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Salads can be delicious even when you just throw a few ingredients together, but a really great salad doesn't happen unless you give extra attention to the details.

Our Little Gem Salad with Bright Citrus Vinaigrette gets a lot of its special character from using brunoise techniques and a perfect balance of ingredients, including using comte cheese, which is known for its buttery, almost hazelnut flavor, a neutral vinegar that provides a perfect acidic base, and French breakfast radishes, which are sweeter and milder than ordinary ones. 

Ingredients for citrus vinaigrette

1 small shallot
1/2 cup neutral vinegar (rice or champagne works best)
1/4 cup lemon juice (you can substitute with another citrus or a combination: lime, orange, yuzu, etc.)
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp honey
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of salt

Brunoise shallot and set aside in a bowl.

Mix neutral vinegar and citrus juice together, then pour into the brunoised shallot. Let the mixture macerate for 10 minutes. 

Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Set aside.

Optional: for an emulsified vinaigrette, place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. 

Ingredients for salad

2 heads little gem lettuce
3 small French breakfast radishes
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1/2 cup shaved comte cheese (use a vegetable peeler to shave)
a pinch of salt

Cut stems off lettuce and wash in cool water. Shake off and pat dry or spin in a salad spinner.

Shave French breakfast radishes. To add flavor, shave them into a bit of vinaigrette and let them soak in some of the dressing. It will also prevent oxidization. Alternatively, you can shave them in lemon water as well. 

Place lettuce in a bowl and sprinkle in salt. 

Set aside a small portion of each ingredient for garnishing. Toss remaining ingredients into the salad gently, make sure you don't bruise or crush the delicate lettuce leaves.

Dress the salad according to taste with the citrus vinaigrette. 

Sprinkle the ingredients you set aside over the top of the salad as a garnish.