The Synthesis of a Salad

What is it that defines a better-than-average salad? Is it the lettuce? Is it the dressing? Is it the toppings? I am willing to bet that if you polled a group of people, most participants would point to either the salad dressing or the toppings when trying to recall a mouth watering memory of a recently consumed salad. Do they mention the romaine...or God forbid...iceberg?? I am going to bet not. That's because these people are missing out on both nutrients and dancing taste buds. In order to have a truly heart-captivating salad, it needs to have an appropriate balance of all three components.

Ok...I won't lie...I haven't always been of this school of thought. I definitely used to be a person who got excited over a spicy balsamic vinaigrette, an addition of buttery avocado, a pop of a caramelized pecan, or a little bit of crispy bacon. Every once in awhile I would notice the degree of freshness of my usual romaine lettuce (usually only in the negative sense), but honestly, I never considered it to be a true player...that is until recently. Of course I still love all of the above mentioned components to a show stopping salad, but it goes so much deeper than that.

Because Ryan and I have been drawn to farmer's markets recently like mosquitoes are to those bright summer porch lights at night, we have been testing new greens that I have never before had the pleasure of tasting. I have even found some new favorites such as kale and mustard greens. Why have I been missing out for so long? The experience has even grown deeper since Ryan started helping New Grass Gardens harvest some of their goods on Friday to sell at the Five Points Market today. Luckily for me, Ryan came home with a couple of different greens, and even luckier was that he was willing to share.

Pictured above are mustard greens with a slightly red tinge. They are a bit more bitter, but have a really powerful horseradish-like finish. Below is spinach that was fresh, earthy and extremely welcome.

We added some ripe May strawberries, leftover arugula, toasted almonds, a strong-handed brie-blue cheese, and my Spicy Tahini Soy Sauce Dressing.

*Ingredients:

tahini

soy sauce

lemon juice

honey

fresh basil

fresh tarragon

freshly grated ginger (I don't think this added too much)

serrano chile

hot sauce of choice

This was the perfect salad for a dinner that will make you feel good and will keep your taste buds dancing a rumba. It was meaty and nutty due to the arugula and almonds, with the bitterness of the mustard greens, cheese and tahini, sweetness of the berries and honey, freshness of the spinach, herbs and lemon juice, and the spiciness of the chile, hot sauce and mustard greens.

Here is a close-up, just so you can salivate a little.