Versatile Garden Salad
It's the very beginning of summer as I write this, and I have baby buttercrunch lettuce and Cherry Belle radishes in the planters on the deck. There are several varieties of tomatoes in the garden, red and green bell peppers in planters, and cilantro in the herb pots on the front porch. How could salad be far from my mind!
Like many of the recipes on this site, this is a general guide. You can add or take away as your taste and ingredients on hand permit. Don't like olives? Leave 'em out. Love radishes (or have a glut of them, as I do at the moment!)? Use one or two more than the recipe calls for.
The only ingredient that I would strongly recommend not leaving out is the allspice in the salad dressing. This is one of those mystery flavors that diners often can't immediately identify, but always remember afterward. You'll be surprised at what a difference it makes to an otherwise plain vinaigrette dressing.
I like to put the salad greens at the bottom of the dish and arrange the accompaniments on top, tossing cilantro over the whole thing at the end. That works well when making it for one person, or for a family where everyone likes all the ingredients. If your family wants to pick and choose, then you might put each of the vegetables in a separate small dish around the bowl with the greens. I think it's fun to alternate the red-bordered radish slices with the creamy white cucumber slices, but if you know people are going to pick through the salad for the parts they like, then it's probably easiest to serve the vegetables separately.
Salad 2 cups mixed salad greens, whatever you have on hand or can purchase About 2 cups tomato pieces, or whole cherry or grape tomatoes 4-6 radishes, sliced (or more, if you like radishes!) 1 cup, more or less, red, yellow or green bell peppers, or whatever combination you have on hand 1/2 medium cucumber, thinly sliced or chopped 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped 1/2 cup black olives, pitted and drained 1/2 cup chopped or whole fresh cilantro Dressing 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice 5 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp allspice Freshly ground black pepper Coarsely ground salt, if desired |
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Like many of the recipes on this site, this is a general guide. You can add or take away as your taste and ingredients on hand permit. Don't like olives? Leave 'em out. Love radishes (or have a glut of them, as I do at the moment!)? Use one or two more than the recipe calls for.
The only ingredient that I would strongly recommend not leaving out is the allspice in the salad dressing. This is one of those mystery flavors that diners often can't immediately identify, but always remember afterward. You'll be surprised at what a difference it makes to an otherwise plain vinaigrette dressing.
I like to put the salad greens at the bottom of the dish and arrange the accompaniments on top, tossing cilantro over the whole thing at the end. That works well when making it for one person, or for a family where everyone likes all the ingredients. If your family wants to pick and choose, then you might put each of the vegetables in a separate small dish around the bowl with the greens. I think it's fun to alternate the red-bordered radish slices with the creamy white cucumber slices, but if you know people are going to pick through the salad for the parts they like, then it's probably easiest to serve the vegetables separately.