Everything I Need to Know about Salads I Learned from My Mom

Ever go away on vacation and pretend like nutrition wasn't important? Eat a McDonald's apple pie at a rest stop, sample "fried latte" at the Texas State Fair, scarf down frites in Brussels? Yeah...me neither. But I imagine that if you were one of those people, you might be craving something utterly healthful when you arrived home, bleary-eyed and luggage-stumbling, after such a trip.

Two feet of snow dumped over several days caused our area to grind to a halt, and school's been closed the past eight business days. I've been enjoying the unexpected vacation, but my mid-section hasn't. Tonight was one of those nights when my body threw in the towel and begged for something healthful and nutritious. My frite-loving side demanded it also be delicious, though.

Fortunately, my mom taught me everything I need to know for making five-star salads. Growing up we had a salad with dinner almost every night. If the huge salad bowl didn't debut at the table on a given evening we were all shocked. Having a salad every evening might have grown repetitive -- dare I say unwelcome? -- but mom knew how to keep things interesting, and I learned the art of the salad from her.

Forget iceberg lettuce. Unless you plan on going retro with a wedge salad, you're asking for unrest. Mixed greens are the essential palette on which to build a great salad: romaines, baby spinach, mache, watercress, and (my personal favorite, which I could eat until I burst) arugula. Once you've got your greens assembled, anything goes.

My salads usually include some kind of combination of the following(all of these do not show up together in every salad, of course, that would just be ridiculous!):

1) CUCUMBER. Peeled. Especially if purchased at the grocery and covered in that slippery, oily, gross wax. I scoop out the seeds and slice in half moons to keep the salad from getting soggy.
2) BELL PEPPER. Always a colored one, because I enjoy the visual contrast of a red, yellow, orange, or purple pepper against my greens. And because I enjoy the sweet flavor contrasting the more bitter greens. Roasted peppers also make a nice, different addition.
3) SPRING ONION. I like that they're mild and don't overpower the other components of the salad.
4) HEARTS. Like hearts of palm. I. Love. Hearts of palm. It's hard to describe them (creamy? piquant? sweet?), but they really provide a lot of interest to any salad. Or artichoke hearts. The heart was always my favorite part of the artichoke and I welcome them in any salad bowl.
5) FRUIT. Strawberries are really, really lovely in a bitter mixed green salad, particularly with a balsamic dressing. Dried cranberries or cherries also make a wonderful complement.
6) CHEESE. Typically something crumbly, such as salty feta, or mild, earthy goat.
7) NUTS. My favorites are walnuts, pine nuts, and sunflower seeds. They give salad a crunch as well as a buttery, nutty note.

The final component of a truly great salad is homemade dressing. Again, when I was growing up bottled dressings seldom appeared in our fridge. I remember sucking down Ranch and French dressings at friends' houses and then grumpily confronting mom about why our family couldn't have such luxuries. Her response? Bottled dressings are unhealthful and prohibitively expensive. You don't know what's in them exactly, and you pay through the nose to have someone else emulsify those mystery ingredients for you. Our salads always had some form of vinaigrette that my mom put together in a re-purposed chutney (or salsa, or jam) jar.

It's easy: three parts oil to one part acid is the typical ratio, although I like a bit less oil, a bit more acid. Oils can be olive, vegetable, peanut, sesame, grapeseed, whatever you like really. Same with the acids: balsamic, red wine, apple cider vinegars, citrus juices. Add in salt, pepper, possibly minced garlic or fresh or dried herbs, and you have a dressing that enhances rather than masks your perfect salad. I know I'll be enjoying mine on this, my last evening of unplanned vacation from school.