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.