Simple Green Salad
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is known to release a milky substance when its leaves are snapped; and Lactuca serriola, the predecessor of lettuce, seeps a milky fluid if uprooted. Thus, it’s to no surprise that Lactuca stems from the Latin term, lac, for milk. The first known record of the cultivation of lettuce was found on Egyptian tombs 4,500-6,000 years ago but may have been grown in the Middle East before this. In China, lettuce is attributed to wealth, luck, and a fresh slate. Even in Ancient Rome, Augustus Caesar ordered a statue built in thanks to lettuce after being cured by a diet of pure lettuce when mainstream medicine failed.* Personally, I've found that I'm often serving an entrée with an array of complex flavors, and what I need is a simple green salad to accompany it. What's more, I call this salad “simple,” but it's by no means mediocre, with a subtle burst of flavors, owing to the sour tang of the vinegar, the salty nature of the Parmesan, and the bitter properties of the herbs and lettuces. But what makes this dish is a pinch of dill to set off the herbs and a dash of black pepper, seasoning each plate. There are many ways to cut corners on this recipe, like buying a pre-made salad mix or a store-bought vinaigrette. For those of you wanting to try your hand at a homemade vinaigrette, try my creamy basic vinaigrette recipe. This salad is so addictive that you’ll be craving it for dinner as your main course!
Ingredients
- Bag of Herb Salad Mix or head of red leaf lettuce (see note)
- 1 bunch dill (see note, optional)
- Creamy Vinaigrette Dressing (see homemade recipe under Salad).
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese to garnish, omit if vegan.
- Freshly ground black pepper to season
Directions
- Step 1 Prepare your lettuce. Begin by washing your lettuce and blotting it dry with a paper towel or drying it with a convenient salad spinner. Next, if you’re using red leaf lettuce, tear it into bite-sized pieces now. Then, assemble a bed of lettuce on individual plates or fill a salad bowl with your greens of choice. Next, accent the lettuces with a dash of dill if you’re using.
- Step 2 Dress the lettuce. Try adding 1 t. of dressing per side salad to start off. Be careful to not drown the lettuce. I prefer to taste the quality of the herbs over the intensity of the dressing. As a rule of thumb, the lettuce should be slick and shimmery but shouldn’t bead with dressing. Toss and add more dressing if needed.
- Step 3 Finally, garnish the salad with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, ensuring the predominant flavor is the herbs not the Parmesan cheese. Before serving, I like seasoning each plate with a pinch of freshly ground black pepper to bring together the flavors. Serve immediately as the salad wilts over time.
- Step 4 Note: You can buy the herb salad mix at grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and Safeway. Or if you feel adventurous, you can make your own. To do so, try mixing a medley of baby lettuces, like red oak leaf, green oak leaf, tango, mizuna, arugula. frisée, and dill. I like adding an extra pinch of dill to my salad even if I buy the store-bought salad mix—it adds an extra punch. If the herb salad is not available, a torn head of red leaf lettuce will do nicely. Just be sure to dry the leaves before storing the lettuce in the fridge to ensure it lasts as long as possible.
Don’t be fooled by the name, “simple” salad. This recipe is far from mediocre—exuding a burst of flavors—with the dill and black pepper elevating a robustness to your palate and the saltiness of the Parmesan cheese tempering the bitter herbs. Very few ingredients are needed, but feel free to doctor your salad by adding cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, and crumbled croutons.
Nutritional Information: serving size: 48 g. without dressing, servings per recipe: 13, calories: 57, total fat: 3.3 g., saturated fat: 1.8 g., cholesterol: 10 g., sodium: 218 mg., total carbohydrate: 3.31 g., dietary fiber: 0.7 g., total sugars: 0.29 g., protein: 3.9 g., calcium: 116 mg., iron: 0.48 mg., potassium: 105 mg., magnesium: 10 mg., vitamin D: 2 IU, vitamin C: 3.5 mg., vitamin B-1: 0 mg., folate: 15 µg.
SOURCES:
“Fact Sheet Lettuce,” USDA, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Forget, Abigail. “Luckiest Food for Chinese New Year.” Fox News, last updated 23 November 2016.
Frost, Roon. “In Praise of Lettuce.” Washington Post, 20 April 1980.
McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York, NY, Collier Books, MacMillan Publishing Company, 1984.
Murray, Michael, Joseph Pizzorno, with Lara Pizorrno. Bottom Line’s Encyclopedia of Healing Foods. Stamford, CT, Bottom Line Books, 2017.
Zhang, Lei., Wenging Su., Rong Tao, Weiyi Zhang, Jiongiiong Chen, Peiyao Wu, Chenghuan Yan, Yue Jia, Robert. M. Larkin, Dean Lavelle, Maria-Jose Truco, Sebastian Reyes Chin-Wo, Richard W. Michelmore, and Hanhui Kuang. RNA Sequencing Provides Insights into the Evolution of Lettuce and the Regulation of Flavonoid Fiosynthesis. Nature Communications 8, 2264 (22 December 2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02445-9