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A good green salad doesn’t come in a plastic pouch. Every time I tear one open I find myself disappointed by the too-tiny, too-tender leaves well on their way to wilting. A bagged salad can dim your enthusiasm for all things fresh and green. So take some time and choose your greens carefully. It’s fun! When shopping, I try to emulate that just-picked feeling, choosing lettuce as if harvesting from a well-tended garden. I’m surprised how many times little gem lettuce ends up in my shopping bag. 

As anyone who has ever had a skilled cook bring them a simple salad knows, in the right hands, there’s something remarkable about a well-made salad. No matter how complex, rich, or indulgent the dinner proves to be – there’s room for a salad with every meal. The right ratios of explosive tastes and textures dressed in light-stepping vinaigrette can dance across the palate with energy and grace. Hyperbole aside, what I’m trying to say is that a good green salad is damn good food. 

The mastery of a simple salad, for me, is emblematic of a good home cook. You don’t have to fuss it up too much and you can serve it year-round. When I dine at home, which is often, it’s a rare meal that doesn’t include a salad of green leaves. Nothing fancy: pasta, soup, or a roast chicken, with a bottle of wine and some sort of simple salad. That’s damn good food.

By definition, the green salad is a seasonally evolving mix of vegetables dressed in a good vinaigrette. It is difficult to be dictatorial about the ingredients. The best green salad recipes rely on a simple formula of contrasting elements. If the salad is very crunchy, add something soft. If it seems sweet, add something salty. If it’s on the rich side, nudge it back into balance with something acidic.

This Gem Lettuce Salad with Grapes and Blue Cheese delivers on that promise. Crunchy leaves of baby gem lettuce, a block of creamy blue cheese, toasted walnuts, celery, and green grapes. That is all it takes to make this green salad simultaneously silky, crunchy, clean, sharp, and damn good. GREG

Expand Recipe…

Gem Lettuce Salad with Grapes and Blue Cheese 

By: Greg Henry

Print This Recipe Total time Yield 8Source Paul CunninghamPublished November 23, 2021

There will be more dressing than you need for this salad. The leftover may be stored covered in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup cider vinegar
• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ⅓ cup walnut oil
• 2 tablespoon crème fraîche
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 cup walnuts (whole or half pieces, perferably)
• 1 pound baby gem lettuces or Bibb lettuce ( torn or sliced into large peices)
• ½ pound light colored inner stalks of celery with leaves (stems halved lengthwise if necessary and cut into 1 ½–inch batons and leaves left whole)
• 1 ½ cup green grapes (halved)
• Flaky sea salt
• freshly cracked black pepper
• 3 ounce blue cheese (crumbled)

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Directions

In a small bowl, whisk the apple cider vinegar with the olive and walnut oils, crème fraîche, and Dijon until smooth and season the vinaigrette with salt and pepper.

In a small skillet, heat the walnuts, tossing occasionally, until toasted, about 6 minutes. Arrange the lettuce on a large serving platter, followed by the celery stems and leaves, warm walnuts, and grapes. Drizzle the salad with the vinaigrette, season lightly with sea salt and pepper, and top with the blue cheese before serving.