Baby Red Leaf Lettuce and Nasturtium Petals with Black Cherry Vinaigrette

In college I had a professor - this was in 1989 - who urged every one of us students to get some land, raise some animals and to learn how to be more self-sufficient. I'm pretty far from that goal , but I like to think that 22 years later I am finally making progress. To that end, I grew this salad from seeds. The missus worked her magic with the vinaigrette and together we came up with a lovely salad. I paired this with some stuffed quail and it was an excellent combo.

     We got our black cherry balsamic vinegar from Trader Joes, although I have also found it online. The nasturtiums and red lettuce are easy to grow, so altogether this is a fairly easy salad to put together.

Baby Red Leaf Lettuce and Nasturtium Petals with Black Cherry Vinaigrette

Ingredients
Red lettuce leaves, washed and spun
Nasturtium petals (See notes)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup black cherry balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon minced shallot
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1) Whisk the honey and Dijon together.

2) Add the black cherry balsamic vinegar and whisk.

3) Add shallots, the salt and pepper to taste.

4) Spin greens to ensure that they are dry, then dress with vinaigrette. Sprinkle nasturtium petals and serve.

Notes
Some people have sensitive allergies, so it's a good idea to remove the petals from the stamen and pistils.