Greens ‘n things

So I hear the east coast is having some weather (much weather! 30 Rock fans? Shall we conversation? No?) Has anyone else heard this? Rain and wind, I think they said. Maybe the news will spend a minute discussing it or I’ll see if I can find it mentioned on the Internets somewhere, we’ll see.

Sarcasm aside, I hope all resolves itself soon, bad weather sucks and is making me dread thinking about the other four-letter “s” word that’s coming sooner than I’d like. But in the meantime, I’m making salad with the last of the really beautiful lettuce I picked up over the weekend.

Lettuce seems like such an insignificant thing to get excited about. It’s usually relegated to the ubiquitous side salad, pale green and lacking flavor, or added as an afterthought to a burger just to get peeled off after it’s warm and soggy. What a sin.

Good lettuce is SO GOOD. The multitude of flavors, colors, textures put a bland, boring salad to shame. They say a picture’s worth 1000 words, so I’ll save myself some typing and just share these:

Beautiful, no? Add a few other fall ingredient that reflect the colors outside my window right now–roasted sweet potato, spiced walnuts, tangy cranberries, and the most delicious creamy goat cheese–perfection.

Fall Salad
Proportions can be adjusted to your tastes, but the flavor and texture balance is spot-on for me. I have a feeling a tiny bit of finely chopped shallot would not be unwelcome mixed with the brine before topping the salad–next time, next time.

2 cups chopped mixed lettuce
1/2 cup diced sweet potato
2.5 tablespoons soft goat cheese
1/4 cup candied walnuts
2 tablespoon pickled cranberries
2 teaspoons brine from cranberries
Salt and pepper to taste

Dice sweet potato into large chunks and roast in a 400 degree oven until softened and caramelized, about 20 minutes; set aside to cool.

In a bowl, toss lettuce with a pinch of salt. Top with goat cheese, walnuts, cranberries, and cooled sweet potato and toss lightly. Drizzle reserved cranberry brine over the salad.