A wise man once said, “A good salad is like a beautiful woman. Once you know how she’s put together, you’ll cherish that knowledge forever.” Just kidding, no one ever said that, but there is something to be said about a well-executed salad, whose ingredients seem to have been cultivated solely to be assembled in that very dish. How often have you gone to a restaurant and loved your order so much that you wished you could go home and re-create it night after night? Well, we’ve got you covered. Here, four easy-to-make summer salads from some of the best chefs coast to coast.
Up Your Salad Game
Grilled Halloumi and Stone Fruit Salad
FIG Restaurant, Santa Monica, California
Ingredients
- 8 cups fruit (nectarines, white peaches, yellow peaches, apricots, pitted cherries), pitted and cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 block halloumi cheese (about 8 oz), sliced into large planks for grilling
- California extra-virgin olive oil
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 cups loosely packed watercress, large stems removed
- Aged balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
- 1 pinch sumac
- Coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Place fruit in a mixing bowl and chill until cheese is ready.
- Brush halloumi with olive oil, season with pepper and lightly grill using a grill pan over medium heat, or an outdoor grill.
- Let cheese come back to room temperature and dice into bite-size pieces.
- Add cheese, watercress and 3 tbsp olive oil to fruit.
- Season with more pepper and toss salad to incorporate. Toss again right before you're ready to serve.
- Place in a serving bowl and finish with a few dashes of vinegar (how much depends on the sweetness or tartness of fruit).
- Garnish with toasted pine nuts, sumac and sea salt to taste.
Narcissa's Salad
Narcissa, New York City
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup lacinato kale
- 1 tbsp sherry vinaigrette
- 2 tbsp pistachios, toasted and chopped
- 3 strawberries, sliced
- 2 tbsp zucchini, sliced into rounds and lightly fried
- 1 1/2 cups salad greens
- 2 tsp smoked gouda, grated
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients and toss lightly before serving.
Summer Asparagus Salad
Bay Kitchen Bar, East Hampton, New York
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 3 oz extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 oz fresh orange juice
- 4 oz fresh sheep's milk feta cheese
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
For the salad:
- 1 lb medium asparagus, trimmed, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 lb mixed-color cauliflower, cut into bite-size pieces
- 4 oz broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces
- 4 oz small green beans and yellow wax beans, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 medium heirloom tomato, thinly sliced (about 1/8-inch thick)
- Fresh sheep's milk feta cheese, for sprinkling
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together ingredients for dressing. Set aside.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch one group of vegetables at a time (except for the tomato) for a few seconds each.
- Remove each and plunge into a bowl of ice water, then set on a paper towel to dry.
- Cover the entire circumference of a plate with tomato slices and sprinkle with salt.
- In a bowl, combine the blanched, cooled vegetables and pour the dressing over top.
- Gently toss, careful not to break up the vegetables.
- Place asparagus over tomato and gently mound the rest of the vegetables on top of asparagus.
- Sprinkle more cheese, salt and pepper to taste.
Warm Summer Vegetable Salad with Watermelon
Main Street Meats—Chattanooga, Tennessee
Ingredients
- 1 large Zephyr squash, cut into 1-cm-thick strips
- 4 large asparagus stalks
- 1 ear sweet corn
- Extra-virgin olive oil for grilling, plus 1 tbsp for dressing
- Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1 large heirloom tomato, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 cup Sun Gold tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1/2 Sugar Baby watermelon, cut into small cubes
- 1 sprig fresh basil
- 3 tbsp sherry vinegar
- Honey, to taste
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, place three-quarters of the squash, 3 asparagus stalks and the corn. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Place on a hot grill and cook on all sides (approximately 4 to 5 minutes). Be careful not to overcook the vegetables, you want them to have plenty of texture.
- Let vegetables rest off heat for 1 minute.
- Cut grilled squash and asparagus into bite-size pieces and place into a mixing bowl.
- Slice thin the remainder of the raw asparagus and squash and add to bowl.
- Cut corn off the cob into the bowl, then add tomatoes, watermelon, basil, vinegar, oil, and salt and black pepper to taste.
- Toss all ingredients together while grilled vegetables are still warm.
- Plate the salad, drizzle with honey.
