Herb Salads
Cancer-fighting, antioxidant-boosting, and nutritious. The medicinal and dietary value of herbs is long-documented and yet they remain an afterthought in traditional American cooking. Our recipes brin...
A one-bowl meal packed with spring root vegetables and fresh herbs, this grain salad will start on you on the path to treating herbs as an ingredient rather than a garnish. Serve as a composed salad with the dressing on the side.
Ingredients
SERVINGS: 4 Serving(s)
- 1 cup uncooked grain of choice (I like wheat berries or freekah) cooked according to package directions with the addition of 1 bay leaf and the zest of half an orange (reserve the rest for dressing) to the cooking liquid
- 2 small beets, any color or combination of colors, julienned
- 1–2 stalks young celery, cut into small dice, leaves (if any) reserved
- 1 small handful each fresh mint, flat-leaf parsley, and basil, washed, dried, and de-stemmed
- ½ cup pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped
- Feta or crumbled goat cheese, as desired
Dressing:
- 1 small shallot, cut into fine dice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Zest of half an orange (reserved from above)
- Juice of 1 orange
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 6 tablespoons good quality olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Cooking
Set cooked grains aside to cool. Make dressing by combining all ingredients in a jar and shaking until emulsified. Check for seasoning and add more salt and pepper or vinegar as desired. Pour 2 tablespoons dressing over the cooling grains.
Roughly chop the fresh herbs and toss together in a small bowl. Choose a shallow serving bowl and scoop the grains into the bowl, using the back of a spoon to spread and level the grain layer. Arrange remaining ingredients on top of the grains in stripes of alternating colors: begin by spooning the beets in a straight line down the middle, heaping them on top of one another for some height. Flank the beets on one side with a heaping line of celery and on the other side with pistachios. On the outside of each of these stripes, spoon the crumbled cheese, then fill the bowl’s outer-most edges with a generous pile of mixed herbs. Serve immediately with remaining vinaigrette on the side
Makes 4 servings
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