On Salads

My favorite food in the entire world, actually.

Oh hello, and happy Friday-of-a-long-weekend! This is the weekly recipe post for paid subscribers, and it is PERFECT for a hot summer weekend. On Tuesday, all readers will receive another installment of wine opinions from a casual drinker. Next Friday, paid subscribers will receive a recipe for blueberry muffins. There is a hard stop ahead, which sucks, but hey: it’s this or endless ads on a website, so here we are!

Salads are the underdog of the dinner table, and I blame the sad, wilted Romaine lettuce mix at 90s salad bars for that. The truth is, salads don’t have to be the side dish you eat to make yourself feel like you did your body a favor. More often than not in the summer, I find myself making a salad for dinner over and over and over.

Because I am an extremely online millennial and post photos of these salads on my Instagram, people constantly ask me for my salad recipes. Of all of the things that I cook, I find it hardest to transcribe recipes for salads. I absolutely never cook salads with recipes. I don’t even know if I believe that salads need recipes! Salad dressings, yes. But a plate of veggies? I don’t know. To me, a salad is the perfect example of something you already intuitively know how to cook. You don’t need me to guide you through.

Every salad you make should be different. Few should rely on over-dressed, wilted greens. Some should be spicy. Crunchy. Lush. Some, like the one my friend Emily at

sourbittersaltygram

made, should showcase flowers (!) and interesting dressings. No salad, I repeat, NO SALAD, should be subjected to ranch dressing—that is for dipping pretzels and cheap pizza and nothing else.

This is one of my favorite summer salads. I struggled to write the recipe down for you because, again, every time I make it is a beautifully different riff on a theme. The theme, like last week’s recipe, is peaches (or nectarines, which I am discovering I am partial to). Just know that you can add greens to this if you want. Or cheese, or protein. Spicy arugula would be delicious. A brine-y feta would sing. A sprinkle of chorizo could be great, too. You could toss in some farro or barley to make it a main. The possibilities are endless!

I’m giving you the basic method I use to make a spiced pepitas vinaigrette (lauded as one of my most delicious recipes), but to be totally upfront with you, I’ve also made this by just using a chili crisp oil with a splash of apple cider vinegar. You do you!

Peach + Tomato Salad

To me, you are perfect summer.