Spike's Raspberry Dill Vinaigrette with Persephone's Home Coming Salad

A very good friend of mine (Adam "Spike" Schoenwald, cause he deserves credit for this one) brought me a bottle of raspberry vinegar during my first Thanksgiving event. He told me he loved that stuff and to "do something with it." So I did. I enhanced a favorite salad recipe from a restaurant I had worked at, and added the vinaigrette to it. Since that time, I get demands to bring this creation to every festivity I attend.

Ingredients

1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup raspberry wine vinegar or raspberry balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon cranberry mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice or white wine
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper (preferably salt-free)
to taste, freshly ground black pepper (preferably Tellicherry)
3-4 tablespoons dried dill weed
1 head each romaine, red leaf, endive, escarole, butterhead, radicchio (use the kinds of leafy greens you like)
2 tart apples, sliced (Gala, Granny Smith, or Pink Lady)
2 ripe red pears, peeled, cored and sliced
1-2 cans mandarin oranges
1 cup walnuts or pecans, shelled and chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
8 ounces Greek feta cheese, crumbled

Yield

A whole lot

Instructions

For the vinaigrette dressing:

Put the first eight ingredients (ending at the dill weed) in a medium bowl and whisk with a wire whisk or you can put into a blender and hit the "blend" option. You want to mix until you get a fluffy, creamy-greenish color.

This can be refrigerated and used for approximately one week.

For the salad:

Wash all of the lettuce leaves, and cut or rip into bite-sized pieces. Add the fruit, nuts and feta cheese. Toss well and serve with the dressing.

Hints

I recommend using only aged feta cheese. Use no substitutes!

This raspberry vinaigrette dressing can be used on any salad you like.

Credit

This recipe was provided by Laura F from Kenosha