Delicate Butter Lettuce Raspberry Orange Salad with Marcona Almonds and White Vinaigrette

We use all of our senses when we eat, each sense adds something to the experience of eating, but our eyes are huge! This salad is a feast for the eyes, and it has crunch and delicacy.  Living butter lettuce is the lettuce in the clam shell you see everywhere at grocery stores with the root still attached.  It is delicate, tender, a bit buttery, mild, nutritious (Vitamin A and Phosphorus) and very easy to digest.  If you can find marcona almonds they are a Spanish almond similar in texture to macadamia nuts and a fun shape, regular almonds can be substituted as well.

Delicate Butter Lettuce Raspberry Orange Salad w/ Marcona Almonds & White Vinaigrette

Remove the root from the butter lettuce, wash and spin in a salad spinner or pat dry.  Tear into bite sized pieces and add coarsely chopped marcona almonds, raspberries and a peeled halved and sectioned fresh orange.

Whisk together the salad dressing ingredients until emulsified.  You can serve the salad in a big bowl family style, or plate individual servings and drizzle with the White Vinaigrette.

Ingredients:

1 Head of Living Butter Lettuce

1 pint of Raspberries

1 Good Quality Orange

1/2 Cup Marcona Almonds, coarsely chopped

Dressing:

3/4 Cup Olive Oil

1/4 Cup White Wine Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Clear Honey

1 Tablespoon Djon Mustard (no garlic such as Annie’s)

1/2 Teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper

Raspberries and Oranges are rich in Vitamin C, flavonoids, and minerals. The almonds add protein and the dressing healthy fat!  Fat helps you digest the vegetables so you absorb more nutrients.  So, no fat free salad dressing.  You need fat.  It doesn’t taste near as good anyway!

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