Salad Time!

Salad gets a bad rap.  A lot of people don't like it because they've been exposed to bad salad and they don't know any better.  Iceberg lettuce with a few carrots grated over it is not salad, it's punishment for crimes in a past life.  You should know better.  This recipe will show you how to make a salad out of just a mix of lettuces and dressing, and it'll taste better and be better for you than most other sides.

Your mix should be 50% crunchy lettuce, 25% soft lettuce, and 25% flavoured greens.

Crunchy are the aforementioned iceberg or a nice romaine.  Leaf lettuce is also good.  Butter lettuce or spinach are good for the soft lettuce.

Now the flavoured greens can be almost anything.  Try to avoid super dark greens, as they're quite dense, but after that, go wild.  Arugula, endive, sheep sorel, lemon balm, curly leaf parsley, you name it! Radicchio is super tasty in small amounts, and fennel adds a gentle licorice taste, which is nice (even if you don't like licorice).

Chop it all into similarly bite sized pieces (not too fine!), and submerge in cold water.

Now the dressing is the good stuff.

 

The basic salad vinaigrette is 1 part acid to 3 parts oil, but I find that too heavy.  I try to go to 1 acid:2oil, but usually end up closer to 1:1. The acid is usually vinegar or lemon juice, but you can use lime or anything similar.  Season the acid how you like, but salt and pepper are key, (balance the salt to the acid).  I like seasoning salt, garlic powder, and Mrs. Dash or Garlic Plus.  Use whatever you like, but shake well and TASTE IT.  You have to taste it to know if you want to eat it.

Drain and spin the lettuce, then toss with the dressing (try to use a bowl that's a bit too big).

At this point, the salad is basically done, but you know what veggies you want to add to it.

If your acid is balsamic, then tomatoes are a no brainer.  Onions, peppers and cucumbers are good staples all around.  I'm allergic to carrots (honestly), but if they go in, you should julienne them rather than using a grater.  Grating carrots removes any bite they might add to the salad, which is bunk.  Mushrooms are a dicey proposition if you don't KNOW your diners' stance on them.  Some people just can't stand them for whatever reason.

Next time, experiment with cheese, berries or deli meat, but taste any "unorthodox" ingredients with the dressing before you add them into the salad wholesale.  Because I guarantee you'll regret it if you don't.


Congratulations.  You're not a savage anymore.