After a busy work week for both J and I, we decided to have another "date night" at the house making a brand new, and complex recipe out of the cookbook I received from my brother-in-law for Christmas. Conveniently enough it's titled Date Night In.

I love that this book divides recipes by seasons, capitalizing on the optimal time ingredients are their best. Since we're headed into spring, we chose a coursed meal out of that section.

Behold our latest success: Spring Green Salad with Creamy Shallot Vinaigrette, Herb-Butter Roasted Chicken with Tarragon Aioli and Maple Coriander Roasted Carrots. Of course, when at-home date night happens, the wedding China comes out to help add a special emphasis on the fact that these complicated meals are a treat.

Since this post would be extremely long with each dish's list of ingredients and steps, I've decided to do a 3-part meal series this week. Let's start with the first course.

Spring Green Salad with Creamy Shallot Vinaigrette

Vinaigrette Dressing

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp of minced shallot (I forgot shallot at the store, so I used onion.)
2 tsps of honey
2 tsps of Dijon Mustard
2 Tbsps of heavy whipping cream or crème fraîche
2 Tbsps of Champagne vinegar (I couldn't find this at the store, so I substituted with white wine vinegar.)
1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp of salt
1/8 tsp of ground pepper

Steps:

1. Whisk together shallot (or onion), honey, mustard, heavy whipping cream (or crème fraîche), and vinegar.

2. Continue to whisk while pouring in the oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 head butter lettuce, washed and dried
3 radishes, thinly sliced (we don't like radishes, so I nixed this ingredient.)
1/2 of an avocado, thinly sliced
1/2 cup of chopped assorted herbs such as tarragon, dill, mint, chives, parsley, and cilantro
3 ounces of goat cheese, crumbled

Steps:

1. Places the lettuce leaves in a medium bowl and toss with 1/4 cup of the vinaigrette.

2. Arrange the leaves on two plates and then top with radishes, avocado, and herbs. Finish with goat cheese.

The salad was delicious and a great start to the feast. The dressing was light and tangy , but the goat cheese and avocado helped smoothed out the flavors.

According to the cookbook, the leftover dressing can last up to a week in the refrigerator.

Keep an eye out for the main course blog post come up later this week!