This time of year, every salad feels like it should be coming from —gestures vaguely toward the garden beds— but it’s not.
Not yet.
There’s spinach coming. Radishes. Lettuce. So many cucumbers. But right now? It’s all hope and hardware. Dirt and delay. So I make this instead.
This is my go-to salad. It’s not dainty. It’s not pretty. It’s a little chaotic, very crunchy, and I’m telling you – it’s really good. It’s the kind of salad that doesn’t apologize for being dinner.
My “Not From the Garden” Salad
It goes something like this:
- 1 cucumber
- 3 celery stalks
- ½ roasted pepper
- 1 cup thinly sliced red cabbage
- 5 radishes, sliced
- 5 Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 3 cups mixed greens
- ½ cup raw artichoke hearts
- ¼ cup black olives
- ½ cup crumbled feta
- ¼ cup toasted pecans
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Equal parts olive oil to lemon juice
- Kosher salt
[Salad photo] A large, colorful salad with chunky vegetables, feta, toasted pecans, and black olives in a wide bowl—fresh and full of texture.
Chunky veggies. Salty cheese. Nuts if I remember them. A dressing that’s just lemon and olive oil: good buddies hanging out.
I used to think lettuce was a waste of salad real estate. Now I appreciate its softness—the way it balances out the bite of cabbage and radish, the sharpness of feta, the cool snap of celery and cucumber.
This salad is where I land when I want something that feels fresh, even if the garden isn’t ready yet.
Which reminds me… I still haven’t planted the lettuce.
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