I have never been a fan of salads. The proverbial salad of my youth was mostly lettuce, with a few other sad vegetables and too much salad dressing on top. My sophomore year of college I spent a few weeks living with a French family, and the mother perfectly dressed her salad with a homemade vinaigrette I still think about. It was probably the first time I ever had a green salad that I liked. The next year I visited Italy for the first time, where my sister introduced me to the insalata caprese. I expected some variation on a green salad, so imagine my surprise when the server brought out a plate of beautifully sliced tomatoes alternating with sliced of mozzarella, with green olive oil and fresh basil. THIS was salad?
In the three decades since, I have come a long way from green salad, Cobb salad, and Caesar salads, but at home I was still stuck in the mindset that “salad” was greens with random other bits.
This summer I feel I finally cracked the salad! In the spirit of sharing my insights, and because I promised my friend Robin I would, here is my general approach.
Over the past few years I’ve left cookbooks and recipes further and further behind. I tend to cook more from my intuition, from my taste, and from what I am drawn toward. Additionally, I take an approach I’ve started referring to as “components.”
The breakdown
This approach can work for hot meals, cold meals, and anything in between. I tend to like at least one thing to be hot. I think about flavors (acid, salty, sweet, sour, tannic, bitter, spicy), colors, and textures. I think about carbs, proteins, fats, and vegetables/fruits. And I think about sauces/dressings. Here is a basic list of ingredients I found very enjoyable for my salad this summer:
- Arugula
- Cherry tomatoes
- Persian cucumbers
- Carrot
- Snap peas
- Black lentils (I always dress these with olive oil and a splash of balsamic, as well as a little salt and pepper)
- Feta/mozzarella balls
- Dressing/vinaigrette
- Focaccia/croutons/naan
Looking at this list, I can see colors (green, red, orange, black, white). If I wanted more color, I might add some chopped purple cabbage. I see textures: three different crunches, then soft, as well as unctuous. There are sharp flavors, bitter, sweet, salty, etc. I might want a dressing that brings another flavor (e.g. a pesto, or mustard vinaigrette or something else that tickles your fancy).
For the warm component, I could heat up the lentils, and/or toast some focaccia. Recently I made a salad with roasted peach slices. I am not a fan of sandwiches, and last year I figured out I could turn most sandwiches into salads. For example, the Scuttlebutt sandwich from the New York Times has feta cheese, hard boiled egg, shredded carrots and pickled beet on focaccia. I put that on some arugula, made a dressing with the beet pickling liquid, and had the focaccia on the side.
I’ve taken inspiration from the Niçoise, with steamed potato and green beans, pickled shallots and hard boiled egg. I put those on greens and have that. Also the Waldorf, with fresh apple and toasted walnuts. When it’s warm out I like to have a type of mezze plate, with hummus, Kalamata olives, fridge pickles, cherry tomato, feta cheese, and a piece of homemade naan.
I find these salads satisfy my eyes, my palate, and my stomach. I hope this gives you some ideas to play with.
