green salad with hazelnut dressing and toasted hazelnuts

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lettuce salads hazelnuts salad greens

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This is a nice salad that was in a springtime Rise & Shine Bakery Bulletin as a component of my unconventional (but by now, traditional) Easter dinner. For the complete menu, see the recipe for egg salad sandwiches in the “sandwiches and things to eat on toast” section. It’s also just a nice salad anytime, though, even in the winter—hazelnuts are sometimes only found seasonally, so when you can find them, try this very simple and delicious recipe.
You can get roasted hazelnut oil at Summit Spice & Tea Co. If you don’t feel like making a special trip, you can use toasted walnut oil and use toasted walnuts, instead. You can get Loriva toasted walnut oil at most grocery stores. (Don’t use refined nut oils—they won’t add any particular flavor to your dressing.)

hazelnut oil vinaigrette

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 shallots, finely diced (or substitute half a yellow onion)
sea salt or kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons roasted hazelnut oil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Combine the vinegar, shallots, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a bowl and let stand for 15 minutes. Stir in the mustard and honey, then add the oil in a thin stream while whisking. Whisk well until the dressing is thick and smooth. Taste and adjust the amount of vinegar, honey and salt.

salad

bowlful of nice salad greens
½ cup hazelnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roast the hazelnuts until golden-brown and fragrant, about 15 minutes. After the nuts are toasted, you can rub off some of the loose skins in a kitchen towel if you want, but they won’t come completely clean—that’s OK. Chop the hazelnuts coarsely.
2. Toss the greens with dressing to your taste, and top the salad with toasted, chopped hazelnuts.