Dressing Salad

​I dress leafy greens, vegetables, and a variety of beans, meats and fishes every single day. There is no greater delight for me than a trip to the farm stand and the resulting beauty of a composed (or totally messy) salad with its accompanying acidic/oily/salty/spicy counterpart. I possess and arsinal of incredible oils, vinegars, spices...even a cutting garden with fresh herbs. All of these elements are essential for making a great dressing or sauce and so make sure you have at least one good bottle of olive oil and two or three great vinegars in your pantry. Kosher salt and a pepper mill with fresh peppercorns are also critical for success. If you have the space to keep garlic, onions, and a lemon or two on the counter, please do this too. The secret weapon that I find most cooks leave out of their homemade dressings is a sweet element, which serves to balance the acid. My go-to is raw unfiltered honey, but I’ve been known to use white/brown/coconut/date sugar, agave...You know, whatever is handy. You may also be like me in that you tend to collect fancy mustards (you know who you are!). If you don’t, buy one small jar of good Dijon and keep it just for this purpose.

I think everyone should have a few great salad dressings in their repertoire, ones that you don’t need to measure or look at a recipe to make. I am going to give you a gift and tell you the one my grandmother taught me. But first I will digress about kitchen tools (one of my favorite topics) and the state of my right hand (not good).

That beautiful creamy dressing was made with a machine! Yesss!

As a seasonal private chef, my days are spent reading, planning, shopping, running around, prepping, cooking, and cleaning up. Much of each day is spent on my feet, using my hand in repetitive motion. This year I was diagnosed with Dupuytren’s Disease, a progressive condition affecting the hand (read all about it here). In response (after freaking the f$#k out), I have been trying some dietary and “alternative” treatments (acupuncture and massage have been very effective), and have also adapted some of my kitchen practices to lessen the load on my hand. Instead of using my beloved knife for every single task, I now pick the jobs where beautiful knifework is imperative and use a machine for the rest.

Working in the kitchen of a beautiful home often requires form over function, one of the challenges of my job. This might require keeping unsightly appliances off of the counters. Because I make so many dressings and sauces, I invested in a small, lightweight food processor (this one, from Amazon). It is stored under my counter, and I have trained myself to use it on a daily basis. It gives my hand a break and emulsifies beautifully. While I love a bowl and a whisk, I have grown very fond of this little powerhouse and encourage those who are infirm or short on time (or who just love cute little appliances), to give one a whirl (sorry, couldn’t resist). Okay, onward to the recipe!

Best Simple Salad Dressing to Memorize Forever

Makes around a cup or so, and will keep for days in your fridge in a covered jar

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of shallot, finely minced

1 very small clove of garlic, finely minced

1/3 cup of vinegar (red wine, white wine, or champagne)

2 teaspoon of mustard

1 teaspoon of honey (or sugar, or agave...)

1/2 cup of good EVOO (or more to taste)

1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

A few good grindings of pepper

A handful of fresh herbs (I typically go for chives, parsley, tarragon, and/or basil)

Method(s)

In a small-medium sized bowl, soak the shallot and garlic in vinegar for about 10-15 minutes (prep your greens while this happens). Whisk in the rest of the ingredients until the mixture is a little thick and emulsified. Or toss the shallot and garlic into your machine to mince, add the vinegar and wait. Then add the rest of the ingredients and blitz till emulsified. Or use a jar and shake, shake, shake.

When you dress a salad, start out conservatively. Overdressing is a sad state of affairs and easily prevented. Also, don’t forget to dress the protein, if you’ve included one. Whenever there are greens and veggies to toss, I recommend you use your freshly washed hands for the job. Do this out of the eyesight of your family, guests, or clients. It is the absolute best method, but for some reason also tends to alarm people. Anyhow, HANDS. So important, so take good care of yours!

Panzanella Salad

I simply love a dish that is not only beautiful, delicious, and flexible, but that also uses food that might otherwise be thought of as past it’s prime. Consider the lovely and frugal Panzanella Salad. She will gladly showcase your stale bread and wilty herbs, and you could even oven roast a subpar tomato for this one if necessary. The only ingredients that must be excellent are the mozzarella and olive oil. Really! And did I mention you don’t need to turn on the stove? Get on it while the tomatoes are still at your farmer’s market!

 Panzanella Salad

Feeds about 2-4

Ingredients 

2 Big slices of good, stale country type bread, cut or torn into bite sized pieces (you can also dry your bread out in the oven, but that means turning your stove on!) 

2 cups of tomatoes of all types, cut to a similar size as the bread

6-8 small mozzarella balls (bocconcini) , sliced into rounds

1/2 cup finely diced onion (red or white) covered in red wine vinegar to soak for 10-15 minutes

1 cup of peeled and seeded cucumber, cut into small half rounds

1 clove garlic, grated, minced or smashed

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 cup EVOO (your very best!) 

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

salt and pepper to taste

 Method 

In a large bowl, toss together the bread, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Drain the onion, reserving the vinegar, and add that to the mixture. Now, either using a whisk and bowl, or handy small food processor type machine, make the dressing, using the garlic, mustard, oregano, 1/4 cup of reserved vinegar, and EVOO. Mix the dressing into the salad (I use my hands and will say this is the best way to toss and dress every salad!). Add the remaining ingredients and let it sit for at least 15-20 minutes. If it’s hot as hell outside, I sometimes even chill this for an hour (a crime in some peoples books). Serve it on a bed of greens if you like. 

A Lovely Asian Slaw

So many slaws! I already went on and on about this last week, so I will spare you the rant. Today I wanted to do creamy sesame noodles with crab cakes and needed something bright, colorful, acidic, and vegetable-forward to round out the lunch menu. This salad was the perfect choice. It would also be a great match for a marinated and grilled flank steak, teriyaki type chicken, or piece of miso marinated fish. So much versatility!

Before you start cooking though, I’m going to shamelessly plug for a tool that I think most cooks can afford and is indispensable if you love and work with vegetables regularly. It is the Benriner Mandoline Slicer and once you get into a routine of using it, you will never look back. It has three blades, two of which do more fancy shreddy type things. The flat blade is perfect for 99% of my needs. Think perfect potato slices for gratins, thinly shaved veggies for gorgeous salads, fine shredding for slaws, identically sized apple slices for tarts...you get the picture. It’s available for under $40 on Amazon and I tell everyone I know who loves cooking to get one.

One final note-every vegetable in this beautiful salad was available at the farm market today, so hooray for the farmers! Now, cook!

Asian Inspired Slaw

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of Green Cabbage, sliced very thinly (use a mandoline if you have one)

1 1/2 cups of Purple Cabbage cut the same way as the green

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion (mandoline) soaked in 2-3 tablespoons of rice vinegar for about 10 minutes

1/2 cup of thinly sliced red pepper (mandoline)

1/2 cup of shredded carrot (either use mandoline to get super thin slices and then cut into fine shreds with a knife, or use the coarse holes on a grater)

1/2 cup of shredded radish (approach the same as carrot)

1/2 cup minced cilantro

2 tablespoons minced chives

Juice and zest of 2 limes

2 tablespoons dark toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons of peanut oil

1 tablespoon of honey

Sriracha and salt to taste

Method

Toss everything together and stick in the fridge to chill for at least 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning.