Little Gem Salad with Creamy Pea Dressing
Serves 4 · Prep: 25 minutes · Cook: 10 minutes · Total: about 35 minutes
The dressing sits somewhere between ranch and chilled pea soup. It is cool, thick, and savory enough to stay on the lettuce instead of running to the bottom of the plate.
Use the smallest Little Gem heads you can find. Quarter them through the core and they will hold together while you wash, dry, and dress them.
Ingredients
Creamy pea dressing
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 small shallot, roughly chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Black pepper
Basil oil
- ½ cup packed basil leaves
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Pinch of kosher salt
Salad
- 3 heads Little Gem lettuce
- 2 medium heirloom tomatoes, cut into thick wedges
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 ear sweet corn, kernels cut from the cob
- ⅓ cup finely grated Parmesan
- Flaky salt
- Black pepper
Instructions
- 1
Blanch the peas and basil
Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Add the peas and cook for 60 seconds. Lift them into ice water. Add the basil to the boiling water for 10 seconds, then move it to the same ice bath. Drain both and squeeze the basil dry.
- 2
Blend the pea dressing
Blend the peas, buttermilk, mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon, shallot, salt, and several grinds of pepper until smooth. Add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time when the blender stalls. Refrigerate.
- 3
Make the basil oil
Blend the blanched basil, olive oil, and salt for 1 minute. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Do not press hard on the solids or the oil turns cloudy.
- 4
Cook the corn
Heat a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Add the corn and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring once or twice, until a few kernels brown. Cool to room temperature.
- 5
Prepare the lettuce
Quarter the Little Gem heads lengthwise through the core. Wash them gently and dry them thoroughly. Water trapped between the leaves thins the dressing.
- 6
Dress the salad
Spoon some pea dressing onto a wide platter. Add the lettuce and tomatoes. Spoon more dressing over the cut sides of the lettuce, then scatter over the corn and Parmesan.
- 7
Finish
Drizzle with basil oil. Add flaky salt and black pepper, then serve while the lettuce is still cold.
Recipe notes
Cook’s notes
- The pea dressing and basil oil keep for 2 days in separate covered containers.
- Romaine hearts work when Little Gem is unavailable. Cut each heart into four long wedges.
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