Casserole?

I come bearing a delicious casserole recipe to share with you all! Just kidding, that's a salad. One serving's worth. In a casserole dish. Don't judge me; I make no apologies.



Lately I've had an intense craving for salads. Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's laziness (nah), or maybe because they're just so delectable. Tonight I took a cue from Angela and made a salad monster in a casserole dish. Why? Well, two reasons: 1) Most bowls here aren't big enough to contain all of the goods, and 2) It's more fun that way.


The casserole dish contained (big inhale): Romaine hearts, radicchio (which I got for $.46 because the cashier entered it as red cabbage), celery hearts, radishes, yellow pepper, cucumbers, fresh torn basil and baked tofu all tossed in a creamy tarragon chive vinaigrette.

The tofu was super thinly sliced and marinated for a couple hours in 2 tbsp each maple syrup and balsamic vinegar and S&P. Then I popped it in a 375 oven for 30 minutes. It was sweet and almost acted as a bacon-or-crouton-esque topping because it was sliced so thin. So, basically, it was delicious.



Here's the recipe for the vinaigrette, so I can at least throw one recipe in here:

Creamy tarragon chive vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 lemon, juice and zest (about 1/8 cup)
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 tsp tarragon
- 1 tsp chives
- S&P, to taste

Instructions
- Pour ingredients into a sealable container and shake shake shake! Store in the fridge.

Herbaceous, creamy and light. I'm kind of a lightweight with salad dressings, but feel free to pour it on. You bet your bottom dollar I polished off the whole thing, with two little slices of amazing local bread smeared with tomato paste and basil. Now I'm off to a local wine bar for some treats and flights! Bon appetit.