10 Ways Tuesdays: Salad Greens

I’ve come up with 10 fresh ideas for spring salad greens:

1. Add some heat with chiles

What better way to wake up your palate than with a spicy vinaigrette? I crave the heat of chile peppers this time of year, and love to pair it with something sweet and refreshing. A couple of years ago I picked up a recipe from the Williams-Sonoma Entertaining Cookbook for “Scallop, Mango, and Avocado Salad with Chile-Lime Vinaigrette.” Seared scallops are served over a bed of greens with cubed avocado and mango. The dressing is made with minced jalapeño, lime juice, and extra virgin olive oil.

2. Try grilling lettuce

Maybe it sounds crazy if you’ve never tried it, but romaine is sturdy enough to grill and the charring brings out its natural sweetness. The July issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine includes a recipe for “Charred-Romaine Salad” served hot with pickled radishes and a creamy buttermilk dressing.

3. Change up your cheese

The recipe for “Strawberry Salad with Speck and Halloumi” from the cookbook Jamie at Home is a more savory twist on the popular strawberry-balsamic salad. Jamie marinates strawberries in balsamic vinegar, then serves them over a mix of delicate leaf lettuces, mint, and basil. I love the addition of speck, a cured and smoked pork made from the leg or belly. The fried halloumi is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Have you ever tried halloumi? It’s a semi-soft, pressed, farmstead cheese made from sheep or goat’s milk that originated in Greece and is popular in the middle east today. Maybe it’s time to try something new!

4. Spice it up with ginger

Today I came across an old article clipped from the pages of Food & Wine Magazine called “Best 5-Minute Dressings.” This ginger vinaigrette would be a great way to change up your tired salad routine. Whisk together 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger, 1/4 cup vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper. Serve it over a mixed greens salad with avocado and crabmeat.

5. Go monochromatic

Playing with color in your salad is a great for seeing things in a fresh way and finding new flavor combinations. Cook in a Class of Your Own with Richard Bertinet is a fantastic cookbook for the beginning cook and the photographs are amazing. Richard Bertinet shares a recipe for green salad made with romaine lettuce, asparagus, fresh peas, green beans, and avocado. He blanches the vegetables and serves them dressed in a mustard vinaigrette. You could try an all red salad with red oak leaf lettuce, beets, and purple basil! This would also be a fun project for kids.

6. Get fruity

Gordan Ramsey’s Fast Food is an in your face ingredient focused cookbook. It’s simple and straightforward with some really lovely flavors. “Minted melon, feta & fennel salad” is sure to perk up your senses. He suggests combining thinly sliced fennel, melon wedges, mixed salad greens, salty feta, and mint. The dressing is a lemon vinaigrette. Shake things up and come up with your own fruity salads. Golden raspberries would be fun!

7. Put an egg on it

Want a more satisfying, filling salad? Put an egg on it. Sure, you can do a hard boiled egg, but there’s something sensual and rich about a poached egg perched atop freshly harvested greens. When you cut into it, the yolk runs over the greens, and it’s pretty darn nice. Intimidated by poaching? A soft fried egg with a runny yolk is good too. Even better, make sure you’ve got some croutons.

8. Flower Power

Edible flowers make happy salads. The yellow blossoms on hon tsai tai brighten a green salad while adding a nutty flavor. Delicate violas contribute a shot of vibrant purple and orange as well as a sweet, grassy flavor. Fuzzy purple chive blossoms add texture and garlicky punch.

9. Go nuts

Keep a jar of spiced nuts in the cupboard to sprinkle over salads. In her book, Fresh Every Day, Sara Foster shares a recipe for pecans spiced with cayenne, rosemary, and cinnamon. Experiment toasting your favorite nuts with spices like ground ginger or curry.

10. Play with texture

Using a variety of textures: soft, crunchy, crispy or juicy keeps salads interesting. I love to bake chickpeas in the oven until crunchy and toss them with salad greens like spinach or arugula. Avocados are soft and creamy. Blueberries and cherry tomatoes burst as you bite into them- delightful!