I think the gross factor can be explained because of the turtles we used to have. Romaine was the main component of their diet, and I was little and we weren't the best caretakers. The romaine would get rotten/brown/gross and it was even grosser when it was digested.. . BLEH!
Anyway, I was looking on Orangette and craving a salad because I hadn't had a really good one in forever. I also didn't want to spend too much money, because I have a friend coming in this weekend and we will probably be spending lots. That was when I found Summer Romaine Salad with Lime Garlic Dressing. I would say this has forced me to rethink my snobby stance toward romaine.
To make it, I only had to buy a few ingredients. The first was romaine lettuce - I went for a giant head of it because it was a great deal for only $.99/head. The stuff in the bag was really pale looking, and the quality of the bunch looked better as well.
I also bought cherry tomatoes, four limes (which were disappointly small at the store), feta and a red onion.
First, you make the dressing. The recipe calls for three tablespoons and one teaspoon of lime juice, but I just winged it and squeezed in the juice of four limes (which is pretty close to the proper amount). Before juicing the limes, I roll each one around under my foot to get the juices moving. It is also an awesome foot massage! I need to get some sort of citrus juicer though, because doing it the old-fashioned way makes a huge mess.
To the lime juice, you add five tablespoons good olive oil (hopefully Costco is considered "good" haha!), a quarter teaspoon minced garlic, and an eighth teaspoon salt. I omitted the salt. Then you are supposed to whisk until emulsified -- I shook my little dressing container until it all mixed up.
To make the salad, I first chopped up the lettuce. Then, slice some cherry tomatoes, and slice the red onion. I made sure to slice the onion into little slivers because raw onion can be pretty potent.
To assemble, add the tomatoes, onion and feta to the salad and dress. I also added broccoli and dill to use up some leftover veggies.
This is VERY simple (juicing the limes was as hard as it got) and delicious. I was a bit wary of using raw onions (especially red, which I find very potent) but with the olive oil/citrus dressing, it wasn't too powerful at all. The combo of veggies and cheese suited each other very well.
I would caution that if you are not used to olive oil or don't like particularly tangy things, you might not like the dressing as much as you were hoping. However, I found it refreshing to eat a salad in order to taste the flavors of the salad, instead of eating salad as a means to chow down on some dressing.
