In one of my singular childhood memories, my mom stands at the kitchen counter in the old, white house. She is up to her wrists in a bowl of salad. I recall her talking about massaging the lettuce leaves with olive oil first before adding the other ingredients. It was supposed to make the salad taste better, or at least feel more relaxed.
My sister Lisa remembers in more detail. “You coat the lettuce, tomato and cucumbers with oil first. Then you add salt, black pepper and a little sugar and massage lightly,
then add
vinegar
and
massage again. Taste and adjust seasonings.”
All that massaging made my dad happy. He preferred day-old wilted, soft salad to anything crisp and fresh.
My brother Peter has a different memory. “Mom used to kill salads by putting too much dressing on the whole salad and then toss it with her hands. It was more like a slaw,” he said.
Full disclosure requires me to admit that I’ve been known to settle for bottled dressing on bagged baby spinach. However, when I do make a green tossed salad from scratch I typically take Mom’s advice and coat the greens with oil, usually store-brand extra virgin olive. I never massage the tomatoes, radishes or other additions, and instead just toss them in at the end. I skip the sugar. It’s a quick rubdown, not deep tissue work. I save the Rolfing for elderly kale leaves.
When I asked two chefs whether it was a good idea to oil the greens, one gave it a thumbs-up. The other insisted that if the greens you are using are so tough they need a shiatsu treatment, you may need fresher, younger, tender lettuce, arugula or greens. Massaging breaks down the cellular structure.
One source even suggested starting with the vinegar and letting the leaves marinate and tenderize a while.
I settled the internal vinaigrette debate last week when I had some good-looking romaine in the house. I took a couple of crisp leaves and massaged them with oil, tore them up and added vinegar, salt and pepper.
Two other leaves got coated with vinegar and salt before becoming salad. With two bowls before me, I alternately tasted Salad 1 and Salad 2. There was a subtle distinction, with Salad 2 seeming softer and tangy-tasting. Salad 1 had a little more crunch and a mellower taste. I still liked it better than Salad 2. Frankly, both salads needed some grated Parmesan.
A recent national survey by porch.com breathlessly revealed that 60 percent of millennials don’t know how to make a salad dressing from scratch. I bet more than 60 percent of all Americans of any age can’t make a green salad with a vinaigrette.
Salad can be a composed work of art but it doesn’t have to be a big deal.
First, get the freshest lettuce or greens possible. Gently rinse them by immersing them in a bowl or sink of cool water. They will wilt from too much handling and bending. It’s important to dry the leaves completely on a towel or use a salad spinner.
Next, rub the leaves with olive oil. If you want to live it up, try some hazelnut oil. Then break the leaves into bite-sized pieces and not giant leaves that have to be cut to be eaten. The other ingredients should be roughly the same size. Add the lemon juice or vinegar — apple cider, red wine, rice or balsamic — plus kosher salt and fresh-ground black pepper. Toss and serve dressed and not with the dressing on the side.
How do you dress for success? There is an old saying that it takes four people to dress a salad: a wise one for the salt, a mad one for the black pepper, a miser for the vinegar or lemon juice, and a generous one for the olive oil. That is, vinaigrette is roughly three parts oil to one part vinegar or lemon juice, and I usually add more olive oil… not to mention herbs, nuts and diverse produce. Make it, taste it, adjust it, repeat as needed.
Local food news
Arcana has added the Colorado Brunch Drink (CBD) to its brunch menu. The beverage includes Strega (Italian herb liqueur), basil, tonic water and hemp-derived CBD extract from Louisville’s Bluebird Botanicals. … At the recent Dead & Company Boulder concerts, Celestial Seasonings introduced a Grateful Dead-themed black tea: Ramble on Rose. … Northern California’s Vitality Bowls has opened at 2525 Arapahoe Ave. The bowls, smoothies, juices, soups, panini and salads include superfoods like acerola, mangosteen, camu camu, moringa, maca, etc. … Calling all pie crafters. I want to judge your pie at the Hygiene Hay Days pie contest on Aug. 4. hygienecommunityassociation.org … Williams-Sonoma has introduced three pancake mixes from Denver-based Snooze A.M. Eatery: Plain Jane Buttermilk, Cinnamon Roll Pancakes, and the famous Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes. … Boulder’s food scene attracted more kudos in a recent Washington Post feature: “At Shine Restaurant & Potion Bar, my friend Sarah said, ‘It’s a sign of an excellent menu that you’re paralyzed by all the good choices,’ which is how I felt in general about dining in Boulder.” The writer also praised Bramble & Hare, Pizzeria Locale, Savory Spice Shop, Boulder County Farmers Market and Sweet Cow Ice Cream.
Tastes of the week
An unlikely Colorado collaboration has produced the most refreshing beverage I’ve tasted in many hot summers. Pickle artisans The Real Dill joined forces with Stem Ciders to produce A Salted Cucumber, a fusion of apple juice, cucumber juice, sea salt, and cascade and citra hops. The bright, lager-like hard cider is only mildly sweet and nearly perfect on a hot day at Denver’s Slow Food Nations gathering. A Salted Cucumber is available in cans and on tap at Stem Cider’s Acreage restaurant in Lafayette.
Meanwhile, The Real Dill also supplies its Jalapeño Honey Dills to Denver’s Sweet Action Ice Cream to make Honey Jalapeño Pickle ice cream. I haven’t tasted that mash-up yet.
Words to chew on
“What peaches and what penumbras! Whole families shopping at night! Aisles full of husbands! Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes! and you, Garcia Lorca, what were you doing down by the watermelons?” — From “A Supermarket in California” by Allen Ginsberg
John Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles at 8:25 a.m. Thursdays on KGNU (88.5 FM, 1390 AM, kgnu.org). Comments: nibbles@boulderweekly.com
