Simple, basic, and essential. You can always make a true Vinaigrette (page 600), but as is, this is the simplest green salad, as good for entertaining as it is for weeknights. Almost any greens are good with this dressing, from romaine, Boston, or iceberg lettuce to frisée or radicchio, but a mixture is best. The prepacked mesclun mixtures now sold in almost all supermarkets make it even easier.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 servings
Ingredients
2 tablespoons minced shallot or red onion, optional
1/4 cup sherry, balsamic, or wine vinegar
4 to 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to taste
Salt and black pepper to taste
About 1/2 pound lettuce and/or other greens, preferably a mixture
Preparation
Step 1
Whisk together the first four ingredients, beginning with 4 tablespoons oil and adding more as necessary.
Step 2
Dress and toss the lettuce, adjust the seasoning if necessary, and serve.
Green Salad with Nut Oil (France)
Step 3
Substitute 2 tablespoons hazelnut or walnut oil for half the olive oil.
Green Salad with Lemon (Italy)
Step 4
Substitute fresh lemon juice for the vinegar.
The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.
MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.
