I have come up with a better way to mix up my house salad recipe. Basically, instead of putting the salad mix into the bowl first, you put it in last. It makes it easier to mix.
This salad has evolved from the traditional Italian Caprese salad. A Costa Rican take on it, with queso fresco and palmitos, that I tried at Rancho Margot. And, of course, my own ideas on how to build a salad.
This recipe has been 10 years in the making. It started with me noticing that I really like red leaf lettuce with balsamic vinegrette. Over the years I tried different lettuces, different ingredients, and different dressings. As you will see, this salad has been strongly influenced by the traditional Greek salad recipe. My resident food critic, however, is on the crusade against cucumbers, so these had to go. But of course, YOU are welcome to add them to the mix. The recipe as shown here stabilized around 3 years ago, and since then I make it at least once a week and we love it as much as ever.
1. Red leaf lettuce and sweet leaf lettuce work very well in this salad, but I'm lazy, so I use prepackaged salad green mixes. So, the first step is to put half a package of salad greens into a big bowl. Iceberg lettuce and the such do not work very well in this recipe.
2. A handful of julienned carrots. Also prepackaged.
3. One large ripened on the vine tomato, deseeded and chopped.
4. A quarter of a large red onion, sliced. Red onion is an essential ingredient that contributes an important flavor to this salad. Please do not substitute other kinds of onion.
5. A few spoons of whole kernel sweet corn.
6. Ten kalamata olives, pitted. I usually buy them at the salad bar, they taste better than the ones from a jar.
7. Feta cheese. I buy fresh local feta cheese at Whole Foods. The container usually has around half a pound, and I use a quarter of the brick. It lasts in the fridge easily for a month. I buy cow feta cheese. I think for this recipe the goat or sheep feta has too much of a flavor.
Feta cheese is another essential ingredient for this recipe. You need to crumble it real fine with your fingers. It will make the dressing creamy. Without the feta cheese the salad will taste very dull.
8. I don't eat dressings that are made with soy bean oil. I make my own dressing with real extra virgin olive oil. Use the most expensive olive oil you can afford.
9. Stir very well.
Other ingredients to try:
Balsamic vinegrette is a good dressing for this recipe, if you are OK with soybean oil.
