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This romaine salad recipe with homemade lemon dijon vinaigrette is the perfect start to your meal, or a meal by itself! Did I also mention homemade croutons? An easy go-to salad recipe with an easy made from scratch vinaigrette.
Homemade Croutons
Let’s start with homemade croutons! We all have that old bread lying around (sans mold) that is too hard to enjoy. Perfect time for croutons! I had sourdough bread, but feel free to use whatever bread you have on hand. I cut it into 1 inch pieces and tossed with some garlic, olive oil, and oregano to flavor it up.
Mix the bread pieces and garlic oil mixture in a bowl until they are all coated. Spread them out on a baking sheet and place into the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. If the bread is fresh, they may need a few more minutes.
Lemon dijon vinaigrette
The 2nd reason I love this lemon dijon salad vinaigrette (1st being it’s SO good) is that it is made with pantry staples. Olive oil, lemon, garlic, red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, and Worcestershire (sauce of the shire).
Lemon hack: slice your lemon like above to avoid the seeds and get a ton of juice out of the smaller sliced piece.
Whisk all the ingredients together and give it a taste, if you want it more acidic you can add a squeeze more of lemon. This lemon dijon vinaigrette is flat out delicious!
Assemble the salad
I used romaine in this salad, but feel free to use your green of choice. If using romaine, I slice them into one inch sections, discarding the hard bottom/stems.
Toss the salad with the vinaigrette, add the croutons, and shave some fresh parmesan on top. I also crack some fresh ground black pepper over the top prior to serving. There ya have it, my favorite homemade lemon dijon salad vinaigrette with croutons!
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Salad with Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Croutons
- 2 cups day old french bread (1- inch cubed (or bread of choice))
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- Pinch fresh ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
Vinaigrette (Makes about 1 cup)
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- Pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper
Salad
- 2 heads romaine (wash/dried, cut into 1-inch sections (about 8 cups))
- 1/4 cup fresh shaven or grated parmesan cheese
- Fresh ground pepper to garnish
Equipment
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Instructions
Croutons:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Cut bread into 1 inch cubes and put into a medium bowl. In a small bowl combine and mix the olive oil, 1 clove minced garlic, oregano, black pepper, and parmesan cheese. Pour over the bread, mix to coat the bread with olive oil mixture. Spread onto a baking sheet in an even layer, bake for 10 minutes until bread is crisped. Set aside.
Vinaigrette:
- In a small bowl combine vinaigrette ingredients: Red wine vinegar, dijon mustard, 2 cloves minced garlic, fresh lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper. Whisk in the olive oil until vinaigrette is combined.
Assembling Salad:
- Place the sliced romaine leaves into a large bowl, add the vinaigrette and toss the salad to coat the leaves evenly. Serve the salad and garnish with homemade croutons and top with freshly shaven/grated parmesan cheese and fresh ground black pepper.
Notes
- If prepping ahead of time, do not add vinaigrette to leaves until you’re ready to serve. You can place vinaigrette into refrigerator and whisk again prior to serving.
