This is spring in a bowl. It’s also fall and part of summer, depending on where you live. When lobster went on sale in the spring, I went on a spree, and tossed it with a bunch of my recently grown lettuce, chives, sorrel and basil shoots and some sliced cucumbers. It wasn’t cucumber season yet, but who cares? If you wait for everything to be in season together, sometimes you’ll be waiting a long time (or be spending a fortune on lobster).
So just use whatever herbs you’ve got for this dressing and whatever salad vegetables and greens you like. They came from someone’s garden somewhere, and that’s good enough sometimes.
There was actually no lemon in my original salad, because I used diced sorrel stems from my garden, which are pungently acidic. I freeze the diced stems for use year-round, but these ones were fresh. If you don’t have sorrel (and who has sorrel?), just use a bit of lemon juice instead.
Lobster Salad with Sweet Basil, Chive and Lemon Vinaigrette
Serves 2 as a generous lunch of light dinner
1 lobster, boiled, shelled and meat shredded or chopped
4 cups lettuce (or as much as you want)
3 Lebanese cucumbers (or 1 large English cucumber), sliced
Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp diced sorrel stems
2 tbsp diced basil sprouts or leaves
2 tbsp minced chives or green onions (green parts only)
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp sugar, or to taste, optional
1/4 cup olive oil
1. Reduce the white balsamic vinegar in a medium saucepan by about half.
2. Let the vinegar cool slightly, then pour it over the herbs, salt, pepper and sugar (if using) in a resealable container or jar for salad dressing.
3. Whisk in the olive oil or shake the jar to emulsify.
4. Taste and adjust seasonings with a little lemon juice, sugar, vinegar or olive oil as needed.
4. Pour some dressing over the lobster, lettuce and cucumbers and toss to combine. You probably won’t need it all, but make sure all the leaves are coated.
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