Simple Salad with Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette

This salad is so simple, I’m not even totally sure this post qualifies as a recipe. In any event, crisp greens pair beautifully with scratch-made lemon garlic vinaigrette, crunchy almonds, and freshly shaved Parmesan. My favorite part is that this refined dish makes it from the refrigerator to the table in less than 15 minutes. See, making your own salad dressing isn’t so hard ;)

This salad can be served as an appetizer, and also pairs well with chicken or fish dishes.

The lemon vinaigrette recipe is inspired by https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/simple-lemon-vinaigrette-51183020.

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Simple Salad with Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette Recipe

Straightforward and elegant, this salad will dress up a meal in less than fifteen minutes.

Makes: 2-3 servings

Prep time: 10-15 mins mins

Cook time: None

Ingredients:

For the Vinaigrette


• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 1-2 cloves)
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

For the Salad


• 6 ounces of salad greens (we used butter lettuce, but arugula, spring mix, romaine, or spinach all work)
• 3 tablespoons almonds (we used roasted slivered almonds, but chopped or crushed roasted, toasted, or raw almonds work equally well)
• Freshly grated Parmesan to taste (we used about 3 tablespoons)

Instructions:

1. Whisk the lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl.
2. Slowly add the olive oil to the dressing while continuing to vigorously whisk.
3. In a large bowl, toss the salad greens, dressing, almonds, and Parmesan together.
4. Plate the salad and top with additional Parmesan if desired.

Notes and Nutrition Information

• Topping this salad with your favorite protein (from chicken to fish to chickpeas) makes for a fresh, light lunch.

• This salad is best served fresh. Feel free to make the dressing up to three days ahead of time, store the dressing in the refrigerator (very important for food safety!), and assemble the salad on the day you plan to eat it. Just give the dressing a good shake or whisk ;)

• One third of the recipe as written contains approximately 227 calories, 20 grams of fat, 5 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, 0.5 grams of sugar, and 230 milligrams of sodium.