Simple Ain't Easy: Lettuce Salad

Watch how this brings together many of the people who I love. It's fun.

Occasionally, someone will ask me something along the lines of "what's the most difficult dish for you to prepare?" I always answer the same way "green salad." Then they laugh, and they ask again "no, really, what's the hardest thing you do?" And I answer again "making a green salad."

At first blush, "simple" green salad looks like the easiest thing in the world to put together. And it MUST be easy, since every restaurant in the world serves it.

Ok, let's have a show of hands. How many of your can remember the last GOOD green salad you had in a restaurant?

Just as I thought. A truly excellent green salad should make you feel like you're eating something ALIVE!!!! The greens should burst, with crispness, in your mouth. the dressing should be balanced perfectly so the richness of the oil plays against the vinegar, and the salt, and you should feel SATISFIED when you finish it.

Now I'm talking about a basic green salad. I'm not talking about salad with chicken in it, or cheese, or with a heavy dressing. No, just lettuce, olive oil, vinegar and salt. How hard good it be?

Go in and make one now. And get back to me.


I dont' remember the best green salad I ever had, but I remember the worst one. It was in Indianapolis. At a very high end restaurant. Salad came with the meal, no charge. That should have been my first clue. I saw it served to other tables, dripping in dressing. So I asked if I could have my dressing on the side. The waitress looked extremely nonplussed. Then she disappeared. After fifteen minutes, she came back with the manager, who was young enough to be my son, who told me that they COULD do it but they'd have to charge me for it, because all of their salad had been made SIX HOURS EARLIER and it was already dressed when it got to the restaurant . YUCH. So I said no thanks. And they couldn't understand why I didn't want my free salad.

Free food that doesn't taste good is NOT free. Never forget that.

So, now let's get to the heart of the matter. How do I make my salads? I make one every single night. Sometimes it's better than other times. Sometimes it's celestial. And sometimes it's ok. Even though it's always the same ingredients, maybe with one additive as there was tonight (coming to that below). I take "more lettuce than I think we can eat," and separate the leaves. I soak them in a salad spinner in cold water, with ice in the receptacle underneath the holder for the lettuce. After about ten minutes, I drain it, and then I do something that is controversial among high end cooks: I DO in fact spin the lettuce dry. I don't do it hard, but I do it. Many chefs feel that this damages the lettuce, and that it should be dried on clean towels.

Be my guest.

While the lettuce is soaking, I prepare my dressing, in the serving bowl (something I only learned to do this year.). It's almost always champagne vinegar or cider vinegar. I don't measure. I put some in, and then I add salt, and stir it until it's dissolved. You HAVE to do it this way, because once you put in the oil, the salt will not dissolve. I take a look at the vinegar, and again, eyeball about 4 times as much olive oil. T his is a "compromise" between two schools of thought. The classic vinaigrette recipe calls for three parts oil to one part vinegar. I used to do this, but as I've gotten older, it feels harsh to me. The great Elizabeth David said that she couldn't consider eating a salad where the ratio wasn't at least 5 to 1, and preferably more. Then I put the lettuce right into the dressing and toss it. If no one is looking, I use my hands.

I have to go back and tell you. Choose your greens carefully. When you buy them, do they look alive and vibrant and healthy? If they do, buy them. S tick to smaller leaves that you don't have to cut or tear to get in your mouth. Use lettuce, use arugula, use chicories like radicchio, but taste your greens if you're mixing. A salad of only bitter greens like arugula and radicchio is nearly impossible to eat. I suggest one bitter one to any salad . Maybe radicchio with baby romaine, or argula instead, or something like that.

After you've tossed the salad, if you want, add ONE but ONLY ONE "auxiliary ingredient. (Ok, maybe two). Tonight, when I came home, a box of fruit had arrived from Kim at Ripe To You. The more I know Kim, the more I'm convinced she reads minds. We were out of satsuma mandarins. Somehow, she knew.... and the box did have satsumas, but the beautiful surprise was the first page mandarins of the season. I peeled three of them, and sliced them into slightly thickish rings, and put them on top of the greens, together with a handful of sliced scallions. Other combinations? How about persimmons and nuts? Or pomegranate seeds by themselves? or slices of pear with a little good cheese? Or apples with bacon. Just promise me you'll choose the best ingredients you can find. And of course, most of the time, it should just be the greens and you.

Playing against the stuffed cabbage from Tati's recipe, it was a wonderful contrast, and delicious in and of itself.

People will reveal themselves as lovers of good food by how they react to your salads. If you make a good one, pay attention to what your guests do. The triad of young ones, Matt, Peter and Keith, all of whom you've met in this blog, endeared themselves to me by cleaning their salad plates and even asking for seconds. If I didn't love them for other reasons, this would push me over the top. My friend August will say something like "nice, but the arugula is more alive than the romaine, don't you think?" He's PAYING ATTENTION, the most important part of eating.

So spend some time. Make a good salad. I bet you feel so tempted to eat it that you start pulling leaves out of the bowl before you serve it. And why shouldn't you? You made it. You should get the best part.

If you get out of the habit of treating salad as an adjunct to what you're making, and something as important as the rest of the meal, you'll be on your way to being a good, serious, thoughtful cook. And you will know who your "foodie" friends are.