If Wes Anderson Did Salads...
an ode to salads –
In 2018 I journeyed to the motherland of salads and spent three months living on a winery in Northern California. I arrived from India with no passport (lost to a bathroom in San Francisco airport, RIP), no driving license (eventually found somewhere in Varkala), and no winter-appropriate clothing (tropical life for four months negated the need for knits). But a stint looking after two amazing pups in a yurt on the Washington/Oregon border for a week prior had reignited my love of cooking and sparked my hunger for a good, hearty, wholesome salad.
My first meal at Campovida was at its restaurant in downtown Hopland. Armed with a glass of its famous Arneis wine (a rare Italian grape that produces a wine so drinkable that you could throw it back in under three minutes), I was schooled in the beauty of a simple, classic Caesar salad. Tender morsels of roast chicken, cold, crisp romaine lettuce, slivers of anchovies, the crunch of pancetta and homemade croutons, a mountain of parm and the all important slickness of the creamy dressing, spiked with salt and acid.
Here, I was surrounded by a bounty of fresh, local produce. On days I wasn't weaving stories for the winery online, Ken – Campovida's legendary gardener (pictured above with owner Gary) who is the wisest soul I've ever met – was showing me the ways of Mother Nature and teaching me how to toil the earth. We planted and dug; we drank wine amongst the soil; we swapped stories (Ken's, weathered tales of California in the 60s; mine a little less worthy).
I learnt how hardy brassica plants are as they survive near freezing temperatures yet still emerge bitter, robust and earthy when kissed with oil in a searing hot cast iron. I experienced the bitter crunch of bright purple radicchio and deep green Tuscan kale; the sweet taste of Californian Meyer lemons and homegrown blood oranges; the smooth creamy green of homegrown avocados. Here, the salad bowl became my canvas, and these ingredients were my paints.
That’s why I love a salad. And why I believe that salads shouldn't be anaemic looking pieces of limp lettuce dressed with balsamic vinegar (the salad equivalent to an Adam Sandler film) and eaten as a side. Salads are the main event. They’re a meal that brings crunch, creaminess, freshness and indulgence all in one bite. They’re basically a lifeline during this lockdown where we can’t witness the colour of life out on the streets, so we just have to bring it back into our bowls. Making a real, Californian salad in self-isolation is like watching a Wes Anderson film in the depths of a dull, grey winter.
All of this is to say: salads, you are my king, and I am your loyal servant. Enjoy this week’s dish, which is basically unsolicited ‘arranging’ advice on how to pick the best produce, my two signature dressings that I keep topped up in the fridge, and all the ways you too can make anything into a salad.
Enjoy the sunshine (and your salads, send pics pls),
Cat.
a tale of two dressings.
Much like the two dresses you have on hand in your cupboard that have the power to transform your look from ‘I drank two bottles of pinot last night’ level hungover to ‘sorry but am I Olivia Munn right now?’, I believe every fridge should have at least one of these two dressings. These dresses might not make you look like Olivia Munn (still carrying out the research), but they will make you feel better than your hungover self (research: completed).
Fridge Dressing: I keep it in a jar and keep topping it up whenever it looks a little low. You’ll need: 2-3 tbsp of white wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar is great), 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (you could use dijon, but I like the crunch), 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or oil of your choice – anything cold pressed is ideal), ½ tsp ground turmeric (or grate some fresh), the zest of ½ lemon, juice of ¼ lemon, 3-4 roasted garlic cloves (you could grate in fresh but I like the mellow flavour of when garlic has had some time in the oven), a generous pinch of salt and as much pepper as you’re into. The method is quite simple: put all of the ingredients into a large jar (the Bon Maman compote ones are perfect!), tighten the lid then shake it like a polaroid picture. Then taste it. Do you like it spiked with acid? Add more vinegar or citrus. Prefer a smooth sweet texture? Add more honey. Dressings are a great way to test your taste buds because the flavours are pretty extreme. The quantities (as they always are with me) are pretty flex – when you top up, just add and adjust. More acid requires sweetness, salt or fat to balance it out. Salt can be evened with a squeeze of lemon. Trust your taste buds.
Oven Dressing: This is one I picked up from working with Ben Quinn at Canteen in St Agnes. (1) Take a big bunch of small vine tomatoes, place them in a baking dish (with the vines on). (2) Add 4-5 crushed garlic cloves and ¼ chilli deseeded and diced. (3) Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper then roast at 200º for about 20-25 mins, or until the tomatoes burst. (4) Remove the vines then transfer everything to a large mixing bowl. (5) Pour over a VERY generous amount of extra virgin olive oil (maybe for as long as it take to name all of Rory's boyfriends from Gilmore Girls three times?), then balance that out with about ½ cup vinegar (I like apple cider). (6) Zest half a lemon, add a little of its juice, then squeeze about 4 tbsp honey. Season with salt and pepper. (7) Give it a good mix with a fork, allowing the tomatoes to release its juices. (8) Then crumble in as much feta as you like and finish with a heavy sprinkling of chopped coriander. Keep in an airtight mason jar – I like using this one for a potato salad. Remember to adjust according to your tastes. I love oil, salt and lemon, so my recommendations are always skewed that way. But you might want more chilli, more vinegar, less lemon and less pepper. YOU DO YOU.
Tips On Salad Stacking:
Leaves: radicchio, castelfranco, cos, rocket, romaine
Grains: bulgar wheat, wild rice, giant couscous, pearl barley, short pasta
Meaty veg: roasted squash, sweet potatoes, new potatoes, roasted fingerling potatoes, roasted beets, roasted fennel
Salady veg: cukes, raw fennel, tomatoes (but make sure they’re firm!)
Fruit: orange/blood orange, grapefruit, pear, pomegranate seeds
Meat: roast chicken, salmon, mackerel, pancetta, steak
Dairy: parm, mozzarella, burrata, feta, ricotta salata, compte, crumbly blue cheese
Herbz: dill, coriander, parsley,
Crunch: sourdough croutons, dukkah, toasted sliced almonds/hazelnuts/pine nuts
Dressing: fridge dressing, tahini (simply tahini, water, lemon juice, olive oil, salt), caesar (I use Samin Nosrat’s recipe), tomato + feta.
Salads I constantly have on rotation:
- Radicchio + castelfranco, roasted butternut squash, roasted beets, feta, cukes, sourdough croutons, fridge dressing.
- Warm kale (tossed in olive oil in a hot pan with the lid on for a couple of mins), roasted fingerling potatoes, radicchio, dill, tomato + feta dressing, all dressed on a plate of yoghurt with salt, zest + olive oil.
- Roasted chicken, wild garlic pesto, mozzarella, radicchio, croutons, avocado, fridge dressing.
my grocery list.
This weekend's grocery list is sponsored by drinking in the sun (via my living room windows) and zero effort meals to mark the intervals between beer and wine.
food stories.
– I want to make everything from The Modern House’s Kitchen Stories (feat. Jeremy Lee, whose love for eggs might rival mine).
- Man Repeller's Leandra Medine's quarantine cooking tips give me life – here she is making chilli, chicken and cookies.
- Obviously I agree with everything Bon Appétit say about there being a pasta shape to match your emotional state.
feast your eyes.
- Look, we all know a chef film with Bradley Cooper isn’t going to win any Oscars, but I enjoyed Burnt, ok?
- If I was a character, I’d be Sweetbitter’s Tess. Young, naive, hungry for experience, the show follows her as she navigates her appetite for food, wine and sex in the New York restaurant industry.
- God knows how many times I’ve watched Julie & Julia – Meryl Streep AND Stanley Tucci AND cooking? The dream.
a few leftovers.
Molly Baz here for you on how to make the perfect Cae Sal
Low-key obsessed with salads? Follow Salad For President
An excellent wild garlic pesto (but keep it classic with pine nuts instead)
Also into anything food critic George Reynolds puts together
Honestly you can’t go wrong with this no-fail recipe for a roast chicken
V jealous of Alison Wu's Pujol delivery in Mexico City
I cannot stop watching this video of NYC dinner party hopping on Munchies
before you go.
Lastly, my mate Meg introduced me to illustrator Louise Sheeran, whose collection inspired by natural wine and the ‘68 student uprising in Paris has me committed to getting PRESERVE TA SOIF tattooed on my arm as soon as lockdown is over.
and if you like what I'm putting down?
Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell your lovers!