Baby Lettuce & Endive Salad w/ Spicy Lemon-Garlic Dressing

My friends BL and JK had a fantastically fun Friday night dinner for Shabbat this week. All of the food was amazing (BL, I still want that meatball recipe!), the wine was superb, and a good time was had by all.

I brought a salad to this meal--I wanted something classic with a bit of an edge (I wasn't sure who else was going to be at the meal so I didn't want to make something too out-of-the-box). I think I came up with a good combination :)

Baby Lettuce & Endive Salad w/ Spicy Lemon-Garlic Dressing

Ingredients:

10 oz baby lettuce mix
3 endives, sliced into strips
1 cucumber, sliced
1 pear, sliced thinly
3 scallions, chopped
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 2 lemons
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/2 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

1. Toss lettuce, endive, cucumber and pear in a large salad bowl.
2. Blend remaining ingredients. Pour over salad and serve immediately.

Fun additions:

• Toss in some candied pecans or walnuts.
• Instead of adding garlic to the dressing, slice a few garlic cloves very thinly, then fry in oil until crispy and toss into salad before serving.
  

The cost:
lettuce: 1.99
endive: 2.99
cucumber: 1.99
pear: .59
scallions: .30
lemons: .50

Grand total: $8.36; serves 6-8