I have not always been a salad lover. Making salads on purpose and actually enjoying them is a relatively new concept for me. The key to creating a salad you’ll actually want to eat is playing with textures, temperatures, and flavor balances.
For instance, if you have smooshy avocado, be sure you’ve got something crunchy like toasted almonds. If you are using chilled lettuce as your base, make sure you’re incorporating hot items too, like roasted chicken. And if you’ve got a sweet addition, like strawberries, balance that out with something savory like bacon. (And obviously, bacon makes every salad more palatable.)
The blending of these 3 key pieces of a salad is what makes it delicious.
When I was growing up, my mom very cleverly disguised a common dish at our house by calling it “mega salad.” Mega salad was, essentially, a great way to clean out the fridge and feed everyone in a creative and healthy way. Everything would go in the bowl: lettuce, tomatoes, onion...the usual stuff. But then she’d add to it- roasted vegetables from the night before, skirt steak from another dish, crumbled bacon from breakfast, olives, carrots- whatever we had on hand.
And it was always, without fail or exception, the best. Somehow all the ingredients would work together to create something healthy and satisfying- the combination we’re always shooting for.
Next time you’re making salad, think of mega salad- maybe toast some nuts to top your salad off, or include something leftover. The combinations may surprise you!
Here’s an example of one of my favorite mega salads:
Butter lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Roasted asparagus
Roasted squash
Sliced strawberries
Pepitas
Green and black olives
Parmasean cheese shavings
Roasted chicken
Sliced celery
Matchstick carrots
Another thing to consider when building your mega salad is a good salad dressing. This can make all the difference! As Ina Garten would say, “store bought is fine,” but remember that you can also make your own dressing very quickly. You can use leftovers for this too: if you have ½ a lemon or lime, use apple cider vinegar (or whatever vinegar you have) and some olive oil and voila- you have a homemade citrus vinaigrette in a flash!
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