Layered Salad with Roasted Garlic Dressing
Soups and Salads
2 large heads of garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup buttermilk
⅓ cup coarsely chopped basil
2 heads of romaine lettuce, cut into bite-size pieces
1 large fresh fennel bulb, halved, cored, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, rinsed, drained
1 12-oz container grape tomatoes, halved
2 medium zucchini, trimmed, cut into 1/8-in-thick rounds (about 2 cups)
Preheat oven to 400°. Cut off top ½ inch from garlic heads. Place garlic heads on foil, cut sides up. Drizzle each with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Enclose garlic in foil. Roast until soft, about 1 hour. Unwrap; cool. Squeeze garlic from skins into blender. Add mayonnaise and buttermilk; puree. Add basil; blend until chopped. Season with salt and pepper.
Place lettuce in bottom of large glass bowl. Top with fennel slices, then garbanzo beans and tomatoes. Spread zucchini over salad, covering. Spread dressing over zucchini. Cover; chill at least 1 hour. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Keep chilled.
Just before serving, toss salad.