So, where do we begin. I know that in a previous post I said that we should start at the beginning and whilst that is usually a very good place to start …. Not today. Today we need to think about the end. I owned a bookmark for many years that said "If you don't know where you are going then chances are that you will end up somewhere else". For me in this salad lesson as in life it is true.
What are the elements we need to consider? What is the the purpose of this salad? Is it acting as our vegetable side dish for a barbecue? In that case we may with to leave out the carbs. Is it the carbohydrate, the part of our meal that is going to fill us up next to some light protein? In that case we need a different approach. Or, is it a combination of the two all rolled into one. The other type of salad of course is the complete meal in one bowl. A salad that leaves you feeling satiated, hunger quelled.
Let's first look at building a base. I like to build a base of standard salad ingredients and then add a couple of highlight ingredients and toss with a simple homemade dressing. At work when I make a salad I usually start with 6 medium tomatoes, 2 long cucumbers, a red capsicum, a green capsicum, a large grated carrot, a diced red onion and a large handful of mixed lettuce. If say I am making a beetroot and fetta cheese salad, I will simply add in a large tin of diced beetroot and crumble over some fetta cheese. I usually make a dressing using 210ml of olive oil (extra virgin if you have it) and 70 ml of red wine vinegar or other vinegar if you prefer. Whisk this together with some Dijon mustard to emulsify the dressing. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. Toss together and arrange on a large platter by hand. The great thing about tossing the salad in a bowl and then arranging on a platter is that as you pick the salad from the bowl in double handfuls (yes wearing gloves) is that the heavier salad items naturally fall to the bottom of the bowl so by the time you finish taking them out you end up with no effort on your part with the highlighted ingredients on the top of your salad which will give an effortless attractive finish.
Let's shrink it down for home. A single handful of lettuce. Maybe you feel like baby spinach or rocket or you have as I do today a head of green hydroponic lettuce in the fridge that you don't want to waste. It all works. Then a tomato or two or maybe a few cherry tomatoes or some mixed tomatoes or different colours. Maybe you are looking at half a medium tomato per person. Then a Lebanese cucumber is probably enough for up to 4 people. The half a capsicum again enough for four. Remove the seeds and slice or dice, then choice is all yours. Grate a small to medium carrot and dice half a red onion. You could simple dress this salad and be happy with the result. But would I really be teaching you to make better salad if that's all I told you? Ha I don't think so. Cheese is an easy add in here but make a little lazy too (not always a bad thing). Remembering that the salad is usually acting with health and nutrition in mind. We need to go further with our thinking. If you are adding it to a bit of grilled meat from the barbecue then I'd suggest grilling a few slice of zucchini, eggplant or capsicum (if adding grilled capsicum maybe leave it out of your base, or leave in for a contrast of texture and flavour).
Let's talk salad dressing. The basic recipe for dressing is as taught at cooking school is 1 part vinegar and 3 parts oil and a little mustard to emulsify or hold the vinaigrette together. Whisk this together separately and toss through you salad. The exactitude of you the 3 to 1 is not critical, but I think it is a good starting point. I am a fan of red wine vinegar in my dressings in recent years. Balsamic vinegar is popular and could be used but I dislike the black colour especially when I am adding it to a carb like quinoa or couscous as it discolours the food. But if you prefer the taste or have splashed out for an expensive balsamic then go for it. If you've added some fruit to your salad then maybe a similar tasting vinegar is going to highlight that flavour. If you are looking for a creamier dressing you could whisk in a heaped spoon of yoghurt or mayonnaise. Because the olive oil in the dressing won't be cooked I would advise you to use the best oil that you have available. This is where that bottle of extra virgin will really stand out.
The salad pyramid
base tomato, cucumber, capsicum, lettuce leaves, onion, grated carrot
Level 1 (pick 1) Quinoa, couscous, pasta, noodles, chickpeas, four bean mix
Level 2 (pick 2 or 3) Pumpkin, sweet potato, broccoli, green beans, mushrooms, dice beetroot, asparagus, avocado, bean shoots
Level 3 (pick 1) Haloumi cheese, fetta cheese, shaved parmesan, tasty cheese, nuts, seeds or croutons
Level 4 (pick 1) Chicken breast, thinly slice beef, pork or lamb, Fried tofu, Tuna, Smoked Salmon
Dressings Keep it simple 3 parts extra virgin olive oil 1 part vinegar or other acid eg lemon juice plus a teaspoon or more of mustard. If looking for an Asian style dressing I usually use the basic Thai Green Papaya Salad for some inspiration. The dressing us a combination of chili, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar and garlic. Note the lack of oil. The chilli and and garlic are usually pounded with a mortar and pestle and the other ingredients added in.
Assembling our salad. Not all ingredients are created equal. Grab a mixing bowl.
- Cook any ingredients which will not be added raw to the salad. ie chicken breast, diced pumpkin, quinoa
- Dice, slice and grate your base ingredients and pop into the mixing bowl
- Add in cooled carbohydrates from level 1 You will need to refresh pasta under cold water to stop the cooking process and prevent it from over cooking
- Add in vegetable highlight ingredients from level 2
- If using cheese or other texture adding nuts or seeds pick from level 3 Haloumi can be diced or sliced and then pan fried or even given a quick stint in a moderate oven to cook it through.
- slice if needed and add in the protein from level 4
- season salad with salt and pepper. Remember to go easy on the salt if you have added salty ingredients such as Fetta cheese or olives.
- Whisk your dressing in a small separate bowl and then pour over our salad and toss thoroughly so as to coat your salad completely
- Plate you salad by moving to serving bowls or plates. You will find that your heavier and smaller items such as diced cheese or nuts and seeds will fall to the bottom of the bowl meaning that as you transfer to the serving plate they will naturally end up on top as a garnish
Ingredients
- Mixed lettuce 60g
- 2 medium Tomatoes
- 1 Lebanese Cucumber
- ½ small capsicum
- 1 medium sized carrot
- Israeli Couscous ⅓ cup
- Diced Pumpkin 250g
- Mushrooms 80g
- Parmesan Cheese 50g
- Pepita or pumpkin seeds 50g
- Tinned Tuna 185g
- salt pinch
- pepper pinch
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil 3 Tbsp.
- Apple Cider vinegar 1 Tbsp.
- 1 Teaspoon Mustard
- Wash all vegetables
- cook Israeli couscous in a little oil for about 2 minutes before adding boiling water and boiling and cooking for 10 more minutes. Refresh in cold water. Dice and cook pumpkin in air fryer or oven for 10 minutes @ 200℃ or until tender
- Dice or slice Tomato, cucumber and capsicum. Grate Carrot. Add all to mixing bowl with lettuce
- Add cooked couscous
- Add Pumpkin and mushrooms
- Add Parmesan and Pepita seeds
- Add drained Tuna, salt and pepper
- Whisk together vinegar, oil and mustard before tossing through the salad
- Plate by transferring to shallow bowls or plates
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