Fig and Gorgonzola Citrus Salad Recipe

By LeeV

Ingredients

• Salad:
• 2 cups leafy greens (green leaf lettuce, romaine, spinach, they will all work well in this salad)
• 1/3 cup gorgonzola crumbles
• 4 fresh figs (I used Brown Turkish figs, but whatever you can find will work), cut 1/2 inch rounds, then quartered
• 1/2 cup baby tomatoes, sliced in half
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/3 cup purple cauliflower, cut into tiny trees (I found purple cauliflower so I had to try it, but if you can’t find it, regular white cauliflower works just the same, just not as pretty)
• Citrus Champagne Dressing
• 1/4 cup citrus champagne vinegar (I used orange muscat champagne vinegar from Trader Joe’s, but if you can’t find that, then citrus, or regular champagne vinegar will work just fine)
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 lemon, juiced (about 3 tablespoons)
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon evaporated cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 shallot, sliced
• Toss all ingredients into a food processor or blender until well blended (about 20 seconds will do)

Preparation

Step 1

If you need to toast your pine nuts, then the easiest way to do it is over a stove top (I’ve burned more batches of pine nuts than I can count in the oven and toaster). In a frying pan, over a medium heat and a watchful eye, lightly toast your nuts, giving them a nice stir once in a while. They will toast up quickly, about 5 minutes or so. Now, let them cool, or they will wilt your lettuce. After they are cooled, put all your salad ingredients into a large serving bowl, drizzle with desired amount of dressing and toss altogether. Leftover dressing can be stored in a sealed container for one week.