Nothing says spring or summer better than a spring salad full of baby greens and vegetables. This salad has fresh baby greens and red and gold baby beets, with a touch of prosciutto and a creamy onion dressing to top it all off. This is great to serve as a side with any of your grilled menus, and is particularly nice for a hot summer evening.
Ingredients:
- 4 thin slices of prosciutto
- 12 oz. red and gold beets (should be baby beets or at least the
- smallest beets you can find)
- 1 sweet onion
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp plus tbsp. olive oil
- 1/4 cup low fat buttermilk
- 2 tbsps. white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsps. mayonnaise
- 1 tbsps. fresh chives
- 14 cups fresh baby spring greens
Instructions:
Heat oven it 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Carefully clean beets, removing stems and greens but not cutting into the beets. Put beets in a pot of water, covering them with at least an inch of water. Bring the water to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Cook beets until tender, do not overcook. Approximately 20 minutes for baby beets more for larger ones. Drain beets and allow them to cool. Trim tops and bottoms of beets and remove skins. Skins should fall off easily. Cut beets into wedges, place in a bowl and set aside.
Brush 1/2 tsp of oil over a baking sheet. Slice the prosciutto into squares 1 inch by 1 inch and place on the prepared pan. Brush or spray the meat with another 1/2 tsp of oil. Bake until it is crispy approximately five minutes. Place the bits of meat until a wire rack to cool and drain.
While beets and prosciutto are cooling, slice sweet onion into thin slices and place in a pan with 1 tbsp of oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. Cover the many and cook over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes. Stir frequently and continue cooking until the onion begins to caramelize. Remove pan from the heat and let stand with a lid over it for 10 minutes.
Stir well, scraping the bottom to bring up any of the tasty bits stuck there. Measure out 1/4 cup of the mixture and set aside. Put the remainder of the mixture in a food processor and add vinegar, mayonnaise, chives and buttermilk. Process until creamy.
Place spring greens in a bowl with the reserved onions and dressing and toss until complete coated. Place greens on plates and top with the beets and prosciutto chips.
Tip: if you want salad completely chilled, make up all of the components the day before and chill them all separately except for the prosciutto which will be much crisper if you make it the day you plan to serve it. Put the salad together just before serving.
