Lowboy Salad
The more you cook, the more things you have to cook with. I’m not talking about more grocery shopping. When you cook, there’s always bits and pieces left over, from raw ingredients to pickles to stocks. These extras become ingredients for your next project.
Ransacking the fridge is a convenient way to enhance a salad. Salads don’t require large quantities of any single ingredient: they’re perfect for getting rid of odds and ends. Cheeses, pickles, and pre-cooked proteins are particularly good candidates. But we don’t want our salad to be totally incoherent, either. It’s best to follow a framework.
A base of greens. We’re not making jello salad, so leafy greens are non-negotiable. This time of year Mac and I use a lot of spinach and radicchio. This week we’re making a sugarloaf “wedge” salad with crispy maitakes, chives, and bleu cheese dressing. Recipe drops on Friday.
Proteins. Tinned fish, shredded chicken, thinly-sliced steak, scallops, bacon bits - the sky’s the limit. There are also wonderful legume-based options like pressed tofu, lentils, and chickpeas.
Nuts, seeds, & cheeses. Also sources of protein. We categorize them separately because they’re texturally distinct. If there’s already plenty of bite, choose something smooth and creamy like chevre. If everything is soft, choose something crumbly like aged cheddar or feta. We always recommend toasting nuts and seeds to unlock their full flavor.
Raw, pickled, & roasted. This is about texture as much as flavor. The greens are raw, yes, but consider celery, radish, and shaved fennel. Thinly-sliced bok choy is underrated. Char deepens flavor. We love roasted mushrooms, broccolini, and sweet potatoes. Pickles add acid, color, and crunch. Try our pickled red onions.
Dressings. Match the dressing to the greens. Bitter, spicy, and earthy greens (like radicchio, arugula, and kale, respectively) crave thicker, umami-boosted dressings like bleu cheese, anchovy, and ranch. Delicate flavors like butter lettuce shine through light vinaigrettes.
Textural variation is key to building a compelling salad. You don’t, however, have to use something from every category. It’s not a competition. Personally I tend to overdo it. One of my rules is: always remove one thing. Trust your gut, use up holiday leftovers, and be creative.
Happy New Year,
Sten and Mac
Chef Snacks
Cooking Tip
Herbs are salad greens, too. Don’t forget! Fresh parsley, cilantro, and mint boost the freshness and impact of any salad. If you don’t have a salad spinner, invest in this one.
Restaurant Lingo
A lowboy is a refrigerator. As opposed to the walk-in, the lowboy is a smaller, reach-in fridge usually located below a workstation in the main kitchen area. It’s where cooks keep extra mise-en-place for dinner service. It’s also where forgotten ingredients accumulate when the menu changes.
