Learn the basic method for a great first-course salad, bursting with diverse flavors and textures, and you have hundreds recipes at your fingertips. Our basic method builds from a base of lettuce and greens, then fruits and vegetables, then zesty accents like croutons, nuts, cheeses, and herbs. Toss it all with a homemade salad dressing for maximum flavor.

Master First Course Salad Recipe

Serves 4

Make your dressing

No salad is complete without dressing, of course. Homemade dressing is light-years ahead of the bottled stuff in terms of flavor, and takes only a few extra minutes. Click the links below for recipes. Keep in mind you may not use an entire recipe for one salad.

Balsamic Vinaigrette	Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing	Red Wine-Dijon Vinaigrette
Classic Sherry Vinaigrette	或ange-Fennel Seed Vinaigrette	Black Olive Vinaigrette

Toss the salad

When choosing your greens, aim for a mix of textures, color, and flavor, with some mild lettuces and some bolder ones. Fruits and vegetables give the salad its personality; again, you want to aim for contrasts in flavor and texture. Pair sweet pears or apples with bitter greens; crunchy radishes or carrots with soft Boston lettuce. When adding the dressing, go slowly; add too much and it will sog out your greens.

In a large bowl, combine4 lightly packed cups of greens(see options below) andone to three fruits and/or vegetables(see options below). Add 1/4 cup of the dressing, season withkosher saltandfreshly ground pepper, and toss well. Taste the greens, and adjust seasoning with more salt, pepper, or dressing as needed (you may not need all of the dressing).

Baby arugula	Baby spinach	Boston lettuce leaves, torn
Endive, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick strips	Frisee leaves, torn	Green leaf lettuce, torn
Mache leaves	Mixed baby greens	Radicchio leaves, torn
Red leaf lettuce, torn	Romaine lettuce leaves, torn

Steamed broccoli florets: 2 cups	Steamed cauliflower florets: 2 cups	Halved cherry tomatoes: 1-1/2 cups
Canned, drained chickpeas: 3/4 cup, rinsed	Red or gold beets: 3 medium, roasted, peeled, and diced	Fresh figs: 6 to 7, quartered
Grapefruit: 1 medium, peel cut away, flesh cut into segments, segments halved crosswise	Grapes, halved and seeded: 1-1/2 cups	Canned, drained kidney beans: 3/4 cup, rinsed
或anges: 2 medium, peel cut away, flesh cut into segments	Thinly sliced radishes: 3/4 cup	Carrots: 2 medium, peeled and julienned
Apple: 1 medium, thinly sliced	Avocado: 1 medium, pitted, peeled, and cut into thin wedges	Cucumber: 1 small (or 1/2 large English cucumber), thinly sliced
Fennel: 1 small bulb, cored and thinly sliced crosswise	Thinly sliced mushrooms: 1-1/4 cup	Red onion: 1 small, thinly sliced
Pear: 1 medium, thinly sliced	Scallions: 3, thinly sliced (white and green parts)

Plate, top, and serve

Think of finishing touches like cheese, herbs, nuts, bacon, and dried fruit as your salad’s accessories. They add a jolt of color, flavor, and texture, but shouldn’t detract too much attention from the greens themselves. They’re best scattered on top of the salad once plated, so they don’t fall to the bottom of the bowl.

Divide the salad between four salad plates. Scatteryour choice of cheese(see options below) andfinishing touches(see options below) evenly over the four salads. Drizzle with a bit more dressing, if you like.

Sliced almonds: 1/3 cup, toasted	切片的烟肉:4盎司,煮直到短剑p and crumbled	Cashews: 1/3 cup, toasted
Homemade or store-bought croutons: 2 cups	Dried cherries: 1/3 cup, soaked in hot water 10 minutes to plump	Torn fresh basil leaves: 1/4 cup
Fresh chervil leaves: 1/4 cup	Thinly sliced fresh chives: 2 Tbs.	Fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves: 1/4 cup
Coarsely chopped fresh mint: 1/4 cup	Fresh tarragon leaves: 1/4 cup	Hard-cooked eggs: 2 large, peeled and coarsely chopped
Toasted, chopped hazelnuts: 1/2 cup	Toasted, chopped pecans: 1/2 cup	Pine nuts: 1/3 cup, toasted
Shelled pistachios: 1/2 cup, toasted	Hulled pumpkin seeds (pepitas): 1/3 cup, toasted	Toasted, coarsely chopped walnuts: 1/2 cup