I know it’s spring in Oregon when Nicoletta’s Table adds Pisello inglese e insalate di barbabietole to their menu.
It is a favorite of mine!
Nicoletta’s Table does a fabulous job with all of their seasonal salads.
Then again, shouldn’t all salads be seasonal using fresh ingredients?
I digress.
Not your mother’s pea salad
I have eaten my share of canned English peas drowning in mayonaise with chunks of tomato and cheese! As a kid, it was a favorite.
In college, it was my “vegetable” dish when I was tired of PBJ’s!
Then my taste buds changed and it dropped off my food list.
When I first tried it at Nicoletta’s Table, I was in love.
It is light and airy and so delicious.
Pisello inglese e insalate di barbabietole
These are the ingredients but I don’t have a recipe for the salad.
English peas
Shaved beets & fennel
Sugar snap peas
Arugula
Creamy pancetta vinaigrette
I did find a recipe for the vinaigrette.
I have not tested this recipe but it had good reviews.
The vinaigrette at Nicoletta’s is very light and is key to pulling the recipe together.
The crisp pancetta coiled on the top adds a wonderful salty flavor.
Do try this at home!
Or visit Nicoletta’s Table in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
There are many other astounding dishes on their menu!
Dining in Lake Oswego
Buon appetito!
Lori Greer in Portland 
Looks delicious.
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It’s refreshing and satisfying. I always feel so righteous when I eat salads for dinner. 😊
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And rightly so!
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Looks amazing! Wish I could join you.
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Oh this looks so yummy!
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You almost lost me at “canned English peas drowning in mayonnaise with chunks of tomato and cheese” … the thought of that is, to my palate, truly revolting. But your salad looks so utterly delicious, I’m seriously thinking of making it tonight. But maybe with anchovy rather than pancetta, since I’m not crazy about anything pig.
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I like the anchovy idea…a good choice. Please let me know how it turns out. As for the other salad, the things that were foisted upon innocent children! 🙂
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I will. I do wonder what our parents / grandparents were thinking. My mother had a terrible habit of substituting ingredients when she didn’t have something in a recipe. We were once fed sweet and sour pork (which I hated anyway) with tinned peaches instead of pineapple.
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As I tell my sons, don’t judge until you have walked in my shoes. I sometimes have an exchange student live with me. It is fun but sometimes the challenge of always cooking for someone gets to be a chore. I know with my growing sons, they probably ate some strange combinations. As long as there was cheese in the dish or melted on top they were happy.
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Yes; one of the things I like about my partner travelling a lot of work is that I can eat what I like, when I like when I’m on my own. My food instincts are much more at the vegetarian end of the spectrum (and the quick and easy end) than his! I love your cheese comment. My son hates cheese — unless it’s melted. He sees that as a totally different food to just plain cheese.
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I tend to more vegetarian and easy meals also. I love hummus, avocado, nuts, whole grains and lots of veggies.
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Yummy to all of those. Avocado makes everything better, and I have a dressing based on tahini that makes plain steamed veges heavenly. 🙂
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Nicolettas Table eh? That’s not far from me.
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