Everyday Green Salad [Simple Side Salad]

My everyday green Salad is actually not my invention but rather a side salad dish that my family prepares to accompany any lunch or dinner. This simple salad is truly a daily salad in my world, which comes together really quick and can be served with most meals.

This green salad cannot be missed for any meal or at any event. My mum would prepare this salad for lunch and dinner with various green salad leaves and a basic vinegar and oil dressing.

You can prepare this salad within 3 minutes every single day and you won’t have to compromise on taste or fresh raw nutrients.

What is the Everyday Green Salad made of?

Basically, the green salad consists of fresh raw green lettuce variations, topped with a simple French vinaigrette. The vinaigrette is prepared by mixing vinegar, oil, salt, and black pepper together.

You can make up your own green salad. I usually stick to most common green lettuce varieties or the lettuce that is growing in the garden during the summer months.

You can prepare your everyday green salad with the following lettuce varieties.

Major Lettuce Varieties:

• Green or Red Leaf Lettuce
• Romaine Lettuce
• Butterhead Lettuce
• Oak Leaf Lettuce
• Iceberg Lettuce
• Radicchio
• Lollo Rosso Lettuce
• Escarole
• Frisee
• Rocket (Rucola)

Other Lettuce Varieties:

• Water Cress
• Tatsoi
• Little Gem Lettuce
• Mizuna
• Endives
• Spinach
• Dandelion Greens (I used Dandelions here in this wildflower salad)
• Nappa Cabbage
• Kale Leaf varieties
• Chard
• Baby Beet Greens
• Mache (Lambs Lettuce)
• Chrysanthemum Greens

My Everyday Green Salad Ingredients

I usually prepare my green salad with the lettuce varieties that I enjoy the most, which is basically mostly romaine, green/red leaf, and butterhead lettuce.

Sometimes I will add some nappa cabbage, iceberg lettuce or rocket. Yet, most of the time I keep it rather simple because I try to focus on the main dish and I don’t want to waste time in the kitchen. Besides the green salad tastes best the more simple you make it.

That means you can adjust and customize the everyday green salad to your liking, by picking the lettuce variety that you enjoy the most.

You don’t need 10 lettuce varieties, one is enough too to make this salad a simple but essential delight to serve with most dishes.

For the Salad Vinaigrette Dressing, I mix 2/3 Vinegar with 1/3 Oil to create any quantity of this simple vinegar oil dressing.

I like to use apple vinegar with sunflower oil, but you can also use another vinegar variety. Vinegar is the ultimate ingredient in this salad dressing. Using a good quality vinegar is crucial.

Personally, I enjoy homemade vinegar in my salad. Even home infused vinegar such as my herbal vinegar. But of course, I always look out for local vinegar variations whenever I travel to a new place. To me, the acidity that vinegar lends my dishes is super important, so I will always pay a little more for the better bottle contents.

What Vinegar to use for the everyday green salad dressing?

• Apple Cider Vinegar – Classic vinegar choice and quite common. I like the strong flavored Apple cider form the Normandie region in France.
• Rice Vinegar – Usually lighter in taste, this vinegar tends to mix better and is not overpowering. Rice Vinegar has become a popular Salad Dressing Vinegar.
• Coconut Vinegar – This is a secret tip. Coconut Vinegar is not fruity, but it does have excellent flavors and I enjoy it with my salad.
• Raspberry Vinegar – I always associate this Vinegar with North France, places like Amiens and Beauvais. My aunty there prepares fruity raspberry vinegar by infusing the berries.
• Tomato Espellete Pepper Vinegar – I haven’t tried this one yet but I so want to! Espellete Peppers are a specialty in South France bordering Spain. This vinegar should have a spicy Mediterranean touch to it.
• Champagne Vinegar – This vinegar is not that well known but it’really brings out the flavors of any dish. The Vinegar with the green salad you will find yourself craving more raw food soon enough.

Serve the Green Salad with the following meal:

You can serve the everyday green salad as a side dish with most meals and with that, I honestly mean most anything. I had this salad with pizza, pasta, spicy Asian noodle dishes, lentil curries, beef steak and much more.

Yet I think you might enjoy discovering these dishes with the everyday green salad.

1. Flammekuchen – Alsatian French “Pizza” topped with cream, bacon, and onion. Countless topping alternatives are possible.
2. Cheese Spaetzle – Homemade Spaetzle Noodles topped with cheese and onion. A Tyrolian (Austrian) dish.
3. Classic Quiche Lorraine – We wouldn’t serve our Quiche for dinner without the evergreen salad and vinaigrette.
4. Veal Cordonbleu – Classic French cordon bleu with veal meat, stuffed with cheese and ham.
5. Roast Chicken with Thyme, garlic, and mushroom – Usually a Sunday meal in my household. The everyday salad has to be served with this amazing classic dish!
6. Butter Chicken – Unexpected divine combination with the green salad!

Everyday Green Salad [Simple Side Salad] below:

Everyday Green Salad [Simple Side Salad]

 

Author:

Helene D'Souza

Recipe type: Salad

Print

 

The everyday green salad is, as the name suggests, a common side dish which you can serve with most main course meals. It doesn't matter if you enjoy it with western or eastern food, the salad can be adjusted to your liking, it's quiet and easy to prepare and because it's fresh, you won't miss out on some important nutrients. (*see Notes for details)

Ingredients

For the Salad:

• Fresh Salad Leaf varieties (green or red, see in the post for salad leaf ideas)

For the Vinaigrette Dressing:

• ⅔ Vinegar
• ⅓ Oil
• Black Pepper to taste
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Separate the salad leaves from he stem. Wash your Salad leaves. If it's salad from the garden or organic, keep the leaves in a bowl with water and a splash of vinegar as this will get rid of any insects. If your salad is store-bought, make sure to wash your salad properly because of the pesticides used.
2. Once the salad has been washed place the fresh leaves into an salad spinner to get rid of excess water. You can store all the salad leaves in the spinner and that in the fridge because the salad leaves stay super fresh for long in this container. That way you can take out the leaves you need anytime to use as a salad side dish. I usually turn the salad leaves into smaller bite-sized pieces and place them into a bowl.
3. To prepare the dressing, grab an salad dressing shaker ( I like the mini bottles shaped like milk bottles) and pour in the vinegar, oil, black pepper and salt.
4. Shake the bottle with the dressing well and pour over green salad leaves in a bowl.

Notes

1. I have not added measurements because you won't need any. The Dressing can be adjusted with the simple formula ⅔ Vinegar and ⅓ Oil.
2. Store the fresh leaves in a salad spinner and the dressing in a dressing shaker. Don't pour the dressing over the salad and refrigerate for a longer period because the salad will get soggy, lose it's crispness and will turn bad faster.

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Helene Dsouza

I am Helene, and created Masala Herb to share my food and travel journey with the whole world. You will find Asian and Western dishes here, as well as unique travel guides to inspire your day. Don't miss a post! Subscribe to the free newsletter!

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