Romaine Man and Fresh Garden Lettuce

Lettuce is not one of my favorite foods. If a piece of lettuce happens to cling to my fork while munching on all of the salad fixins' (peas, chopped egg, mushrooms, etc) it is eaten. Eating store bought lettuce tastes bitter to me. That is why Romaine Man puts me in such a quandary.

Who is Romaine Man? He is one of those marvelous Bellingham mysteries. Romaine Man is seen running miles around our community during the middle of the day. "Oh look, there he is". "Oh my gosh, now he is running by the bay"... and then an hour later while driving up our hill, "Is he still running?". Sometimes Romaine Man stops running. When he sits still he can be seen eating whole heads of Romaine lettuce at a local market. He starts at the top of the lettuce bunch and eats down the stalks. No dressing, and certainly no salad fixins'.

I don't grow romaine lettuce due to Romaine Man trauma. Instead, I grow beautiful Spring salad greens. These green lovelies are at their peak in my garden. Red-tip lettuce, cos, oakleaf, arugula, baby spinach and endive. The following recipe includes Springtime salad fixins' in combination with fresh greens from the garden.

Strawberry and Spring Greens Salad 

For the dressing:
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp. minced shallot
¼ tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. light mayonnaise
3 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
6 tbsp. vegetable oil
1½ tsp. poppy seeds
For the salad:
Romaine lettuce, washed and dried
Strawberries, hulled and sliced
Blueberries
Mandarin orange segments
Fresh pineapple, cubed
Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the vinegar, sugar, shallot, dry mustard, salt, mayonnaise and orange juice.  Process to blend well.  With the feed tube open and the processor on, add the vegetable oil in a steady stream and continue processing until incorporated.  Add the poppy seeds and pulse briefly just until blended.  Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.
To make the salad, chop the lettuce into bite-size pieces.  Plate individual servings of the lettuce in salad plates.  Top each serving with strawberries, blueberries, mandarin oranges and pineapple cubes as desired.  Drizzle lightly with the poppy seed dressing and serve immediately.

Recipe courtesy of Annie's Eats.

Now, go eat a head of romaine.