IF YOU HAVE TIME, CONFIDENCE, AND ENERGY FOR NO OTHER COOKING ENDEAVOR on a regular basis, focus on the salad. Simple preparation and spontaneous presentation are among its charms, and with a little careful shopping, sniffing, paring, toasting, and occasionally marinating, a bowl of leaves can become “A Dish” tailored to the season, occasion, budget {time or dollars}, and appetite. The habit of a repetitive hodgepodge of greens and familiar vegetables, often tired, generic hydrator staples, is easy to abandon. As surely as we crave variety in the main course of our meals, it is welcome in this slot.
I offer a dozen salads of leaves and a few other things, chosen and turned out to flatter one another visually, tastewise, and texturewise. As you are tempted to vary or embellish them, remember it’s best to keep salad uncomplicated~which usually means keep the number of ingredients limited to just a few thoughtfully matched elements. A harmony of leaf, nut, cheese, and a particular vinegar can become a garbled mess when a few extra, well-meaning ingredients weigh it down. Save them.
We serve these salads most often as a first course or middle course, but some work well with the main course, next to grilled or roasted birds, fish, or meat. You will find such suggestions in the recipes. A few of the richer salads~Arugula with Cucumbers, Radishes, Cracker Bread, Feta, and Mint and the Caesar Salad~may be satisfying as a main course at lunch, or for dinner when lunch was a big meal. Many of these salads, especially those with fruits, will be as welcome after a main course as at the beginning of a meal. And I sometimes close a meal with one of the rich, savory-sweet salads in place of a traditional dessert. I keep a jar of biscotti and a tablet of chocolate in the pantry, in case anyone craves a familiar sweet afterward.
TYPES of GREENS
WITH ANY OF THESE SALADS, VARIETY OF FLAVOR AND TEXTURE BEGINS WITH THE leaves themselves. Lettuces can be sweet or pleasantly mineraly, with silky leaves or crunchy ones; chicories range from sweet to mild to bitter, and their texture from satiny {Belgian endive} to bristly {curly endive}, tendrily {frisée}, cabbagey {radicchio}, and leafy {escarole}. Stemmy dandelion has an intense, bitter, earthy flavor. We use lots of nutty, radishy arugula; crisp, refreshingly “icy-hot” watercress; and tissue-tender baby mustard leaves with their sneaky wasabi-like bite. There is the odd lot of lamb’s lettuce {mâche}, which tastes to me the way crushed rose petals smell. Thoughtfully named, minutina resembles nothing more than tiny blades of freshly mown grass but tastes like raw spinach and is delightful to eat. It is too fragile to be widely distributed but is as easy to grow as grass. To grow your own, look for seeds for erba stella and harvest it young.
CHOOSING & WASHING THE LEAVES
FOR ANY OF THESE SALADS, LOOK FOR FRESHLY CUT GREENS; GROW YOUR OWN IF you can. When buying loose mixes, check the cut ends of the leaves; if they are rusty colored, chances are the greens were harvested more than a few days ago. If any of the leaves are beginning to discolor, the whole head or mix is probably old, or hasn’t been kept cool enough. Inspect the greens before you wash them, culling wilted or damaged leaves or parts of leaves. Cut off the root end and check for damage inside heads of lettuce. To wash, add the inspected leaves to a large bath of cool water~don’t run the faucet at full bore on the leaves, as that can bruise the leaves. Swish them around, then lift them out gently so grit and dirt stay behind. Repeat with fresh water baths until the water is pristine. Watch for missed flaws as you transfer the leaves to a salad spinner. Spin dry in small batches, so you don’t crush the tender leaves~bruising will damage the flavor.
DRESSING THE SALAD
WHEN YOU ARE READY TO DRESS THE SALAD, CHECK TO MAKE SURE IT IS DRY; IF not, place the greens in the salad bowl and toss with a few pieces of dry paper towel to soak up lingering drops of water. Wet leaves will make the brightest dressing insipid. Make sure the bowl is dry too. {Occasionally I chill~or slightly warm~a salad bowl, to make sure the salad is the temperature I intend.} The bowl ought to be wide and large enough to hold twice as much salad as you are dressing~that way you can easily distribute the ingredients over the leaves and then thoroughly toss the salad without crushing any of them, or sending any over the edge. Use a ceramic, glass, or metal salad bowl, not unfinished wood, which can retain flavors. As you add the dressing, consider the character of the greens. Fleshy and strongly flavored greens generally need to be heavily dressed; tender leaves with delicate flavor, more scantily so. Likewise, the tenderest leaves want just enough gentle tossing and turning to coat each surface, while some heartier greens are best bien fatigués~”tired out”~with a longer, but still gentle, tossing. Your hands are the kindest tool for tossing salads~I love the feel of scooping up the leaves and sliding them between my fingers, coating each surface with dressing. Spoons and tongs always seem awkward and inefficient, and they tend to bruise the most tender lettuces. Where a salad has a couple of elements, the sequence in which they are dressed matters, for taste, texture, and appearance. And forget not to taste. Taste a leaf dry, and taste the dressing by itself. Dip a leaf in the dressing and taste again. Doctor the dressing if it needs it~with any of its ingredients, or others you have learned that you like~then taste again. Dress the salad, and taste again. In all the recipes that follow, amounts of leaf and dressing are only guidelines. The right amount of salad and of dressing is most easily determined by eye, taste, and feel, so follow your own instincts where they tell you to make more or less vinaigrette for your unmeasured bowl of greens. Dress all these salads just before you serve them.
Fortunately, all these advisories amount to more words than work. Each becomes second nature in no time.
WINE & SALADS
WINE IS NOT EASILY RECONCILED WITH VINEGAR, NO MATTER HOW discreetly it’s used. When a green salad is served as a refresher after a main course, that doesn’t necessarily matter. But it might when a composed salad is served as a first course~or even as a main course for a light lunch. A mild rice vinegar in the dressing will accommodate most white wines. Garlic~rubbed either on croûtons or on the inside of the bowl~helps bring a red wine and a conventional vinaigrette together. Yvonne Geoffray of Château Thivin used to dress her favorite lamb’s lettuce salad with walnut oil brightened with a few drops of old Cognac instead of vinegar to take us from meat to cheese without a change of palate.
MIXED LETTUCES & GREENS with GARLIC CHAPONS
SHOP FOR, OR GROW, A MIX OF YOUNG LOOSE LETTUCE LEAVES, ARUGULA, chervil, and frisée sprigs for this mesclun* salad. Chapons are a scrap of Gascony~ croûtons made from the crusty heel of yesterday’s bread. They are good broken up and tossed in any salad where you like croûtons, and we float or simmer them in soups as well. Use the leftover “crumb” part of the loaf for bread salad {see Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad, here}, for Pappa al Pomodoro {here}, or for bread crumbs.
A handful of tender, nutty, and frizzy greens is always friendly just before or after an elaborate main course but can be elegant with a simple main course as well, as an alternative to blanched, braised, or grilled green vegetables. We nest grilled or roasted birds in mesclun salad garnished with roasted Brandied Fruit {here} or crowd it with Roasted Figs {see here} next to Roasted Leg of Lamb {here}. It’s lovely scattered over Beef Carpaccio {here}.
I describe here how we dress this simple salad, tossing it first with oil, then salt and vinegar. But you can stir the dressing ingredients together into a little vinaigrette in advance if you prefer.
FOR 4 SERVINGS:
For the chapons:
A crusty 4- to 5-ounce chunk of chewy, peasant-style bread
About 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, cut in half
To finish the salad:
About 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
About 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, sherry vinegar, or Champagne vinegar
4 to 5 ounces mixed young lettuces and greens, carefully washed and dried
Salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°.
Carve a few 1/8- to 1/4-inch-thick curved slabs of crust off the bread, you need 1 to 2 ounces. Brush them lightly all over with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Spread the crusts on a sheet pan and bake until golden brown on the edges but still pale in the middle, about 5 to 7 minutes.
When the chapons are just cool enough to handle, rub with the cut garlic clove, gingerly or thoroughly, depending on your fondness for garlic.
Break the crisp chapons into bite-sized pieces into a salad bowl. Drizzle with a little of the olive oil and vinegar and toss to distribute. Add the greens and drizzle and toss with olive oil until lightly coated. Season lightly and evenly with salt, and toss again. Taste, then sprinkle with vinegar and toss again. If the greens are sweet and delicate in flavor, it is a shame to insult them with too much vinegar; if the lettuces are mineraly or if your mix is heavy on arugula or frisée, you may use the whole dose, or more. Taste again and toss with more oil, vinegar, and/or salt as you like. Offer freshly cracked black pepper at the table.
MIXED LETTUCES with MANDARINS, HAZELNUTS, & HAZELNUT VINAIGRETTE
USE SILKY YOUNG LETTUCES, BY THEMSELVES OR MIXED WITH ENDIVE OR ARUGULA. Fragrant mandarins come into season in December, and are refreshing and beautiful in salads. They will taste best in this salad if they are at room temperature or just cool, not cold. Frangelico is a hazelnut liqueur that perfumes the salad as the alcohol releases its sweet, nutty scent. For a toastier flavor, substitute a few drops of hazelnut oil. A beautiful variation on this salad consists of arugula, blood oranges, slivered fennel, and toasted almonds, tossed with sherry vinaigrette, perfumed with Amaretto, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier. Another joins endive, frisée, tangelos, and pistachios with coriander-scented vinaigrette, garnished with a drizzle of crème fraîche. The combination of satiny, scraggly, tart, nutty, crunchy, and creamy ends up being elegant.
This salad is good before or after a main course, particularly one featuring game birds or lamb.
FOR 4 SERVINGS:
About 24 hazelnuts {3/4 ounce, or a scant 1/4 cup}
2 to 3 mandarins {about 8 ounces}
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
A splash of Frangelico liqueur or hazelnut oil
Salt
4 to 5 ounces mixed young lettuces, carefully washed and dried
Preheat the oven to 325°.
Roast the hazelnuts on a small baking sheet until the skins darken and begin to split, 10 to 15 minutes. While they are still hot, bundle them in a towel beanbag-style, then scrunch and massage them to rub off most of their skins. Pick the nuts from the chaff and chop them coarsely.
Slice both ends off each mandarin, cutting just deeply enough to expose the juicy flesh. Setting the fruit on end, use a paring knife to carve away the skin and pith in a series of smooth, arcing strokes from top to bottom, rotating the mandarin a little with each stroke as you work your way around the sphere. {Most of us misjudge and miss a little pith on the first go-round, but this is easy to trim once you’ve removed the bulky skin.} Slice the mandarins evenly into 1/4-inch-thick pinwheels. Collect the slices and juice on a plate.
Combine the oil, vinegar, Frangelico or hazelnut oil, a trickle of juice from the mandarins, and salt to taste. Dip a lettuce leaf in the dressing, taste, and correct. Spoon a little of the vinaigrette over the mandarin slices. Tilt the plate to distribute it.
Drizzle and toss the lettuces with enough vinaigrette to coat them lightly but evenly. Taste. Toss in the hazelnuts, then distribute most of the leaves among individual plates. Slide and tuck the sliced mandarins among the leaves, then scatter with the remaining leaves and the hazelnuts. Drizzle the vinaigrette from the mandarin plate over the salads.
MIXED LETTUCES with ROASTED CHERRIES, HAZELNUTS, & WARM SAINT-MARCELLIN
A HANDSOME SALAD I LIKE TO SERVE AT THE END OF A MEAL FEATURING RED MEAT, pork, or game birds. It is lovely made with tender young red lettuces whose leaves are no more than a few inches long. Mix with a little arugula or frisée if you like. Saint-Marcellin is a rich cow’s milk cheese with a slightly yeasty tang and some fruity notes. I’ve eaten syrupy ripe Saint-Marcellin out of the cup it’s sold in with a tiny plastic spoon provided by the affineur {cheese “refiner”}, but this salad wants a fairly firm specimen, with only a bit of downy, white mold on the surface. It should feel like firm custard, as opposed to soft pudding. A young Banon is a good alternative to Saint-Marcellin~it is the same size and has similar character. It is wrapped in chestnut leaves, which are convenient for warming purposes. Do check to make sure no gray mold hides beneath these leaves. Although it’s usually inoffensive, after heating its flavor may be too strong.
FOR 4 SERVINGS:
About 24 hazelnuts {3/4 ounce, or a scant 1/4 cup}
16 ripe red cherries {about 6 ounces}, such as Bing, Van, Larian, or Burlat
About 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
A few splashes of kirsch or grappa {optional}
About 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt
2 wheels Saint-Marcellin {about 3 ounces each} at room temperature
4 to 5 ounces mixed young lettuces, such as red oak leaf, red perella, and baby red romaine, carefully washed and dried
4 slices chewy, peasant-style bread
Preheat the oven to 325°.
Roast the hazelnuts on a small baking sheet until the skins darken and start to split, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the oven up to 400°.
While the nuts are still hot, bundle them in a towel beanbag-style, then scrunch and massage them to rub off most of their skins. Pick out the nuts and coarsely chop.
Rub the cherries with a few drops of olive oil, and season with a few drops of the optional alcohol and a pinch of salt.
Combine the oil, vinegar, and salt to taste. Add another few drops of kirsch or grappa, if you like, and taste again.
Place the cheeses on squares of parchment paper and place, with the cherries, on a sheet pan {the cherries might roll off a cookie sheet}. Roast until the fruit is near to bursting and the cheese is beginning to slouch, about 6 minutes. If your cheese is riper than described in the headnote, it may begin oozing fairly rapidly and you may need to remove it before it is hot throughout.
Dress the lettuces and hazelnuts very skimpily in the vinaigrette and arrange the leaves on plates, leaving the nuts behind for the moment. Garnish with the warm cherries and nest a half of the warm cheese next to each salad. {If you are using Banon, you can remove the chestnut leaves first.} Sprinkle the hazelnuts over the top of the salads. Offer toasted peasant-style bread.
BUTTER LETTUCE with ORANGES, AVOCADO, & SHALLOT VINAIGRETTE
A PRETTY, SATINY WINTER SALAD. The combination is good with watercress as well. Use Hass avocados that are just yielding to the touch and sweet ripe oranges, or tangerines, tangelos, mandarins, or Ruby Red grapefruit~or a combination of citrus. We sometimes scatter radish coins over the finished salad. I like this salad best when everything except the vinaigrette is cold. A popular variation on this salad pairs endive and frisée with grapefruit and avocado, then sweetens the vinaigrette with a little honey or Chartreuse liqueur.
Very good before, or with, cracked crab or cold shrimp.
FOR 4 SERVINGS:
2 medium oranges {about 12 ounces}, chilled
1 to 2 heads green butter lettuce, trimmed of damaged or tough outer leaves {to yield 8 to 12 ounces}
About 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
About 2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 medium shallot {about 1/2 ounce}, finely diced
Salt
1 large or 2 small ripe avocados, chilled
Slice both ends off each orange, cutting just deeply enough to expose the juicy flesh. Setting the fruit on end, use a paring knife to carve away the skin and pith in a series of smooth, arcing strokes from top to bottom, rotating the orange a little with each stroke as you work your way around the sphere; then go back and trim any pith you may have missed. Next, working over a wide bowl, slide the blade of a paring knife close to the membranes on either side of each segment and gently pry out the fragile sections; don’t worry if some of them break. Tease out any seeds you encounter as you go. Squeeze the remaining juice from the orange “carcasses” over the orange sections.
Inspect the lettuce: If the heads feel tight and solid, simply wash and dry, trim the root ends, and cut into 1-inch wedges. If the heads are light and not very hearty, carve out the root ends and wash and dry the individual leaves. In either case, look for and trim or discard bruised or damaged inner leaves.
Combine the oil, vinegar, shallot, salt to taste, and a little of the juice from the oranges. Taste. Add a splash of this vinaigrette to the oranges and swirl to distribute it.
Toss the lettuce with enough dressing to coat well, then taste. {If using wedges of lettuce, gently fan them open as you toss them to urge the dressing between the leaves.} Arrange on cold plates or a platter.
Cut the avocados in half and remove the pits. Run a rubber spatula around the edge of each avocado half next to the skin, then ease it under the meat. You should be able to pop out the halves. If they resist, cut into quarters and try again. Trim any discolorations and slice into 1/2-inch-thick wedges or slices.
Tuck the avocados randomly among the lettuce leaves. Distribute the orange sections, then strategically drizzle their vinaigrette-spiked juice, followed by some or all of the remaining vinaigrette, over the salads, targeting the avocado slices.
LAMB’S LETTUCE with RAW ASPARAGUS, PISTACHIOS, & PARMIGIANO-REGGIANO
USE FLESHY JUMBO ASPARAGUS FOR THIS SPRING SALAD, THE PURPLE VARIETY IF you see any in the market. Since it is served raw, it will retain its color. You may be surprised to learn that the stem of any spear of asparagus is sweeter than the tip, especially raw. So trim off the pretty tips and save them for risotto, or pasta.
By itself, this spring salad makes a good first course. It is delicious and lovely piled in a small mound on thinly sliced prosciutto.
FOR 4 SERVINGS:
2 tablespoons raw, shelled pistachios {about 1/2 ounce}
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
Salt
4 spears jumbo asparagus, tips removed and reserved for another use
4 to 5 ounces lamb’s lettuce, carefully washed and dried
A small chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano {about 1 ounce}
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Heat the pistachios in a small pan in the oven until just warm, 2 to 3 minutes. This will heighten their flavor. They should remain bright green.
Coarsely chop the pistachios, culling any shriveled and discolored nuts.
Combine the oil, vinegar, and salt to taste.
Starting at the tip ends, slice the asparagus on a steep angle into 1/8-inch-thick ovals. As you work your way down each stalk, taste an occasional sliver, and stop slicing when the flesh becomes tough. Discard the woody ends.
Toss the lamb’s lettuce, asparagus, and pistachios with enough vinaigrette to coat. Taste.
Divide among cold plates, leaving some of the pistachios in the bowl. Use a vegetable peeler to shave tiny curls of the cheese over the salads, then sprinkle the rest of the nuts on top.
MINUTINA SALAD with VEGETABLE CONFETTI & CORIANDER VINAIGRETTE
I FELL FOR MINUTINA THE FIRST TIME I MISTOOK IT FOR LAWN CLIPPINGS~THIS AT Eastertime in a three-stall market in Impruneta, not far south of Florence. Harvested young, the leaves of erba stella {Plantago coronopus} are vaguely succulent in texture and have a pleasant, mineraly taste, a little like raw spinach. Although I have never seen minutina in an American market, I include it here not as a taunt or curiosity, but instead to promote the little plant, which is easy to grow and makes a fetching salad. We have clients who ask regularly if there might be a little in-house even when they don’t see it on the menu. It is at least as fragile as baby lettuces and arugula~and with all that surface area, it needs to be dried very carefully~but is otherwise a friendly ingredient. Ask about it at your local produce market or farmers’ market. Or, if you grow salad greens {or know someone who does} plant a little. Clip it while it is tiny. {For seed sources, see here.}
This salad celebrates the texture of minutina. Select a stout carrot for the julienne~it will be easier to manipulate. Choose small, firm radishes~really large ones often taste dank or dull, and soft, pithy ones disappoint. {The leftover truncated celery root will be handy for Catherine’s Celery Root, here.} For richness, we sometimes garnish this salad with wedges of marinated beets. All of the ingredients should be cold. If you can’t get minutina, and you like raw spinach salads, consider this alternative: stack a dozen tender leaves at a time, then roll like a cigar and slice into thin strings to use in place of the minutina.
FOR 4 SERVINGS:
4 to 5 ounces minutina
A few coriander seeds
About 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
About 1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
Salt
A fat 2-inch chunk of carrot, peeled {about 2 ounces}
1/2 small celery root, peeled {about 2 ounces}
1/2 fennel bulb, trimmed {about 3 ounces}
4 small radishes
Carefully wash and drain the minutina, then spin-dry in small batches. You may want to spin each batch with a dry paper towel, and then layer the clean leaves with fresh, dry towels. Handle very gently.
Warm the coriander seeds briefly in a small pan over medium heat to heighten their flavor. Crush lightly in a mortar.
Combine the oil, vinegar, coriander, and salt to taste. I find minutina tastes best when the vinaigrette is slightly high-acid and a little salty. Taste a few blades dipped in the dressing to check.
Use a mandoline to slice the carrot and celery root lengthwise as thin as possible. Stack a few slices at a time and cut them, again lengthwise, into little strings. Line up the celery root strings and cut into tiny dice. Place the carrot strings and celery root specks in a wide salad bowl.
Using the mandoline, shave the fennel into thin sickles, and the radish into coins, over the carrot and celery root. Toss with the vinaigrette to coat well. Add the minutina, then drizzle with more vinaigrette. Toss gently. The tender leaves will mat if overdressed or overhandled. Taste.
Fluff the salad as you serve it promptly on cold plates.
ARUGULA SALAD with RAW SWEET CORN & SWEET 100 TOMATOES
WHILE EVERYONE SEEMS TO KNOW THAT CORN IS AT ITS BEST EATEN JUST AFTER it’s picked, it’s barely appreciated that arugula is just as fragile~its bright nuttiness turns stale after a day or so. Tomatoes keep a little longer, but don’t refrigerate them, just store them in a cool spot. Make this salad when you can get really young corn whose tender, juicy kernels resemble pearl-like “buds.” More mature ears~fine for boiling~will yield dry kernels that may taste bland or cardboardy when raw.
Good by itself, or with grilled chicken or beef. Serve at room temperature.
FOR 4 SERVINGS:
4 to 5 ounces Sweet 100 or other small, ripe cherry tomatoes {about 1 cup, 25 tomatoes}
2 very young, small ears white corn {you need about 1/2 cup kernels}
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 small shallot {about 1/4 ounce}, finely diced
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
4 ounces arugula, carefully washed and dried
Stem, wash, and dry the tomatoes. Cut them in half.
To scrape the corn: Shuck the ears and remove all the silk. Trim the tip from each but don’t break off the stalk; it makes a convenient handle. Holding the cob at an angle, use a sharp knife to slice off the kernels, positioning the blade flat against the ear and sliding it smoothly down the length of the ear. Aim for the base of the kernels, but try not to cut into the hard cob itself. Rotate the ear a little after each swipe, until you have harvested all of the kernels. Crumble between your fingers to separate any clusters.
Combine the oil, vinegar, shallot, and salt and pepper to taste. Make this vinaigrette low in acid, to allow the sweetness of the vegetables to define the salad.
Place the arugula in a wide salad bowl and toss with enough vinaigrette to coat well. Taste. Scatter the tomato halves and corn kernels over the leaves, add the remaining vinaigrette, and fold to distribute. Taste again and correct the oil, vinegar, or salt.
Distribute among four plates, taking care to display all the elements.
ARUGULA SALAD with CUCUMBERS, RADISHES, CRACKER BREAD, FETA, & MINT
THIS SALAD QUIETLY CHALLENGES OUR CAESAR FOR HAVING THE MOST PASSIONATE advocates.
Use a small to medium-sized cucumber~really large ones tend to have lots of not very tasty seeds, which, having drained the best from the pulp, leave it watery and stale tasting. We use English, Japanese, or Mediterranean cucumbers, which have a melony flavor and perfume. Or look in farmers’ markets for the curvy, ridged, pastel green Armenian cucumbers, which have a delicate flavor and dense, crunchy texture. In any case, taste one sliver with and another without the skin to decide whether you want to peel it. Substitute a few halved, ripe cherry tomatoes for the radishes if you like.
FOR 4 SERVINGS:
4 to 6 fresh mint leaves
About 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
About 1-1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt
1-1/2 ounces plain cracker bread
About 4 ounces arugula, carefully washed and dried
1 small, firm cucumber {about 6 ounces} or a portion of a medium cucumber
4 small radishes, leaves and tails trimmed
2 ounces feta, drained
Freshly cracked black pepper
12 small black olives, such as Niçoise, Ligurian, or Greek Elitses
Coarsely chop the mint leaves. Combine with the oil, vinegar, and salt to taste.
Break the cracker bread into bite-sized pieces into a wide salad bowl, then toss with about one-third of the vinaigrette. Add the arugula and fold to distribute the bread.
Peel the cucumber, if you choose, then use a mandoline to slice it lengthwise into very thin, rippley “serpentines.” Or, if you don’t have a mandoline, use a chef’s knife and slice as thin as possible on a very steep angle. Slice the radishes into coins. Add the cucumbers and radishes to the salad and drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette, then fold gently but thoroughly to coat well. Crumble the feta over the salad, add a few grinds of black pepper, and fold to distribute. Taste. Don’t hesitate to make and add extra vinaigrette if the salad seems dry; the cracker bread can soak up a lot of dressing. Add salt, oil, or vinegar to taste.
Distribute the salad among plates, making sure to include some of each component in each portion. Garnish with the olives.
SHREDDED RADICCHIO with ANCHOVY VINAIGRETTE, BREAD CRUMBS, & SIEVED EGG
A STRONG-FLAVORED SALAD WITH AN UNUSUAL TEXTURE. Good by itself or with grilled seafood~tuna, swordfish, or scallops in particular~or with roast chicken. For a different flavor balance, you can replace some of the radicchio with escarole hearts or Belgian endive, or use a bitter radicchio~Castelfranco or Treviso variety.
FOR 4 SERVINGS:
1-1/2 ounces fresh, soft bread crumbs {about 3/4 cup} made from slightly stale, crustless, chewy, white peasant-style bread {see here}
About 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
About 1-1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
About 1-1/2 teaspoons chopped salt-packed anchovy fillets {2 to 3 fillets}
1 large shallot {about 1 ounce}, finely diced
Salt
About 2 medium heads radicchio {about 12 ounces}
2 hard-cooked eggs {see here}, freshly cooked and peeled
Freshly cracked black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°.
Combine the bread crumbs with about a tablespoon of the olive oil and knead very gently to distribute it. Spread the crumbs on a sheet pan and bake until they are unevenly golden, about 6 minutes. You may need to rotate the pan or stir the crumbs with a spatula. {The crumbs will shrink to about 1/2 cup in volume.} Cool completely.
Combine the remaining oil, the vinegar, anchovies, shallot, and salt to taste.
Remove any damaged outer leaves from the radicchio, then rinse, dry, and quarter it. Remove the stem and core, then slice as if for coleslaw, about 1/8 inch thick. Place in a salad bowl and toss and fluff to separate into individual threads. Incorporate the toasted crumbs. Drizzle the vinaigrette evenly over the salad and toss well to combine. Taste and add more salt, oil, or vinegar as needed.
Press the eggs through a strainer, or grate on the finest face of a grater, letting the mimosa-like bits fall evenly over the salad. Give the salad only one or two folds to distribute the eggs, then serve. Offer cracked black pepper.
WATERCRESS SALAD with BEETS & WALNUT-MASCARPONE CROSTINI
THIS SIMPLE WINTER SALAD STRIKES SEVERAL CHORDS: THE PEPPERY WATERCRESS IS a foil for the sweet mascarpone~as are the crunchy walnuts. Rich, meaty beets and walnuts have an earthy affinity. The black currant vinegar adds a fruity note to the iron-rich beets, and its perfume is strong enough to tame the cress. If you can’t find it, use red wine vinegar and add a few drops of black currant liqueur {crème de cassis}, a drop of raspberry vinegar, or a trickle of fruity red wine to the dressing. I always try to cook beets a day in advance; I have found that they have a rounder, sweeter, richer flavor after a night in the refrigerator. And it is nice to have them ready.
FOR 4 GENEROUS SERVINGS:
8 golf ball–sized beets {about 1 pound}
About 1-1/2 tablespoons black currant vinegar
Salt
About 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 ounces walnuts {about 2/3 cup}, preferably freshly shelled
A few 1/4-inch-thick slices chewy, peasant-style bread {about 2 ounces total}
1/4 cup mascarpone, at room temperature
About 4 ounces watercress, carefully washed and dried
Walnut oil, to taste {optional}
Trim, roast, peel, and retrim the beets {see here}. Cut into 1/2-inch wedges. Splash with a few teaspoons of the vinegar and season with salt. Coat with olive oil, folding to distribute, and taste. For the best flavor, cover and marinate overnight in the refrigerator. {The beets will keep for a week or so. If you do prepare them in advance, plan on setting them out at room temperature for a half hour or so before assembling the salad.}
Preheat the oven to 300°.
Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and place in the oven until just warm through, about 5 minutes. Place them, still warm, between towels, and rub gently to remove some of the tannic skin. Pick out the nutmeats and shake in a strainer to cull little bits of skin.
Toast the slices of bread, then cut into 8 two-bite–sized pieces. Spread each piece thickly with the mascarpone, then stud with the walnut pieces.
Place the beets and their marinade in a bowl and toss gently with the watercress. Add more oil, vinegar, and salt to taste. If you like, add a few drops of walnut oil. Serve cool, garnished with the warm crostini.
Variation WATERCRESS SALAD with BEETS & TAPENADE–GOAT CHEESE CROSTINI
Prepare the salad as described above, adding a grating of orange zest to the beets when you dress them. Spread each crostini first with a teaspoon of Orange-Olive Tapenade {here}, then top with a smudge of cakey, fresh goat cheese.
ENDIVE & FUYU PERSIMMON SALAD with PECANS
A RICH, SLIPPERY, FLESHY SALAD THAT CAN SUPPLANT DESSERT. Choose Fuyus that are saturated orange in color and as firm as a slightly underripe peach, or the skin of a just ripe banana. {Don’t use the torpedo-shaped Hachiya persimmons, which need to be jelly-soft before they are edible. For more on choosing Fuyus, see Air-Dried Beef with Fuyu Persimmons, Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, and Balsamic Vinegar, here.} This salad is also nice with a few sprigs of watercress for contrast. You’ll get a very different flavor balance, still delicious and unusual.
FOR 4 SERVINGS:
About 24 pecan halves {1 ounce, or 1/3 cup}
About 1 pound endive {about 4 heads}, chilled
1 large or 2 small Fuyu persimmons {about 8 ounces total}, chilled
About 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
About 1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
Salt
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Warm the pecans on a small baking sheet for about 4 minutes, just to heighten their flavor. Let them cool, then break along the natural folds.
Remove or trim any damaged outer leaves from the endive. Rinse, dry, and then slice each one on a steep angle into long, saberlike pieces, rolling the endive a quarter-turn with each cut. Work your way down to the solid core, and discard it.
Use the tip of a paring knife to carve out the stem end of the persimmons, then remove a thin wedge and taste. If the skin is tender and you like it, leave it on; otherwise, peel with a vegetable peeler. Cut the persimmons into 1/4-inch-thick wedges.
Combine the oil, vinegar, and salt to taste. This vinaigrette should be mild.
Gently toss the endive, persimmons, and pecans in the vinaigrette to coat well. Separate any leaves of endive that remain sandwiched together. Taste.
Serve on cold plates.
ZUNI CAESAR SALAD
NOTHING STRIKES SUCH A RESONANT NOTE AMONG ZUNI KITCHEN ALUMNI AND current staff so much as memories of working the salad station, often referred to as “Caesar’s Palace.” The Caesar outsells every other salad, indeed every other dish, every day by a factor of three, and after three or four hours, the ritual of cracking, whisking, tasting, tweaking, tasting again, and so on takes its toll on the sturdiest palate.
There is nothing clever, original, or mysterious about this Caesar salad. The main “trick” we rely on is top-notch ingredients, freshly prepared. If you use a lesser cheese, or grate it too soon, you will get a different salad. If you squeeze the lemon juice ahead of time, it will have little or no fragrance. If the eggs are not particularly fresh, or you beat them into the dressing too far in advance, the dressing will not have body. Old or harsh-tasting garlic will dominate every other component and spoil the dressing. Likewise, fresh croûtons are exciting; stale ones are dull. And look for salt-packed anchovies; more delicate and nutty than oil-packed fillets, they give the Zuni dressing its distinctive flavor. {But if you can’t find salt-packed fish, and must use oil-packed ones, make sure you rinse them in warm water and press between clean towels to extract as much of that oil as possible. Even fillets packed in “good” olive oil can have a vaguely rancid taste or smell straight from the can or jar.} Finally, make the effort to use very fresh romaine; after a few days in the refrigerator, or on the shelves in the produce department, its sweetness fades and it can become muddy, metallic, or bitter.
As you assemble your impeccable ingredients, bear in mind that most vary from day to day and place to place. Red wine vinegar varies in flavor and acidity, as do olive oils. Lemons vary widely in size, juiciness, fragrance, and acidity. Romaine varies in sweetness, “amount of heart,” and the texture of the leaf~smooth or crinkly. {The latter needs a lot more dressing per leaf.} And garlic varies in pungency. All this notwithstanding, the proportions below are good guidelines, if making tens of thousands of salads means anything. Start with them, then smell and taste each component each time you make the salad, adjusting for your palate, and remember what you like and how you got there. If you know you love garlic, or anchovy, prepare extra, to make the adjusting easy.
I will be forever thankful to Paula Blotsky, who distilled our daily tweakings into these basic guidelines. Her name is on the greasy, dog-eared recipe card I wrote out fifteen years ago and still refer to.
FOR 4 TO 6 SERVINGS:
For the croûtons:
A 4- to 5-ounce chunk or slice of day-old levain or sourdough bread or other chewy, peasant-style bread
2 to 3 tablespoons mild-tasting olive oil
Salt
To finish the salad:
2 to 3 heads romaine lettuce {to yield about 1-1/2 pounds usable leaves}
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2/3 cup mild-tasting olive oil
About 1-1/2 tablespoons chopped salt-packed anchovy fillets {6 to 9 fillets}
About 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
a few pinches of salt
2 large cold eggs
About 3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated {1-1/2 cups very lightly packed}
Freshly cracked black pepper
About 1-1/2 lemons {to yield about 3 tablespoons juice}
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Cut the bread into 1/2- to 3/4-inch cubes, toss with oil to coat evenly, salt lightly, toss again, and spread on a sheet pan. Roast, rotating the pan as needed, until golden all over, about 8 to 12 minutes. Taste a croûton; it should be well seasoned and slightly tender in the center. Leave to cool on the sheet pan.
Discard the leathery outer leaves of the romaine, then cut off the base of each head and wash and dry the leaves. Go through the leaves, trimming them of discolored, leathery, bruised, or wilted parts, but leave them whole. You need about 1-1/2 pounds of prepared leaves. Layer the leaves with towels if necessary to wick off every drop of water~wet lettuce will make an insipid salad. Refrigerate until just before dressing the salad.
Whisk together the vinegar, oil, anchovies, salt, and garlic in a small mixing bowl. Add the eggs, a few sprinkles of the cheese, and lots of black pepper. Whisk to emulsify. Add the lemon juice, squeezing it through a strainer to catch the seeds. Whisk again, just to emulsify. Taste the dressing, first by itself and then on a leaf of lettuce, and adjust any of the seasonings to taste. If the romaine is very sweet, the dressing may already taste balanced and excellent~if it is mineraly, extra lemon or garlic may improve the flavor. If you like more anchovy, add it. {You should have about 1-1/2 cups of dressing.}
Place the romaine in a wide salad bowl. Add most of the dressing and fold and toss very thoroughly, taking care to separate the leaves and coat each surface with dressing, adding more as needed. Dust with most of the remaining cheese, add the croûtons, and toss again. Taste and adjust as before. In general, the tastier the romaine, the less you will need to emphasize other flavors.
Pick out first the large, then the medium-sized, and then the smallest leaves and arrange on cold plates. Add a last drizzle of dressing to the bowl to moisten the croûtons if they are at all dry and stir them around in the bowl to capture dressing on each of their faces and in their hollows. Distribute the croûtons among the salads and finish each serving with a final dusting of cheese and more pepper.
*Mesclun means “mixture” in Provençal dialect. I called this salad Mesclun on our menu for ten years before conceding that the exotic foreign word generated more confusion than romance. To many, it sounded hallucinogenic.