Restaurant Burnout, or, "Can't we ever have just like a salad?"

Y'all, it has been about three forevers since I last wrote up in this piece, and my reason is this: People keep coming to visit and wanting to eat out, or taking me out on dates and buying me dinner, or wanting to catch up over a meal. AND it's New York Restaurant Week. (Which, by the way, week? I don't get it. It lasts for a month.)

Not that I'm complaining. I thoroughly enjoy eating out, and frequently--especially when other people are paying for that action! But the past couple of weeks have been an onslaught of restaurants and bars...and sometimes I might get a little tipsy. Not enough to do something like bake bread, just enough to come home and not blog (read: pass out in various states of undress). The upshot is I've just been eating too damn much, because I'm not trying to go to a new restaurant and order a salad, you know? I just feel like, "why would I spend 8 bucks on something I can do better myself?" So now, I'm burnt-out on restaurants, my wallet feels flat, my ass feels fat, and I just want to eat some leafy greens and get my vitamins, b'okay?

In zealous observation of this vegetable inclination, I'm instituting Salad Days (bahaha!), during which I will present an interesting and delicious salad every day this week. Starting with this one:

Watercress Salad with Lemon-Shallot Dressing

This is a lovely fresh-tasting salad. In the middle of winter, it brings a little summer snap to my palate, without requiring a lot of ingredients that are way out-of-season. The cress is nice and spicy, with a hint of bitterness, and the fresh parsley adds a nice bright, clean flavor. It is excellent served with fish, or just by itself.

Ingredients

Salad:

1.5 c. watercress

1 head of lettuce (red leaf lettuce looks lovely, but whatever you prefer)

1 cucumber

1/4 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley (aka Italian parsley)

pine nuts (or walnuts)

Dressing:

1 medium lemon

1 shallot

2 Tbsp heavy or whipping cream

3 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

Wash the watercress, lettuce, and parsley--even if they're organic. They are grown in sand. Nobody likes a mouth full of grit. note: The amounts of the greens are approximate. Use whatever looks like enough for the amount of salad you want to make. I used about 3/4 of the head, and made 3 good-sized salads. Tear the lettuce into forkable (snicker!) pieces, and chop up the parsley a bit. Peel and slice the cuke. If you are using nuts, you can either leave them raw or give them a quick toast in a dry skillet--but they will burn quickly so just toast them until they start to show a little color. For the dressing, juice the lemon through your hand or a strainer and discard the seeds. Whisk in salt and pepper to taste. Dice the shallot and add to the lemon juice mixture. Give it a shot of the heavy cream and add the olive oil, give it a good whisk, and its done! Keep in mind, cream is about 60% water, so this is not a particularly thick dressing, but it is crazy delicious. I made it for dinner with Gige and she was eating it with a spoon after we'd killed the salad. Just before serving, toss the cucumber and greens with the dressing and sprinkle on the pine nuts. If you toss it earlier the acid from the lemon will wilt the lettuce. Then you, um, well, eat it. note: If it doesn't look like enough dressing, just keep adding a little more juice, oil, or cream. You can adjust the proportions to taste. I happen to like it pretty tangy, myself. The longer you let the dressing sit, the more flavor will emerge from the shallots.

You can also substitute another slightly bitter or spicy green for the cress, such as curly endive(frisee) or arugula. I just had a bunch of cress in my crisper--I saw it at Whole Foods for $2 and was like "yes, yes I will." And I'm glad I did.

Watercress. English-type people like to put it in sandwiches. I like to put it in my mouth.

Try it out. Let me know what you think!