Tried + True Tips for Memorable Salads
Keep It Simple:
One of the fundamental things you hear time and time again about seasonal cooking is: keep it simple and let the ingredients shine. This is rarely more true than in the case of green salads. When you have truly fresh, vibrant greens straight from your own kitchen garden, the variability of flavors and textures is incredible. But these flavors are delicate and nuanced, so in general dumping a heavy store bought dressing on them is going to compete rather than enhance them.
Eat With Your Eyes:
You’re naturally going to be more excited to eat greens from your own garden, but everyone needs a little variety. Think about how to add in different colors, shapes, and textures to your greens to give your eyes something to be excited about. Plate it for yourself the way you would for a guest!
All About the Layers:
All good cooking comes down to layering of flavor — adding different types of flavor boosters (think about the book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat) at each step of the process, not just sprinkling salt or spices at the end. The same is true for great salads! Taste all the components before and after you add them together, adjusting to your own taste and liking. My general rule of thumb is:
salty
sweet
crispy AND crunchy (think crisp radish AND crunchy nuts)
acid
fat
If your salad has all of the above components, it will be delicious, hearty, and crave-able.
The Golden Ratio:
Homemade dressing doesn’t have to be rocket science, and you don’t need a recipe all the time. Just remember 3:1 — 3 parts oil to 1 part acid. Add whatever else you like for flavoring — a little sweetness, a little dijon, salt + spices — but this will yield you the right balance and texture of a perfect vinaigrette.
Season. Your. Salad.
You wouldn’t serve someone a piece of chicken with no seasoning right?! Add a little flaky salt in with your greens as you go! It sounds so simple but I hardly see anyone do this step and it’s crucial.
Stock Up In Style:
Super special olive oil
Offbeat vinegars (never too many)
Fancy finishing salts
Nut/seed/herb seasoning blends
Preserved lemons (homemade is so easy + extra special!)
Great olives
Spiced / candied / coated nuts
Torn crispy breadcrumbs
Dried fruit
Chili crisp or Calabrian chilies
Miso Tahini Dressing
Ginger, grated on microplane - 2 tablespoon
Garlic, grated on microplane - 1 tablespoon
Maple syrup - 2 tablespoons
Tahini - 4 tablespoons
Olive Oil - 1 cups
White Miso Paste - 4 tablespoons
1 Lemon, juiced and zested
Sherry Citrus Vinaigrette
1 Orange, juiced & zested
1/2 Lemon, juiced & zested
1/2 tbsp Creamy Dijon
1/2 tbsp Maple
1 tsp Garlic, minced
1/4 cup Sherry Vinegar
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1/8 tsp White Pepper
1 cup Olive Oil
Add all ingredients except oil into a food processor. Add oil in a slow thin stream until emulsified.
Sesame Sambal Dressing
Sambal - 1/4 cup
Maple - 1 tbsp
Toasted Sesame Oil - 1/4 cup
Lime, juiced and zested - 1 whole
Ginger, microplaned - t tbsp
Shallot, minced - 1 whole
Olive Oil - 1 cup