5-Minute Baby Gem Salad with Lighter-than-Light Honey Mustard Dressing

We've gotten through most of winter, and we're ready for spring. And when I think spring, I think radishes and lettuces. This recipe is for the side salad I put together when I don't have much time, but I need something fresh to go with the main dish. It's simple. It's fresh. It's delicious. This salad is going to be on rotation in your home. The best thing about this salad is that it looks beautiful, yet it's so easy—it’s kind of the surprise star of your dinner.

Serving Platter | Serving Spoon | Dish Towel (similar)

How to Make the Honey Mustard Dressing

The dressing for the salad has just four ingredients, but it tastes better than anything you'll get in the bottled salad dressing section at the grocery store. You'll just whisk together a little bit of mayonnaise (I'm using Vegenaise to make it egg-free), a coarse-grain mustard, lemon—zest and juice—and honey.

I like to use any local honey in this dressing, and usually, if I see a darker honey, I go for that one. There are studies that show it has more antioxidants and nutritional value, plus I like the bolder flavor. So yeah, whisk it up and that's all you need to do!

Prep the Salad Ingredients

Baby gem lettuce is sold in a package as a pack. They are the smaller internal leaves of the tender lettuces. You can harvest them yourself from larger heads of lettuce, but you’ll just end up with really big leaves and really tiny leaves. These are already a great size—you don't even have to chop it.

In fact, think of this salad as a knife-and-fork salad. You're not going to look cool if you try to put a whole leaf in your mouth. So yes, it's not an "all-in-one" chopped salad. But it wins best supporting actor, every time.

To punch through the sweetness of the dressing, I add a shallot and radishes to the lettuce. I use my Microplane Mandoline for this, but you could also thinly slice them. I feel like it should just always be said that you need to be careful when using a mandoline, but if you can get the slices that paper-thin, they beautifully melt in the salad in a way that is so satisfying.

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How to Assemble the Salad

The final touch? Finely shaved macadamia nut plays the role of parmesan (I use the fine side of a cheese grater or microplane). If you're not dairy-free, go ahead and use regular Parmigiano-reggiano (not the pre-shredded kind, please!). The macadamias bring this wonderful nuttiness and fattiness that echoes a really fine aged cheese.

I used raw macadamias here but you could use roasted ones or roast your own for even more flavor.

What to Serve with Baby Gem Salad

This light salad will go with anything: roast chicken, seared steaks, baked salmon, pork tenderloins. It’s a chameleon salad.

The salad dressing is just a little bit sweet and punchy. It's not even creamy, it's so lightly dressed. That's what makes this so special. Then you have the crunch of the lettuces and that bright green. The radishes and shallots melt into every other bite and it’s just so delicious. It's more than the sum of its parts. I can't wait to hear what you think!

5-Minute Baby Gem Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Recipe by Chris Marcum

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: SaladsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

5

minutes

Cooking time

0

minutes

Ingredients

• For the dressing

• 2 tbsp mayonaise or veganaise

• 1 tbsp coarse grain mustard

• 1 tbsp honey

• 1 medium lemon, juiced and zested

• For the salad

• 1 container baby gem lettuce leaves

• 1-2 radishes

• 1 medium shallot

• 2-3 macadamia nuts

• To finish

• fresh ground black pepper

Directions

• Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Pour the dressing over the gem lettuce and gently dress by hand. Arrange on serving platter and, using an adjustable mandoline slicer, thinly slice the radish and shallot over the lettuce. Use a microplane to finely grate the macadamia nut over top. Finish with fresh ground black pepper and serve.