Salads of Summer

SALADS OF SUMMER

When the temperatures rise, I want nothing but giant salads and coconut popsicles. Hey—you there: did you just nod off when I said “salad”? Here is my treatise on tossed greens: in my opinion, dinner doesn’t get much better.

• Step away from the bottled dressing. This is not my Food Snobbery talking, swears. (That comes later.) Making your own dressing is dramatically less expensive, loads healthier, and a great way to explore your own taste buds. Start with a super-basic French Dijon dressing: a dollop of Dijon mustard, a few tablespoons of white wine vinegar, a squeeze of lemon, and extra-virgin olive oil. Whisk together and taste: add salt, pepper, or more mustard/vinegar/oil until it works for you. Personally, I like almost equal parts oil and vinegar for a sharp dressing. Too sharp? Add a smidge of honey.

Other dressing ideas? Plain yogurt, cumin, lime juice. Sherry vinegar used sparingly. Marmalade, EVOO, and citrus juice. Chili powder, EVOO, and lime juice. The possibilities are endless.

• Something creamy, something crunchy. Chopped hard boiled eggs, crumbled cheese, avocado, and hummus add a touch of smooth luxury to all that crunching. Also? Don’t depend solely on your greens for the crispy factor. Try pea shoots (readily available at Trader Joe’s!) or other sprouted grains, endive, toasted nuts, or homemade croutons.

• Perfect the toss. Is there anything sadder than anemic iceberg unevenly dressed with fatty-sweet Ranch dressing? Taking care to coat your greens with flava will go a long way to making a salad convert of you. Use a big, big bowl and drizzle lightly at first. Taste as you go. When every bite is seasoned to your taste, plate the greens and add toppings. Waiting to dress the leaves until you get to the table is a messy proposition.

• Branch out. A good mix of baby greens makes a solid, enjoyable salad. But there’s so much more in the world of raw veggies. A slaw is effectively a salad: try thinly shaved fennel, carrots, and a citrusy drizzle. Or ribbons of zucchini with roasted tomatoes or garlicky chickpeas. Baby kale and chard are tender enough to chomp with no cooking at all, and they’re filling (lots of fiber!).

• Grill, baby, grill. Wedges of Romaine, radicchio, or endive handle high heat like pros. Grill the cut edges just to barely char, then serve at room temperature.

Here are a few meal-caliber salads from my kitchen table.  Stay cool this week.

left: cobb-ish; middle: corn, lime, pea shoots, avocado; right: veg burger, corn, pea shoots, cumin-yog dressing

-Kristen