The Simple Salad
When I was younger (say .. 18 or so), a salad meant piling every vegetable, topping, and condiment possible onto my plate. A typical salad included lettuce, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, chickpeas, almonds, loads of honey mustard dressing … it’s no surprise I’d slip into a food coma directly after consuming a “light” lunch.
These days, I’ve been scaling back my salads. I tend to pick 2-3 outstanding ingredients and showcase them; I make them stars. I’m learning a lot about flavor combinations – what complements, what enhances. A salad should be, in my opinion, light and refreshing. An “everything but the …” variety is not.
My favorite salad as of late includes just 3 ingredients (okay, 6, if you count the dressing).
Blue Salad
2 cups fresh spinach
1/4 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed
2 ounces crumbled blue cheese
Blue Salad Dressing (Makes extra for later use)
1/4 cup fruit balsamic vinegar (you can find this at most grocery stores)
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey (any variety will do, but I prefer orange blossom)
Combine vinegar and honey in a bowl; whisk together. Continuing to whisk, add the olive oil in a slow stream until all is combined. Drizzle a small amount over the salad and toss.
A word about simple salads: I’ve learned not to over-dress. There’s something awful about a once-beautiful salad leaf that has become limp and soggy, slicked with oil. Perhaps the key to restraining one’s self when dressing a salad is realizing that the actual ingredients of the salad are so lovely, special, that they need a little breathing room to shine. No need to mask.
Another simple salad; you hardly need instruction for this one.
Lettuce and Radish Salad
2 cups butterhead lettuce
2 large radishes
Pepper, to taste
Slice radishes very thinly and toss with lettuce. Grind fresh pepper over salad and dress with your favorite; I’m partial to peppercorn ranch for this dish, though a straight balsamic vinaigrette is nice for something a bit less heavy.
What’s your favorite salad? I’m dying to acquire a few new recipes …