Stetson Salad with Pesto Buttermilk Dressing

By johnwhorfin

Homemade Pesto Buttermilk Dressing brings the variety of flavors in this salad together that is hearty enough for a main meal.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dry Israeli (pearl) couscous, cooked according to directions and cooled
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 cups arugula
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup super-sweet dried corn
• DRESSING
• 1/2 cup basil pesto
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 cup buttermilk
• Juice of one lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 20mins
Adapted from lovelylittlekitchen.com

Preparation

Step 1

While couscous is cooking, heat up olive oil in a medium pan on medium high heat. Add asparagus pieces, and saute for 2-3 minutes, or until just tender crisp. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine couscous, asparagus, arugula, hazelnuts, and feta. Toss with dressing to coat. You will likely have some dressing leftover.
Just before serving, add dried corn.

For the Dressing
Add the ingredients except olive oil to a blender. Run the blender, slowly drizzling the olive oil as it blends into the dressing so it will emulsify. Add salt and pepper to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon of each).