Clementine Mâche Salad

Mâche is a very common cold season lettuce in Europe, and I happily noticed its rise in popularity and availability here in the US as well. It has several aliases like field salad, corn salad, lamb’s lettuce, …. and rapunzel. Yes, the fairy tale character. Rapunzel’s mom just couldn’t resist this delicious lettuce from the witch’s garden, and so the story unfolded. I completely understand her craving and absolutely love mâche’s delicate texture and nutty, very unique flavor that can be combined with other greens, fruits, veggies and all kinds of dressings. My favorite version though is this one. If you get your hands on mâche, you should definitely give it a try.

Ingredients:

Vinaigrette:

• 3 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar (or apple cider vinegar), room temperature
• 3/4 tsp Celtic sea salt
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 7 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, room temperature

Salad:

• 1/2 medium size sweet onion, finely diced
• 7 oz (200 g) mâche, thoroughly washed and cleaned
• fresh parsley, minced (I used about 4 Tbsp)
• 2 Tbsp pomegranate seeds, if available
• 4 clementines (or tangerines/satsumas, or 1 orange), peeled, separated into wedges and cut into smaller pieces

Preparation:

In a medium size bowl whisk together all the vinaigrette ingredients until they have emulsified. You can also use a mason jar (lid closed) and shake the vinaigrette thoroughly. Add the diced onion and let sit for about 10 minutes. This will make the onion milder.

Arrange the remaining salad ingredients in a serving bowl. Give your vinaigrette a final whisk or shake, pour over the salad, and toss briefly. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes: 

• Don’t let the salad sit in its dressing longer than necessary, because the delicate leaves will get soggy.
• As a topping, you could add roasted pecans.
• For a more peppery taste, you could add some arugula.
• Instead of clementines you could add cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and avocado to the salad.