Fresh greens (a.k.a. Salads)
As the term “salad” has evolved into having somewhat of a negative connotations - bland, unfulfilling, diet, restriction - we tend to avoid the word altogether. Instead, we simply refer to salads as “greens”, especially when we can get our hands on fresh, locally sourced or foraged vegetables. The more we can minimize the elapsed time between “field to mouth”, the more nutritious and delicious the food is - whether it’s baby arugula or kale, dandelion, tomatoes, or peas (we’ve made the comparison, as we’ve grown all of these). The food tends to taste juicier and more intense when recently picked - we recently tasted golden cherry tomatoes from a local farm with flesh reminiscent of longans!. The supermarket variety coming from across the country, which is our primary option during winter months, will usually taste more bland as well as be less nutritious as it takes more time to travel to us, given that the nutrient content of fresh produce begins to degrade as soon as harvested.
Some of our favorite greens (some you may not have thought of):
From garden, farm stand or store:
Baby or young arugula, kale or spinach
Young Swiss chard or Red Russian kale (ideally from garden)
Red cabbage (usually sliced thin as in a slaw)
Young root vegetables such as carrots, beets or turnips (sliced thin)
Nasturtium (leaves and flowers)
Herbs such as mint, dill and shiso
Pea shoots and other microgreens (easy to grow for access to a year-round fresh green)
Avocado (diced, it provides some heft to the greens and dressing)
Foraged:
Dandelion
Wood sorrel
Clover (leaves and flowers)
Plantains (young/baby leaves less fibrous)
Garlic mustard (more pungent, so best chopped and sprinkled like an herb)
Our general rule of thumb is: “The better the produce, the lesser the dressing”. The role of dressing is important in complementing the tying together the taste and variety of greens that we are using. The longan-like cherry tomatoes mentioned above don’t need dressing at all - just wash and enjoy them as a snack. But for most of our greens, we’ll dress them lightly in a simple vinaigrette, often making a small batch in a food container for the week to facilitate enjoying more greens!
Baseline salad dressing recipe:
Ingredients:
1 part lemon juice (or vinegar)
1 part dijon mustard
2 parts olive oil
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground pepper
Other optional ingredients:
Minced garlic - good accompaniment to tomatoes and an excuse to load up on this beneficial allium
Shaved parmesan cheese - great over bitter greens such as dandelions and arugula
Herbs such as mint, dill and shiso can help give the greens a zing
Instructions (3-5 mins)
Depending on how much you want to make, grab a food container with lid (we usually use a pint-sized food container).
Put all ingredients into container and close lid tightly, and shake container vigorously until ingredients are fully mixed.
Adjust to taste, or to the greens. For example, if serving arugula or dandelion greens which tend to be on the bitter side, a bit more salt helps tame the bitterness.
In general, dressing should be mixed in immediately before you are ready to eat so that the leaves don’t get soggy. However if using tomatoes, bell peppers or more robust vegetables and fruits, mixing in the dressing in advance allows the the flavors to soak in a bit more.
Our “egg nest” salad - instant protein and greens!
Instructions (5 mins)
Heat a pan with a little olive oil or butter and fry one or two eggs (we like our yolks runny).
Wash and toss greens lightly in dressing (see vinaigrette dressing recipe above).
Serve the salad on a plate with the egg on top, and sprinkle some pepper and salt (Maldon Sea Salt is one of our favorite) - enjoy!
SUGGESTED REFERENCES:
Eating on the Wild Side, by Jo Robinson: This book ultimately helps us optimize nutrients that we get from eating vegetables and fruits by having a better understanding of how fast nutrients “expire” after harvest and ways of cooking that help preserve nutrients.