There are many lovely things to say about the French and food. One of them is that nobody makes a better plain green salad. From my former mother in law's Sunday lunch salads to those of any bistro where I have ordered one, the French plain green salad deserves any superlative thrown its way. The Via Carota salad which I have enthused about in the past is absolutely delicious, but it is busy in a way that the basic, every day French salad is not.
This will serve two as an appetizer, but I sometimes am called to make this for my lunch and happily plow through it all on my own.
1 head of the most perfect Bibb or Boston lettuce you can find
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsps red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsps Dijon mustard
1 tsp ice water
1/2 shallot, diced as finely as you can
Salt to taste
Wash and dry your lettuce leaves very well. You can then either tear them into bite sized pieces or place them in your salad bowl as I did above. If tearing into bite sized pieces, make your dressing directly in the salad bowl before adding the lettuce and tossing to combine. If adding the whole leaves as I did, make your dressing in a separate bowl and the drizzle the dressing over the reconstituted head of lettuce.
Whisk all of the ingredients except for the lettuce together. The cold water will help emulsify and thicken the dressing, Taste for seasoning and adjust to your personal taste. I like my dressings on the acidic side, you may want to add another glug of oil to cut the vinegar.
Tell me if that does not hit the salad sweet spot.