Rainbow Chopped Salad

My 30th birthday weekend has officially come to a close. It’s no longer acceptable to go out to dinner every night and eat cake several times a day (sigh…). A sincere thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday and helped celebrate with me.

My friend Mer, my BFF from high school, was one of those people. She was kind enough to make the 2.5 hour drive into Chicago to spend some time with me. Plus, she made me this cake.

Pretty awesome, huh? Chocolate cake with Nutella mousse, Frangellico, and chocolate ganache. Luckily I took a picture of it before this happened…

Lesson learned — DON’T attempt to move a cake after you’ve had a few drinks. I dropped it. On the floor. Ugh. Breaks your heart, doesn’t it? I hate to see a good cake go to waste, so I attempted to salvage it. Five second rule, right? Maybe? Er…anyway…

Before the Great Cake Catastrophe of 2011, we made this salad for dinner.

And dang, was it good. I happen to love salad, but I’m pretty sure this recipe could make any salad hater sing its praises. Not only does it look beautiful, but the combination of sweet fruits, bitter radicchio, crunchy hazelnuts, creamy gorgonzola and tangy dressing makes this salad interesting and delicious.

Rainbow Chopped Salad (serves 4 main course portions)

Adapted from Bon Appetit

What you need:

Dressing:

How you do it:

Dressing:

Whisk vinegar, shallot,  honey and mustard in small bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Salad:

Combine romaine and next 7 ingredients in very large bowl; toss to blend. Add dressing (I didn’t use all of it) and toss to coat. Serve topped with freshly ground black pepper and a side of crusty bread.