This explosive salad hails from the depths of a friend’s brain. I believe she had it somewhere and made the recipe her own, but I can attest that, while the salad itself is tasty, the buttermilk pesto dressing is incredible enough to warrant drinking a glass of it as a nightcap. This is a great recipe for using leftover grilled chicken (which I have a lot of in the summer) and is a fairly light salad as well. Substituting ingredients is also encouraged, and there are lots of items that would go well with this dressing. That said, this is how we made it and it turned out better than I wanted (no need to get into that).

All the following ingredients are to be chopped:

2 heads romaine lettuce, arugula, or mixed greens (the arugula is quite good)

Grilled chicken

1 cup cooked Israeli couscous

Cherry tomatoes (marinated in the dressing)

1/2 cup black currants,

pumpkin seeds

Asiago cheese (optional)

Buttermilk Pesto Dressing:

1/2 cup pesto

1 shallot chopped

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup buttermilk

juice of 1/2 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients in a blender and chill.

Directions:

1. Dress the salad greens and place them in a salad bowl.

2. Place the chopped items in the bowl, one at a time, in wide stripes.

3. Present the salad to your guests, and after the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ toss the salad and serve.