It's not a huge feat, but

I'm pretty sure I made this salad up. I realize that all salads - all food, really - are pretty derivative, so there's only so much credit I can take, but I still think it's pretty good. I usually spend Monday nights on my own, and I was determined to ignore my growling stomach long enough to put together a good dinner for myself tonight. I ended up making dijon-tarragon chicken, lemon-garlic fettucini, and this salad. Somehow, I'm not jealous of the Taco Bell my starving husband opted for on his way out the door.


The components of the salad are mixed dark greens, shallot, dates, havarti, and a balsamic vinegar and hazelnut oil dressing. I buy whole pitted dates and slice them along with the shallot. I haven't figured out a graceful way to deal with the havarti - I just somewhat painstakingly cut it into little rectangles, peeling each fragment off of the knife as it sticks there. There's got to be a better way to do it than that, so let me know if you have any ideas. The dressing is just a one-to-one ratio of balsamic vinegar and hazelnut oil with salt and pepper added before mixing.