The Principles of Salad

Ah, Salad.

Hello, hi. I’ve been having a harder time doing the things I love recently. I’m learning how to not let sadness overcome me, but sometimes you just have to let it run its course. I wish I could bang out a recipe a day and send it straight to your lovely inboxes. The reality is, sometimes its hard to push through my own mental blocks. Anyhow, nothing says “food for the soul” quite like salad!

I don’t believe in salad as a meal (thank you Brasserie Lipp), but I do believe that every meal requires a salad. There’s something about acid and crunch that rounds out a meal perfectly and makes all the dishes on the table shine. I make many different salads. They main principles are always the same, though.

I think you need a sturdy leaf, a crunch, a fat, and a perfect balance of acid and oil. I like to throw fresh herbs (dill, mint, parsley,etc) in all of them, and always finish with coarse black pepper and flake salt (Maldon). Below is just a guide. Make whatever you want with it. Add nuts, add roasted vegetables, add more protein. Go wild!

Let me know if you’d like more salad recipes. I assume you would.

X Romilly

(a variation on recipe below)

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Chicories with Sourdough, Herbs, Apple, and Parmsesan.

For the Salad:

2 heads chicories (can be radicchio, tardivo, Castelfranco, radicchio la rosa del veneto, etc)

1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, halved, and sliced thinly

1/3 cup parmesan, freshly grated or shaved (your choice)

Handful of parsley leaves

A few oil-packed anchovies (optional)

Juice and zest of one lemon

Good olive oil

For the sourdough: 

1 cup sourdough, torn into irregular pieces 

1 tbs olive oil 

salt 

pepper

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To make:

Preheat oven to 325F

For the sourdough: 

Place bread on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and place in the oven for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown and crisp, but not burnt. Set aside and let cool.

For the salad:

Place lettuce, parsley, sourdough, apple, and anchovy (if using) in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with enough olive oil to lightly coat every leaf, and squeeze a desired amount of lemon juice*. Finish with lemon zest and parmesan. Serve with fresh black pepper and maldon.

*you may want to kill me for giving you an intuitive dressing method with no measurements, but I strongly believe tossing with your hands, tasting, and altering, makes for the best result.