Chopped Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons thinly basil leaves shredded
• 4 ounces cheese blue crumbled
• 2  carrots finely chopped
• 0.5  cucumber seedless seeded cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1.5 teaspoons dijon mustard 
• 0.5  fennel bulb cored finely chopped
• 1  fuji apple cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1  haas avocados cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 25 servings kosher salt and pepper black freshly ground
• 0.3 cup olive oil extra-virgin
• 2  baby greens thinly sliced quartered
• 1 tablespoon shallots very finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar 
• 0.5 cup walnuts 

Equipment

• bowl
• oven
• whisk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 35
2. Spread the walnuts in a pie plate and toast them for about 10 minutes, until they are golden.
3. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the shallot with the Dijon mustard and sherry vinegar and season generously with salt and pepper.
5. Add the olive oil and whisk until smooth.
6. Add half of the blue cheese and whisk until the dressing is creamy.
7. Add the lettuce, fennel, carrots, cucumber, apple, avocado, basil and walnuts and season with salt and pepper. Toss the salad well to coat with the dressing. Top with the remaining blue cheese and serve right away.