A how-to on making extraordinary summer salads. 

Start with a good base:

Easy and quick choices included pre-washed bagged/boxed organic baby lettuces (such as spinach, arugula, or baby romaine)

Fancy version: wash and spin-dry a mix of lettuces from your grocery store or farmer’s market

Toppings: (pick one or two from each category below)

Crunchy:

• Shiitake mushroom “bacon”
• A handful of nuts/seeds (I love toasted walnuts!)
• Kelp “noodles”
• Raw organic corn, shaved right from the cob
• Chopped carrots, snap peas, and/or cucumbers

Phenomenal Salad Enhancers:

• Diced avocado
• Olives
• Roasted or steamed vegetables: beets, carrots, broccoli, or, my surprise favorite, sweet potato!
• Grated carrots
• Chopped fresh chives

Easy Proteins:

• Chopped rotisserie chicken
• Smoked wild fish
• Canned wild mackerel or canned wild salmon
• Sautéed shrimp
• Pan-seared tempeh (Brooklynites, I am a huge fan of Barry’s tempeh — the soy-free brown rice and white bean version is ah-mazing!!)
• Beans (buy organic, and simply rinse them from the can and thrown in a salad. For the upscale version, I love to sauté my beans with onions and/or garlic)

Basic, Quick Dressings:

• Keep it simple: A generous squeeze of lemon, a few glugs of good quality extra virgin olive oil, and a sprinkling of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
• Andrea’s Basic Dressing: Whisk together 2 tbsp sherry vinaigrette, 1 pressed garlic clove, 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and fresh pepper to taste (alternatively, add all ingredients to a jar with a lid and shake until combined)

A recent favorite salad:

I took a blend of local baby lettuces and tossed them with chopped tomato, diced avocado, shiitake “bacon,” roasted beets, and a quick pan-saute of canned black beans with garlic scapes. SO GOOD.