Everybody’s Favorite Salads

Looking for a tasty new salad to add to your repertoire? Here are three slightly mixed-up versions of the classics.

As the season warms up, I crave salads: that cold, juicy crunch along with a handful of extra-delicious treat ingredients to get everybody excited. These are our versions of a trio of classics: made a little lighter, a little more nutrient-dense, and, in my not-so-humble opinion, a little more exciting too. I would happily eat these on rotation for the next five months, and I probably will – adding some grilled chicken, steak, shrimp, or fish to turn them into a more satisfying main course when that’s all I’m making.

Wedge Salad with Carrot Bacon and Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

This is basically your favorite steakhouse salad (okay, I’ve never actually been to a steakhouse, so I’m just imagining here…) but lightened up with a fantastic vinaigrette-style dressing and some smoky vegetable-forward crunch. Full disclosure: the carrot bacon is VERY FUSSY to make, so if you don’t like a weird project, please skip it altogether or just use regular bacon. But I DO like a weird project, and I love that there’s some extra nutrition and also that I can serve this to my vegetarian daughter. One last note (sorry): Swap Romaine lettuce for the iceberg if you want to make this even more nutrient-dense.

Greek-Style Salad

In the spirit of the traditional Greek salad horiatiki, this one contains no lettuce. And it is such a delightful mix of textures – crunchy and juicy and creamy – that you’ll find yourself craving it all summer long. Of course, feel free to add a chopped head of Romaine lettuce, which will double the number of servings (you may need to add a bit more dressing). Also feel free to skip pickling the onions and just add them raw – though you’ll miss that gorgeous shocking color! You will notice in the photos that I’m leaving out the olives because my husband doesn’t like them and doesn’t even like the taste of where they’ve been. But please do add them like a regular olive-loving person, if you like.

Celery Caesar

This salad is hugely popular around here, and for good reason: the celery is crunchy and flavorful; the chickpeas are crouton-ish but wholesome; the parmesan is perfection; and the dressing is absolutely lip-smacking. Can you omit the anchovies? Of course you can! But I’d encourage you not to. They’re not really noticeable in the dressing, but they add an intense umami flavor that is unique to themselves. Plus, if you like Caesar salad, you already like anchovies in your dressing. Note: if you’ve got a mandoline-style slicer you can make short work of cutting the celery. (This is my favorite https://amzn.to/3OeG9KY.)