served Paella for Christmas dinner in a traditional pan, most likely brought back from Spain. It was an adventurous departure from the usual Christmas favourites and I loved it!

Here is the salad recipe exactly as I copied it down many years ago.

Mixed-Green Salad with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

10 c. loosely packed bite-sized pieces red-leaf lettuce, watercress and Belgian Endive
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. Dijon mustard
1/4 t. finely chopped garlic (I use one small clove)
1/2 c. crumbled blue cheese
6 T. vegetable oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Rinse the salad greens and drain or spin dry. Put the greens in a large bowl. In a smaller mixing bowl combine vinegar, mustard, garlic and cheese. Blend well. Add the oil, salt & pepper and blend well with wire whisk. Pour the dressing over the salad greens. Serves 4

*I use rice bran oil, grape seed oil or sunflower oil. Don't use plain veggie oil. I always put in some form of onion and I especially like red onion in this salad. These days, I make the vinaigrette in the large bowl and when I am ready to mix the salad I just add the greens to the bowl with the vinaigrette. Try adding some red onion rings, sliced thin, to the vinaigrette and let them mellow for a bit. They will become softer and really tasty.

Let me give you the cake results from the weekend... I spoke to the woman who bought the cake yesterday and she said the cake made the shower. I won't go into too many details but I think it was a hit! Her daughter took a piece to her friend's mom who is very ill in the hospital. Not sure that she would even be able to eat it, the patient declared it "the best cake she had ever had" and ate every crumb!