Swiss Butter Lettuce Salad

This is one of those recipes that I crave as the weather is starting to get warmer. It is a tell tale sign that my body believes that Spring is here. My sweaters go back into the closet, I start running outdoors again, and this salad starts making a regular appearance. You will need:

2 large heads of butter lettuce
1 10 ounce bag of fresh spinach
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained
1/4 red onion chopped
2 roma tomato chopped
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup of fresh grated Swiss cheese
1/2 pound bacon, cooked and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup drained cottage cheese,

Dressing:
3/4 cup of sugar
1 Tbs brown or Dijon Mustard
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups of the oil of your choice (I like olive but it does make your dressing a little more dense)

Start by tearing your butter lettuce and spinach and placing it in a large salad bowl. Never chop your leafy greens with a knife as the sharpness perforates the cells and they basically go limp and wilty. We are going for a fresh crisp salad here. Now add the remaining salad ingredients on top and cover until you are ready to serve. For the dressing combine all ingredients into your blender and let your blender run for about 30 seconds to emulsify everything together.  Don't you just love homemade dressings? I do. They are so much fresher tasting and preservative free plus you have the ability to play with it and add less or more of those ingredients you love. Once you are ready to serve the salad, pour the dressing on and toss everything together. I'm sure you will love this gem of a salad as much as I do!