This is my version of a reinvented "green" salad. Romaine lettuce, napa cabbage, chayote and avocados dressed with a lemon and chive vinaigrette. I usually opt for the red leaf lettuce, but as fate would have it, romaine was all they had at the farmers market that day. I think of romaine as a very one dimensional green. It's great in a Caesar salad, but taste wise it's just one step above iceberg lettuce, in my opinion. Today, it proved me wrong. I had originally intended for the chayote to be the star in this salad, but the romaine lettuce tasted so fresh, crisp and full of water, that it was the true star of the salad. How could romaine lettuce be this good? I had never in all my romaine lettuce eating years tasted one that literally blew me away… until today! I guess this just goes to prove that fresh ingredients really do make a huge difference.
Now that my ode to romaine lettuce is done, I'm sure some of you are wondering, "What the hell is chayote?". Chayote is actually a member of the squash family. It looks like a pear and is a pretty darn cute fruit. Besides being cute, it also serves as a great source of folate, fiber and vitamins A and C. My mom makes soup out of it, but recently I have started experimenting with it in its raw state. Shredded up in a slaw with jicama, it adds a great crunch. In this salad, I julienned them and blanched them in salted water for just a few minutes to bring out the sweetness. This step also softened them up and provided a nice contrast to the crisp romaine.
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