Salads say summer. More than any other dish, the toss up of cool, crisp, refreshing ingredients is the essence of this bountiful season.
Another perk: Salads require very little of the cook (and practically never firing up the oven). Just chop, toss and whisk together a dressing. With a quick stroll through the farmers market, you can stock up on vibrant greens, sun-split tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, fragrant melons.
Given these seasonal beauties, a good salad practically makes itself, which is good because summer is too short to be sweating it out in the kitchen when the Lake is calling.
I have a few tricks of the trade to build a beautiful salad, PDQ, before heading outside to play. (If it’s picnic weather, take the salad with you.)
When preparing a salad, it’s good to cut the components into the same-sized pieces so they’ll all fit together on the fork. Each bite should reflect all the flavors gathered in the bowl.
Think fresh
Use the freshest, seasonal produce, but vary the flavors and textures.
Crunchy crisp greens, cucumbers, snap peas, carrots, bell peppers, cabbages give it snap.
Grilled vegetables add smokiness. Try onions, squash, eggplant, summer squash and zucchini. Or roasted carrots, beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes for a more refined taste.
Adding pickled vegetables splashes in a funky flavor note.
Mess with the greens.
Use a variety of different greens for texture and flavor.
Make your own salad mix with different lettuces and lots of herbs. It will be fresher and tastier than any commercial salad mix in a bag. How about crunchy romaine, bok choy, Belgian endive, cabbages or tender spinach, Bibb and Little Gem lettuces. Flavor up with spicy watercress, arugula, dandelion watercress or dandelion greens.
Big handfuls of tender herbs such as mint, parsley, cilantro, basil sock in extra flavor.
Crunchy accompaniments such as toasted nuts, seeds, croutons all add extra texture and substance.
Make it a meal.
Tossing in simple proteins – crisped pancetta or bacon, rotisserie chicken, white beans or hard cooked eggs – turns your salad from a side dish to a meal. Put those leftovers to work!
Another meal-making addition can be the fresh fruits of the harvest. Toss in berries, diced apples and pears, avocado, dried cranberries, blueberries, chopped apricots or cherries to sweeten the mix.
Grains and dried beans bulk up a salad. Feel free to blend cooked quinoa, bulgur, barley, farro, wheat berries, wild rice into the greens. Or add cooked or canned and rinsed garbanzo, black beans and cannellini beans.
Make your own dressing.
This won’t add much time, but will add loads of flavor to your salad fixing. Whip up a batch for the week. As you can see from my Basic Vinaigrette and Classic Buttermilk dressing recipes here, it’s a cinch.
Vinaigrettes are bright and light or thick and creamy buttermilk dressings can add substance and weight.
Homemade dressings with fresh ingredients taste better than anything in a jar. It’s certainly worth a little extra effort to maximize the taste of summer.
Basic Vinaigrette
Most vinaigrettes are one part acid to three parts oil. But you can vary that ratio depending on the salad ingredients. Makes 3/4 cup.
Ingredients:
1 tsp. coarse Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. honey
Pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
Instructions:
Put all of the ingredients into a jar, cover and shake like crazy.
For variations, use a different vinegar or substitute lemon or lime juice. Add plenty of fresh herbs to the jar. Keeps about three weeks in the fridge, longer if there are no fresh herbs in it.
Classic Buttermilk Dressing
Garlicky and creamy, this dressing is super quick and doubles as a chip or veggie dip.
Makes a scant cup.
Ingredients:
1 clove garlic, smashed
Pinch salt
3 Tbsp. whole milk or Greek yogurt
3 Tbsp. mayonnaise, good quality (Hellmann’s is always good)
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/4 c. buttermilk
For seasoning freshly ground black pepper and more salt
Instructions:
Put the garlic into a small bowl. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and mash into a paste with the back of a fork. Whisk in the milk (or yogurt), mayonnaise and vinegar, then the buttermilk. Season with salt and pepper.
Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
For variations, whisk in several tablespoons of chives, dill, parsley or thyme to taste.
Beth Dooley takes a lot of salad with her in the kayak, often in the Apostle Islands this time of year. She co-authored a cookbook, The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, with Oglala Lakota Chef Sean Sherman won a James Beard Foundation award this year.