Easy to Prepare, Lighten Up, Salads, Side Dishes, The Daring Kitchen, Vegan Dishes, Vegetarian Dishes

Green Salad with Lazy Vinaigrette

Recipe for The Daring Kitchen
Mary, who writes the delicious blog, Mary Mary Culinary was our August Daring Cooks’ host. Mary chose to show us how delicious South Indian cuisine is! She challenged us to make Appam and another South Indian/Sri Lankan dish to go with the warm flat bread.
The art of the homemade vinaigrette is essential for every cook, but is truly as complicated as boiling water.  With all the hype that we place on pre-made salad dressings, there’s a need for a call to action with this simple salad topper.  You simply twirl a bit of fruity olive oil and bright vinegar around a large bowl and toss.  Done.  No measuring cups and no real errors – just taste (with your fingers!) and adjust as necessary.  It’s not really much of a recipe, but upon eating, you’ll be reminded of why salad is never a chore when it’s time to eat your veggies.

Green Salad with Lazy Vinaigrette

1 large head of green leaf lettuce
1 english cucumber
2 c. of heirloom cherry tomatoes
1/2 a red onion
good olive oil
white balsamic vinegar
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
sugar

Clean your lettuce and tear into bite-sized pieces in a large bowl, about twice the size of the lettuce.  Slice the cucumber into half moons and toss into the bowl.  Halve the tomatoes and add to the lettuce.  Slice the onion into thin, half rings and add to the bowl.

Now for the fun part – drizzle the olive oil around the inner wall of the bowl (as opposed to directly on the lettuce) in three quick circular motions around the bowl.  Like you are drawing an oil perimeter around the outside of the lettuce.  Now do the same with the vinegar, but this time only do two trips around the bowl.  Throw in a good pinch of coarse salt and grind 4-5 shakes of pepper into the bowl.  And for the secret ingredient, a small pinch of sugar.  Toss well and taste a leaf of lettuce – it should be bright with the taste of acid, a little salty and a little sweet.  Adjust your seasonings and serve immediately.