Sugar Snap Salad




Ingredients:
4 cups bibb (or butter) lettuce
4 cups sugar snap peas, string removed
3 tablespoons minced shallots
4 teaspoons sherry vinegar
salt and black pepper, to taste
7 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

Method:

Wash and dry the lettuce and tear into bite-sized pieces. Make the vinaigrette by combining the shallots, vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil and set aside.
Make an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and cold water and set that aside.

In a large pot, blanch peas in boiling water for abut 3 minutes, until peas are bright green and cooked but still crunchy. Immediately, drain the peas and plunge into the ice bath.

Once the peas have cooled and stopped cooking remove them from the ice bath. Remove excess water from peas by blotting with a paper towel. Up to this point, the salad can be made a day in advance, refrigerated as separate components. Use the lettuce to line the bottom of a serving dish and add peas, basil, and parsley to another bowl. Add vinaigrette and toss. Put this mixture on top of the lettuce and serve immediately.

Serves 4