Romaine Salad with Pheasant and Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette

I've been a little obsessed with Google Analytics lately, especially the section that tells you which blog posts are getting the most hits. I would have never, ever guessed that these were my top posts:

1. No Bake Haystack Cookies
2. Wedding Redeye
3. Frosting Guns Bang Bang

Soooo...if Google is telling me what I think it's telling me, people want more posts about lazy-day cookies, booze, frosting, and/or guns. Hmm.


Unfortunately for my fellow Googlers, the following recipe involves none of the above. In fact, I don't think anyone is Googling an orange balsamic salad with pheasant right now, but it's what we had for dinner tonight and it was delish, I can't help but share. Clearly, I'm still on a fruit-with-lettuce-salad kick.

And for those of you who happened upon here in search of booze and frosting, I hate to disappoint, but I'm sure our favorite boozy semi-ho friend Sandra Lee would be happy to help. Much like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, I must watch her make the famous Kwanzaa cake at least once a year.

Seriously, how did this woman get a cooking show again?



Romaine Salad with Pheasant and Orange Balsamic Vinaigrette
The vinaigrette comes out of Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook; the rest is improvisation.

Salad:
Romaine lettuce
Pheasant breast, cut into strips, seasoned with Montreal Chicken, and pan-sauteed in olive oil until cooked through
Orange sections
Chopped cashews
Sliced green onions

Assemble salad and serve with vinaigrette.

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbls. balsamic vinegar
Scant 1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs, such as thyme, oregano, and/or basil
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard (no dry mustard? Just squeeze in a squirt of dijon.)
Freshly ground black pepper

Add all vinaigrette ingredients to clean empty jar. Cover and shake well.