(Confidential to Mullins: I'm sorry, but this will, once again, not be the salad topic you were hoping for.)
Oh man you guys, you know what's good? Salads. I have become something of a salad fool these past few months, maybe because I'm trying to fit in as much lettuce as I can before the leaves start to spontaneously combust in the summer heat.
I feel like I enjoy a really good salad more than I enjoy most other foods that are equally really good. It might be because all the things that make for a really good salad are so fragile and ephemeral, as though there is such a small window of opportunity that, when you get it right, it seems all the more magical. It could also be that eating salad just feels good. It's a delightful food indeed that can manage to be both light and refreshing AND hearty and satisfying, which is how I prefer my salad. To mix my metaphors, I like a salad with a bit of meat on its bones.
Though I've always generally enjoyed salads, I have never liked eating salads in public. Not, as the subject of my earlier rant would have you think, because I am forever flustered by the prospect of being human and occasionally looking awkward while I eat, but because, being in possession of ladyparts, I didn't want to be judged as one of those women who only eats salad, or is not comfortable eating anything more substantial than a salad. I don't think The Husband knows this, but when we first started dating, I balked at ordering salads, even if they sounded delicious, because I didn't want him to think I was some sort of delicate creature who subsisted by daintily nibbling at lettuces, especially since I knew that I was really the sort of creature who would eat an entire bag of cheese puffs and spend several minutes happily licking all the processed cheese food powder off of my unnaturally-orange-dusted fingers.
Fortunately, I've gotten over this, and am much happier looking slatternly and full of good food than being proper and starving. And I still enjoy salads. Victories all around!
So, because I am still trying to decide if dinner tonight was good enough for a blog post, I am instead going to share with you my recipe for the best darn salads ever.
Of course, the key part of any salad, that which takes a salad from acceptable to awesome, is freshness. Novel idea, I know — but bear with me. Fresh vegetables actually taste different. I don't just mean better; I mean there is a palpable difference in the flavor and feel of fresh-picked anything. Grocery store lettuce, both in the heads of lettuce and the bagged salads, just can't compare, and this is, sadly, what most people have access to (if they have access to fresh fruits and vegetables at all, an issue which I think is far too frequently ignored in the food blogsphere and is beyond the scope of this post, but one I hope to take up here soon).
My solution? Go beyond lettuce. I use hardier greens, ones that stay fresh longer and keep much better in the fridge. I've gone mad for kale salads, and have recently become enamored of mixed cabbage salads, but chard and collards work just as well; I've also discovered that young arugula keeps magnificently. Another option is to consider forgoing greens altogether, or relegate them to a supporting role, by using more vegetables. I've made fantastic salads using just broccoli florets and slaw (a mix of shredded broccoli stems and carrots), but most any vegetable will do so long as it's sliced thinly. Lately I've been using the aforementioned cabbage (apparently a mix of young Asian cabbages, according to the nice man at the farm table), arugula, and purslane (a succulent green that grows like weeds here in the desert); it's the tail end of kale season, but Red Russian kale made an appearance in most every salad I made between the months of January and April.
Next comes the dressing. For the first 20 or so years of my life, I only ate Italian dressing. While in London, I discovered Caesar dressing, and I went back and forth between the two until I met The Husband, who taught me how to make my own dressing. His version has now become too complicated for me (something about sugar and mustard and it always makes a mess), so I usually just put my greens into an empty yogurt container, pour in a bit of olive oil and some variety of balsamic vinegar, pop on the top, and give the whole thing a good shake (a grind or two of fresh black pepper is always a plus). I've seen multiple recipes that suggest a 3:1 ratio for your oil:vinegar, but mine is usually closer to 1:1, though there is usually a smidgen more oil; I always use olive oil, and rotate between regular, white, fig, and pomegranate balsamic vinegars (with an occasional citrus squeeze when it's in season). As with greens, and so much in life, the key is using the best stuff you can. Quality oils and vinegars aren't cheap, but if you can manage it, they're good investments; they keep forever, and you'll use so little at a time that even a small bottle goes a long way.
Finally, it's the toppings. I'm a relatively simple sort, and apparently part chipmunk, so I favor a mix of nuts and seeds (mostly sunflower seeds, pepitas, and sliced almonds), along with croutons, because who doesn't love carbs? I also have been keeping cans of chickpeas and kidney beans on hand for use in salads, to add a bit more protein and give the whole thing the air of a proper meal. Some people (The Husband; also, communists) enjoy things like dried cranberries, but I don't much care for random bouts of chewiness in a crunchy salad. But, if you're that kind of person, you should go for it. Cheese is also an essential part of any salad, so I top everything off with a bit of grated Parmesan and some crumbles of goat cheese (a recent addition I am rather pleased with). If we kept more kinds of cheese on hand (I know, I know — what kind of Americans are we?), shavings of Cheddar or Manchego would undoubtedly be good, or feta, if you like a salty little something.
There you have it. In summation: salads are good, you should probably eat more of them, and if you're a lady you shouldn't feel bad about eating salads (unless you have legitimate food-relationship issues, in which case you shouldn't feel bad, but you should probably seek out help).
Oh man you guys, you know what's good? Salads. I have become something of a salad fool these past few months, maybe because I'm trying to fit in as much lettuce as I can before the leaves start to spontaneously combust in the summer heat.
I feel like I enjoy a really good salad more than I enjoy most other foods that are equally really good. It might be because all the things that make for a really good salad are so fragile and ephemeral, as though there is such a small window of opportunity that, when you get it right, it seems all the more magical. It could also be that eating salad just feels good. It's a delightful food indeed that can manage to be both light and refreshing AND hearty and satisfying, which is how I prefer my salad. To mix my metaphors, I like a salad with a bit of meat on its bones.
Though I've always generally enjoyed salads, I have never liked eating salads in public. Not, as the subject of my earlier rant would have you think, because I am forever flustered by the prospect of being human and occasionally looking awkward while I eat, but because, being in possession of ladyparts, I didn't want to be judged as one of those women who only eats salad, or is not comfortable eating anything more substantial than a salad. I don't think The Husband knows this, but when we first started dating, I balked at ordering salads, even if they sounded delicious, because I didn't want him to think I was some sort of delicate creature who subsisted by daintily nibbling at lettuces, especially since I knew that I was really the sort of creature who would eat an entire bag of cheese puffs and spend several minutes happily licking all the processed cheese food powder off of my unnaturally-orange-dusted fingers.
Fortunately, I've gotten over this, and am much happier looking slatternly and full of good food than being proper and starving. And I still enjoy salads. Victories all around!
So, because I am still trying to decide if dinner tonight was good enough for a blog post, I am instead going to share with you my recipe for the best darn salads ever.
Of course, the key part of any salad, that which takes a salad from acceptable to awesome, is freshness. Novel idea, I know — but bear with me. Fresh vegetables actually taste different. I don't just mean better; I mean there is a palpable difference in the flavor and feel of fresh-picked anything. Grocery store lettuce, both in the heads of lettuce and the bagged salads, just can't compare, and this is, sadly, what most people have access to (if they have access to fresh fruits and vegetables at all, an issue which I think is far too frequently ignored in the food blogsphere and is beyond the scope of this post, but one I hope to take up here soon).
My solution? Go beyond lettuce. I use hardier greens, ones that stay fresh longer and keep much better in the fridge. I've gone mad for kale salads, and have recently become enamored of mixed cabbage salads, but chard and collards work just as well; I've also discovered that young arugula keeps magnificently. Another option is to consider forgoing greens altogether, or relegate them to a supporting role, by using more vegetables. I've made fantastic salads using just broccoli florets and slaw (a mix of shredded broccoli stems and carrots), but most any vegetable will do so long as it's sliced thinly. Lately I've been using the aforementioned cabbage (apparently a mix of young Asian cabbages, according to the nice man at the farm table), arugula, and purslane (a succulent green that grows like weeds here in the desert); it's the tail end of kale season, but Red Russian kale made an appearance in most every salad I made between the months of January and April.
Next comes the dressing. For the first 20 or so years of my life, I only ate Italian dressing. While in London, I discovered Caesar dressing, and I went back and forth between the two until I met The Husband, who taught me how to make my own dressing. His version has now become too complicated for me (something about sugar and mustard and it always makes a mess), so I usually just put my greens into an empty yogurt container, pour in a bit of olive oil and some variety of balsamic vinegar, pop on the top, and give the whole thing a good shake (a grind or two of fresh black pepper is always a plus). I've seen multiple recipes that suggest a 3:1 ratio for your oil:vinegar, but mine is usually closer to 1:1, though there is usually a smidgen more oil; I always use olive oil, and rotate between regular, white, fig, and pomegranate balsamic vinegars (with an occasional citrus squeeze when it's in season). As with greens, and so much in life, the key is using the best stuff you can. Quality oils and vinegars aren't cheap, but if you can manage it, they're good investments; they keep forever, and you'll use so little at a time that even a small bottle goes a long way.
Finally, it's the toppings. I'm a relatively simple sort, and apparently part chipmunk, so I favor a mix of nuts and seeds (mostly sunflower seeds, pepitas, and sliced almonds), along with croutons, because who doesn't love carbs? I also have been keeping cans of chickpeas and kidney beans on hand for use in salads, to add a bit more protein and give the whole thing the air of a proper meal. Some people (The Husband; also, communists) enjoy things like dried cranberries, but I don't much care for random bouts of chewiness in a crunchy salad. But, if you're that kind of person, you should go for it. Cheese is also an essential part of any salad, so I top everything off with a bit of grated Parmesan and some crumbles of goat cheese (a recent addition I am rather pleased with). If we kept more kinds of cheese on hand (I know, I know — what kind of Americans are we?), shavings of Cheddar or Manchego would undoubtedly be good, or feta, if you like a salty little something.
 |
| I promise there is lettuce somewhere under all that glorious cheese and bread. |
There you have it. In summation: salads are good, you should probably eat more of them, and if you're a lady you shouldn't feel bad about eating salads (unless you have legitimate food-relationship issues, in which case you shouldn't feel bad, but you should probably seek out help).
It's okay. Your magnificently suggestive writeup lets me know that you are enjoying this unprecedented opportunity you have been presented with these past few months. Clearly your salad days are upon you!
ReplyDelete"I have become something of a salad fool these past few months"
"all the things that make for a really good salad are so fragile and ephemeral, as though there is such a small window of opportunity that, when you get it right, it seems all the more magical." [this one KILLED me!]
"I have never liked eating salads in public."
"...because, being in possession of ladyparts, I didn't want to be judged as one of those women who only eats salad, or is not comfortable eating anything more substantial than a salad."
"Of course, the key part of any salad, that which takes a salad from acceptable to awesome, is freshness."