Shari’s Signature Chopped Salad

with Herb Dressing

All of the raw greens I eat are healthy, but the not-so-dirty little secret is that I really just love the way they taste. The crunch, the freshness, the feeling of the garden and the sun all chopped up into tiny pieces never fail to excite me, awaken my palate, and make me feel like I’m being good to my body. This salad has a wealth of great things gathered into one big bowl, and I love it because it’s infinitely flexible and customizable. I’ve done a thousand permutations, using whatever I can dig out of the catacombs of my fridge, schlep in from the greenmarket, or pluck from my own garden. Sometimes I add avocado, sometimes I don’t. It’s all good. The tart-sweet dressing coats the salad perfectly. If you use hardier vegetables, like broccoli and cauliflower, dress the whole salad. But if the majority of the salad is composed of spinach or other soft, leafy greens and herbs, dress only what you plan to serve on an as-needed basis.

Serves 8

For the herb dressing

• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 6 tablespoons unfiltered apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup assorted chopped fresh herbs, such as oregano, dill, parsley, cilantro, and chives
• 2 tablespoons finely minced shallot
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons coconut nectar (optional)
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the salad

• 4 pounds finely chopped assorted vegetables, any of the following: rainbow chard, broccolini or broccoli, cauliflower, dinosaur (lacinato) or curly kale, radicchio, endive, napa cabbage, spinach, microgreens
• 3 cups minced fresh herbs, such as mint, dill, cilantro, flat-leaf parsley, chives, and chervil
• 1 cup seeds, such as sunflower seeds or pepitas, soaked and dehydrated
• 1 English cucumber, unpeeled, very thinly sliced

Make the herb dressing: In a cruet or a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine all of the ingredients and shake until well combined and slightly emulsified. Or combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend for 15 seconds.

Make the salad: In a big salad bowl, toss all of the ingredients together except the cucumber slices. Arrange the cucumber slices around the edge of the salad, then drizzle the dressing over the vegetables and serve.