Green Salads

I make a big green salad almost every evening, and it's always all eaten. I buy large boxes of prewashed mixed or spring greens and baby spinach every week all winter and spring and cut fresh greens from my garden every day from summer to late fall. A green salad with homemade dressing freshens a meal of leftovers too.


I don't usually add other vegetables to a green salad, but maybe once or twice a week I will add But usually I serve the other raw vegetables, such as tomatoes or cucumbers, as a separate salad, so if it's not all eaten, it will hold better for lunches and snacks the next day.


The Maple Mustard Dressing below is a favourite of my student boarders from every country of the world and they never tire of it. For many it is the one recipe they ask for when they go home.


When even the Maple Mustard salad dressing below is too much work, I just throw handfuls of mixed greens from the box into a salad bowl, squeeze a lemon on it, drizzle olive oil over it, and season generously with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. If I have it, I put a handful of torn basil leaves in too. This quick method is perfect for making individual salads to go with a sandwich or cold plate made from frig grazings.


In summer, my greens from the garden can include any or all of the following: various lettuces; mesclun mixes which can include chervil, endive, corn salad, escarole, chicory, cress, onion greens, and dandelion; sorrel; Swiss chard; arugula; spinach; kale; cabbage; broccoli, chives, flat leaf Italian parsley, summer savoury, dill, mint, basil, oregano, thyme




Green Salad with Basil
Fill a bowl with mesclun mix.
Add a large bunch of basil, chopped with stems.
Maple Mustard Dressing (see below)
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper.


Green Salad with Tomatoes
Large bowl of mesclun or lettuces.
Halved cherry tomatoes or quartered small tomatoes, arranged on top with cut sides up.
Grind lots of salt and pepper directly onto the cut side of the tomatoes.
Let stand for 20 minutes.
Add fresh lemon juice and EVOO.
Toss and serve.


Green Salad with Strawberries
Fill a bowl with mesclun or any mixed greens.
Add halved strawberries and 2 or 3 chopped green onions.
Add fresh lemon or lime juice and olive oil, lots of freshly ground pepper, and a little sea salt.


Green Salad with Mango or Papaya
Fill a bowl with mesclun or any mixed greens.
Add mango or papaya, cut in chunks
Add chopped walnuts.
Fresh lime juice
EVOO
Freshly ground pepper
Sea salt



Green Salad with Nuts and Dried Fruit
Sometimes, I make individual salad plates --- everybody seems to eat the whole plate.
Put mixed greens or baby spinach on each salad plate
Add little heaps of 2 or 3 of the following around the edges: walnuts, dried apricots, half hard boiled egg, prawns, chunk of tuna, grated cheese, red pepper, leftover cold cooked broccoli, cucumber sliced in half length-wise and heavily salted, halved salted cherry tomatoes, blueberries, slices of fresh orange, pickles or anything else around.


Spinach SaladSpinach seems to call for a different dressing and add-ins.
Put baby spinach in a big bowl. The add one of the following combinations
1. Avocado wedges, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
2. Grated cheese, toasted pine nuts, fresh lemon, olive oil, freshly ground pepper.
3. Fresh orange or grapefruit slices, olive oil, salt and pepper.


Maple Mustard Dressing
1/4 cup maple syrup heaping Tbsp. Dijon mustard
juice of 1 lemon
freshly ground pepper
Put in a small jar, put the lid on and shake well or whisk with a tiny whisk.
Keeps in the frig for several days.


Optional additions:


1 clove grated fresh garlic
1 T. olive oil


Variations:
Instead of maple syrup, use fresh grapefruit juice, fresh orange juice, raspberry juice or cranberry juice.