I love Spring. I know I’m a bit early, but the weather here in Los Angeles has been unseasonably warm, and Spring has been on my mind. I also love Farmer’s Markets, and my favorite one seems to be bursting at the seems with lush, sexy, colorful produce as Spring gets closer. It made me want to make something that tastes like spring while still using some of the winter produce like mandarins and beetroot while it’s still seasonal and available. Something bright, light, tart and sweet. I saw a big bag of amazing baby spring lettuces, and this very Spring-y salad was born. It is simple and fresh and perfect for a warm spring afternoon. If your on the east coast, maybe just pump up your heat, throw on a tank top and flip flops and get in the spirit with all us west coasters.

simple spring salad ingredients

1 large bowl of mixed lettuces. Whatever you like. I love baby romaine, particularly an heirloom variety with red and green mottled leaves.

3-5 baby striped beets

3-5 mandarin oranges (clementines and tangerines work great to)

1 cup micro cilantro – Micro cilantro are baby cilantro sprouts that have that cilantro flavor but a milder version. They add a really bright flavor to this salad. Regular cilantro would work too, although not quite as well as micro cilantro.

Juice of 1 Meyer lemon – Meyer is sweeter than traditional lemon, and adds a slight orange/tangerine flavor. Delicious.

Juice of 1 regular lemon

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp maple syrup

Wash and trim lettuces. Place in large bowl and set aside to dry while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

 

Slice striped beets very thinly, a mandolin is great if you have one, to get the slices very thin.

Combine the oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt and maple syrup in a jar and shake well until slightly emulsified.

Toss salad with  dressing and top with micro cilantro and mandarin slices.

Enjoy!

xo