Butter Lettuce Salad with Almonds and Blue Cheese
3 heads butter lettuce
3 Tbsp. Lemon juice
1/3 cup Virgin olive oil
1 tsp. Finely diced shallots
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
4 oz. blue cheese
Directions
Separate lettuce leaves, discarding damaged ones. Wash, wrap in paper towels and refrigerate until just before serving.
To make dressing, whisk together in a small bowl the lemon juice, olive oil, shallot and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
When ready to serve, place lettuce in a large bowl and lightly spoon the vinaigrette over the lettuce, lightly coating each leaf. Add the almonds and toss together. Arrange the greens in a circular pattern on four chilled salad plates plac- ing the largest leaves on the bottom and the smaller ones on top. Garnish each plate with crumbled blue cheese and serve immediately. Serves 4.