Salad Theory

I wanted to include a salad recipe, because we eat a lot of salads. But then I realized that salads aren't made according to a recipe, they're made according to a theory. The theory requires that salads have some contrasts in textures and flavors, and that they highlight the flavors of fresh vegetables. Beyond that, there are few limits.

Summer Salads
These salads use the widest range of produce, since there are so many possibilities.

Green Salad
The old-fashioned French "green salad" contains one vegetable: lettuce. This is tossed with olive oil, sprinkled with vinegar, and salted and peppered to taste. Ta-da! That's it. For much of the summer, we make this kind of salad with the addition of sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, maybe a bit of green onion. The variation is mainly in the kinds of lettuce (mixed greens, a few chopped herbs: mint, chives, parsley, or cilantro).
The key: toss the ingredients until nicely coated with olive oil. Then add the vinegar and salt and pepper. Don't be stingy with the oil.
Variations: add avocado or radishes, or almost any cooked vegetable (green beans, cooked sliced beets, roasted zucchini, roasted or steamed carrots) that matches either the sweet and tender (like a tomato) category or the mild and crisp one (like a cucumber).

Salade Niçoise
The usual version here contains lettuce with an arrangement of salty and savory toppings (tuna, olives, anchovy, potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, green beans). You can vary those toppings, but make sure that you have strong enough flavors for good contrasts. This salad is a good model for any salad made of leftovers or salted things: leftover steamed or roasted vegetables, leftover cooked meat. Pour a vinaigrette dressing over it, but don't toss it.

All-Season Salads
Crisp Salads
The model here is the sliced fennel salad: thinly sliced bits of fennel, tossed with oil and sprinkled with lemon juice and salt and pepper. However, many crispy alternatives exist: add radishes, sliced celery, sweet onion, grated jicama or carrot, sliced red or yellow peppers. You can also top this salad with shavings of parmesan or another hard cheese. In a way, these are like the green salad, in that they can use just one or two vegetables and focus on their texture and freshness.

Tomato-Free Salads
Much of the year, supermarket tomatoes aren't worth eating. To avoid the sad farce of bitter cucumbers and tasteless tomatoes, we replace them with other combinations: lettuce with sliced fennel and peeled and seeded orange sections, lettuce with sliced celery or fennel and apple slices, lettuce with blanched green beans and artichoke hearts, or with orange sections and avocado.

Salads with Cheese
One of my favorite salads contained mixed greens, cubes of roasted beets, crumbled goat cheese and a sprinkling of roasted pumpkin seeds. Beets go well with all kinds of crumbly or tart cheese, but so do roasted sweet potatoes (cut into tiny cubes), or chopped red peppers. Shaved hard cheese goes well on many salads with lots of crisp, watery vegetables (lettuce, celery, fennel).

Composed Salads
Any salad whose ingredients sit side-by-side is a composed salad. Essentially, this is a great way to put together all your leftover cooked vegetables. You can arrange them by themselves on a bed of lettuce. Then dress them as they need it, or don't. One set of vegetables can be sprinkled with oil and vinegar, while the cold asparagus, sliced radishes, or new tomatoes can be topped with a mixture of sour cream and chopped dill or chives.

Really, there's not end to the possibilities for salads. They are just vegetables placed a little closer together than usual. But many vegetables are enhanced by being mixed and matched with contrasting flavors and colors.