Mr. McGregor’s Garden Salad

Name: Mr. McGregor’s Garden Salad
Yield: 6

Top tender mâche salad greens with an assortment of the freshest veggies. Serve with the pleasantly tart Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette.

Fill a platter with tender and mild mâche salad greens, French green beans, snow peas, cauliflower, broccoli, multicolor carrots, green onions, button mushrooms and radishes; blanch the firm vegetables to make them fork tender. Serve with the pleasantly tart Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette and hard-boiled eggs. Top with goat or feta cheese, if desired.

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

LEMON-THYME VINAIGRETTE:
4 tsp lemon zest
6 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp honey
4 tsp fresh tarragon, minced
4 tsp fresh thyme, minced
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 small cloves garlic, finely minced
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
SALAD:
2 quarts water
1 tsp salt
2 cups fresh French green beans
2 cups fresh sugar snap peas
2 cups fresh white cauliflower, chopped
2 cups fresh green cauliflower, chopped
2 cups fresh broccoli, chopped
1 (3.5-ounce) package mâche rosettes
6 red radishes
5 medium rainbow carrots, roughly chopped
3 or 4 green onions, trimmed
6 hardboiled eggs
Goat or feta cheese (optional)

Directions

For vinaigrette, in a small bowl whisk together lemon zest, lemon juice, vinegar, honey, tarragon, thyme, mustard and garlic. Add olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking until the vinaigrette is emulsified. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.
For salad, in a 4-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, combine water and salt; bring to a boil. Separately blanch green beans, snap peas, cauliflower and the broccolis for 1 minute each or until vegetables are slightly softened but still firm in the center. Transfer vegetables to a bowl of ice water and cool thoroughly; drain.
Arrange mâche, blanched vegetables, radishes, carrots and onions on a large platter. Place unpeeled eggs in a serving bowl, providing individual small saucers for discarded shells. (Or, peel, slice and arrange eggs over salad.) Serve salad with Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette.