Summer Salad Refresh | Palette Dome Cuisine

Would you like a salad for dinner? Or as a side to your main dish? I know you are aware of the health benefits of eating fresh vegetables and greens, but maybe you feel you had an overdose of “green” lately? Maybe it is just “too boring”? With summer just around the corner, let me try and change that for you!

With summer quickly taking hold, I wanted to dig a little deeper into what transforms A salad to a GOOD salad. It is one of the easiest and healthiest meals to prepare, yet for most of us, it gets so boring that we simply avoid it altogether. With simple additions and tweaks you can reinvent your salad, and fall in love with it, and its nutritional value, all over again.

Did I get your attention? Yes? Great! Let’s start the re-do!

Part I: 50 Shades of Green

You love hearts of romaine. They are EASY to manage. Some even come washed and ready to use. They last forever or at least it seems so. Yet, isn’t that part of the overall boredom with your salad? OR You are already more aware, and you discovered the pre-washed packaged baby greens. They are so much better. Well, they were so much better; but now you are bored with them as well…

Greens will be greens, that’s for sure. However, there are so many different kinds available these days, that just mixing up a bit will already revamp your salad to the next level.

Here are some common varieties you can find in most supermarkets and farmers’ markets:

Romaine Lettuce or Cos grows in a tall head of sturdy leaves with firm ribs down their centers. Discard the dark exterior leaves and enjoy the inner, lighter, softer leaves.
Iceberg Lettuce or Crisphead is the most popular lettuce in the US(!) It is composed of even more water than other lettuce types which makes it very crispy (hence the name) and somewhat sweet.
Butterhead, Boston or Bibb lettuce is a head lettuce with a loose arrangement of leaves, known for its sweet flavor and tender texture.
Leaf Lettuce otherwise known as looseleaf, cutting or bunching lettuce, has loosely bunched leaves that are somewhat bitter.
Arugula, Salad Rocket, Rucola, Rucoli, Rugula, Colewort or Roquette are a family of greens; arugula has narrower, longer and dentate leaves that are stronger in flavor than the bigger, rounder rocket leaves.
Spinach comes in many varieties, with main distinction between old and new varieties. The older varieties have narrower leaves and tend to have a stronger and more bitter taste.
Chard, Swiss chard, Silverbeet, Perpetual Spinach, Spinach Beet, Crab Beet, Bright Lights, Seakale Beet, and Mangold are all referring to shiny, green, ribbed leaves, with petioles that range from white to yellow to red, depending on the cultivar. They have a special sweet flavor that resembles beets.
Watercress or Gardencress has small leaves with a distinctive mustard flavor

To upgrade your salad simply mix and match any of these varieties, or simply buy the ready mixed varieties in the market. To upgrade it even more, add some herbs to the equation! Some basil, tarragon, mint, parsley or thyme leaves added to the mix will bring a surprise and freshness in every bite. Do not get carried away though: the lettuce is the lead, the herbs just a tasty support role.

Some lettuce lore:

PURCHASE Remember that if you are buying a bag of pre-torn leaves, their shelf life is very short. You want to use it the same day. It is even shorter once the bag is open. Whatever you choose, just make sure it is fresh, not wilted, without blackened edges, and if bagged, the bag should be totally dry. A wet bag means the decomposition process has started.
STORAGE Lettuce should be kept refrigerated. You can prolong the shelf life of a whole lettuce head by refrigerating it wrapped in wet cloth or in a covered container.
CLEAN To clean the lettuce, cut and discard its base or root, soak it in cold water (you can add some ice cubes for extra crunchiness!), allow it to soak to allow the sand to sink, rinse and dry.
PREPARE it for your salad by tearing the leafs to bite size pieces; fingers, plastic or wooden knife are recommended as using a metal knife will oxidize and blacken the leaves. It is also advised to tear the stems of leaves like baby leaves, spinach or arugula for a softer, less woody salad.
TRICK Once prepared you can store the mixed leaves refrigerated in a big punctured plastic bag up to two days; the short stay in the refrigerator will make the leaves even crunchier.