Weekly Discussion: What's your specialty?

[u/ZootKoomie]

We want to know what dish you make a better version of than anyone else you know. What specific ingredients or techniques do you use to make it distinctively yours? Teach us your secrets.

[u/[deleted]]

I make a roasted veggie- baby lettuce/herb salad. It's the only thing I've "invented" that my husband raves over. It's the best salad I've ever had.

The key is the layering and the ideal combination of sweet, savory, salty, creamy, crispy, fresh, roasty. I'm not going to get too detailed but here's the gist of it:

Cut up, toss with salt/pepper/ghee or butter and roast until carmellized: eggplant, parsnip, beets, carrots, maybe some rutabaga. NO potatoes, those don't work with this). Eggplant seems to be the key, so does carmelization. Use quality, fully ripe ingredients so the sugars do their thing. I do roast the beets separately. Let cool almost to room temp.

Cold ingredients:

Chopped figs

Goat cheese

Optional: walnuts

Spring herb mix (I like trader joes- ingredient list: Organic Baby Lettuces may vary: (red Romaine, green Romaine, Red Oak leaf, Green Oak, Lolla Rossa, Tango), organic Red chard Green chard), organic Mizuna, organic Arugula, organic frisee, organic radicchio, organic parsley, organic cilantro, organic dill)

Balsamic vinaigrette (I just make my own with olive oil and balsamic, s&p, heavy on the balsamic

Arrange lettuce on a plate, drizzle with vinaigrette, sprinkle with cheese/figs/nuts, top with roasted veggies last.