Salad Days

I hate to think how many pictures on this blog look almost exactly like the one above.
Yet another salad made with fresh, local ingredients. Eaten in the dappled shadow at the table on the patio.
Yeah, I should go back and count some time.
See, that's what's going on chez Cookiecrumb. Always. I don't do complicated recipes. Beautiful produce is flooding the market. And of course, we had to sit outdoors in the gorgeous weather, hence the dapples.
Ah, but there was a twist. Today's lunch was a bigger, more special version of that deliciously simple meal I take so many pictures of.
Cranky and I had a friend over to eat with us. We wanted to show her how well we can feed ourselves on a strictly local diet, while not spending outlandish amounts of money. We served four courses, from a pert little amuse bouche to a calming, easy (and small) dessert.
I'll talk about it later in the month, but I figured I'd show you today's familiar-looking salad.
It's made with baby Romaine leaves, topped with sliced roasted baby beets in two colors. Then it's showered with crumbled blue cheese and toasted walnut bits. The dressing was a light amalgamation of mayonnaise, vinegar, salt and olive oil.
Every one of the flavors in the salad was so intense, most surprisingly the lettuce (tastes of iron and chlorophyll), that just a small, casual plate of the stuff was enough to knock us silly.
Besides, there was more to come.