Everyday Green Salad with Everyday Vinaigrette
So, this really isn’t a recipe. I’ve made this salad and vinaigrette literally hundreds of time—it’s my fallback, my back pocket, my weekly and yes…my everyday salad. For the greens, I use a mesclun baby green salad mix most often but any green will do—arugula, baby spinach...you name it, it’ll work. The key here is the shower of herbs that gets tossed in which gives every bite a different note (cause nobody likes a boring salad). My go-to handful of soft herbs is basil, chives, mint and flat leaf parsley. But you can add dill, cilantro or anything other herbs you’d eat raw (no rosemary or thyme here). I also always add crunch—so any nut roughly chopped (and ideally toasted in a dry pan for 1-2 minutes). I’ve used Marcona almonds for their tender crunch—but go for pistachios, cashews…whatever you like.
For my everyday dressing—guess what—no measuring! You really just need an old clear glass mustard or mason jar with a tight lid. Lemony, mustardy—with a touch of sweetness—this vinaigrette is also perfect for drizzling on roasted veg, chicken, tossed with pasta and more. I make a jar of it each Sunday for the week.
Now, this is salad, so the variations and permutations are endless. Shaved parm, avocado, bacon bits, tomatoes…all good!
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS
6 large handfuls of baby greens
1½ cups (approximately) of soft herbs such as basil, chives, mint and flat leaf parsley
1 small handful of nuts (optional), toasted and roughly chopped
A glug of good olive oil
Flaky sea salt
3-4 tbsp Everyday Vinaigrette
METHOD
Into a large bowl or platter, add greens. Add herbs: Use scissors to snip chives into 1” cuts. For basil, mint and parsley, tear leaves off of stems and add to bowl. If the stems are tender (as is often with basil or parsley) don’t worry if some parts of the stem are added. Drizzle with Everyday Vinaigrette and use your very clean hands to toss. Sprinkle nuts on top. Finish with a glug of olive oil and flaky sea salt.
