Herby French Side Salad
France. It’s front and centre of my mind today. Or more like, the family lunches we would have in Nice while living there for a couple of months.
Eating lunch together as a family wasn’t always as romantic as it sounds (we have 3 kids, so the usual mayhem is real) but on the days it worked, my gosh slower French lunches were a memory to savour.
I’ve got a busy work day today and almost back-to-back afternoon activities, so to hit the France nostalgia goal for dinner, I’m thinking a Quiche Lorraine from the incredible Rick’s Artisan Pies & Sourdough in Noosa, with a French-inspired side salad. Today is not the day to make a quiche from scratch.
Again letting a trip to the supermarket inspire my salad ingredients (you can read more about how I build most meals here), I pick up pre-washed butter lettuce leaves, parsley, pea shoots and dill. French salads are about soft herbs and the pea shoots are just to keep it interesting.
A baguette gets added to make sure the kids are full (should have thought of it earlier while I was at Rick’s).
It only takes about 10 minutes to throw this salad together, and ends up tasting great.
My youngest used to be an incredibly fussy eater, which took a lot of joy out of cooking for me. But now, even he eats salad and loves this one.
That’s a tick from me for an easy midweek family meal.
A simple midweek French side salad, working perfectly with this Quiche Lorraine from Rick’s Artisan Pies & Sourdough, Noosa.
Herby French Side Salad
This salad would go well with just about anything - think quiche, chicken, steak, or even fish as the herbs & white wine vinegar dressing would be a great compliment.
Ingredients
Butter lettuce leaves (I bought a large 170g bag but only used ~⅔)
1 bunch parsley
1 packet dill
Pea shoots (I bought a 60g pack but only used ~½)
Extra virgin olive oil
White wine vinegar
S&P
Method
Put the lettuce leaves into a large salad bowl.
Cut the parsley & dill and add to the salad leaves. Add the pea shoots. Toss gently.
Just before serving, drizzle the salad with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt & pepper. Toss well and serve.
