FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER -- balthazar salad

                                            This salad + bread + wine =    
                          a delicious meal... perfect for a late spring evening

                                                 Balthazar Salad
                                a recipe from the Balthazar Cookbook by
                                 Keith McNally, Riad Nasr & Lee Hanson

• 1 head of romaine lettuce
• 1/4 pound mâche
• 1 head of frisée
• 1 head of radicchio
• 1 fennel bulb, very thinly sliced, preferably on a mandoline
• 1/4 pound radishes, thinly sliced
• 1/2 pound asparagus
• 1/4 pound haricots verts
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup Lemon-Truffle Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
• 1/4 pound ricotta salata
• 1 Hass avocado
• 1 lemon, halved
• 1 roasted beet, julienned
• Zest of 1 lemon, blanched in boiling water for 1 minute
• 3 slices of brioche, toasted and then pulsed in a food processor to a fine crumb
1.  Trim, wash, and spin the romaine, mâche, frisée, and radicchio.  Toss together in a large bowl and add the sliced fennel and sliced radishes.  Set aside in the refrigerator until needed. 
2.  Prepare an ice-water bath in a large bowl and bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Cut away the woody base of the asparagus spears.  With a vegetable peeler, trim the tough outer stem.  Add the asparagus to the boiling water and cook for about 8 minutes, until tender.  Remove with tongs to the ice bath, and add the haricots verts to the still-boiling water.  Again, cook for 8 minutes, then transfer to the ice bath to refresh.  Drain the asparagus and the haricots verts and add to the lettuces along with the salt and pepper.  Toss gently by hand to combine, dress with the Lemon-Truffle Vinaigrette, and toss again.
3.  Slice the ricotta salata in 1/8-inch slices.  Halve and peel the avocado and slice each half as thinly as possible.  Squeeze the lemon over the slices to prevent them from discoloring.
4.  To assemble the salad, set out 6 medium bowls.  Divide the dressed lettuces and vegetables among the bowls.  Top with 1 slice of ricotta salata, 2 slices of avocado, and a small bundle of julienned beet.  Sprinkle with lemon zest and brioche bread crumbs.   

                                        Lemon-Truffle Vinaigrette
                            
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Juice of 2 lemons (1/4 cup)
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup white truffle oil