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I like my everyday salads to be unencumbered and free of direction. They’re usually made with the available vegetables in my fridge (the kitchen sink type), and when dressed with lemon, olive oil, and salt, they always taste good.
But when I came across food writer and stylist, Kitty Coles’s salad a few months ago, I loved the flavor combination so much that I agreed to give my next salad at least some direction.
Kitty’s salad is made with clementine, fennel, parmesan, almonds, thyme, and fried garlic. Pulling open my pantry doors, I didn’t have the exact ingredients to recreate the dish but I did have good replacements, influenced by my Lebanese pantry. This made me think, how interesting would it be for this salad to be recreated into your version based on your pantry items.
NO RECIPE, RECIPE
Rather than a recipe, I’ve detailed the main components of the salad and their flavor profiles so you can make them your own.
Citrus: anything citrus goes. Clementine, orange, grapefruit, blood orange.
Cheese: dry and aged.
Vegetable: something peppery like fennel or celery.
Nut: any type of nut goes and I always recommend giving them a quick toast.
Allium or Herb: garlic, green onion, thyme, basil, curry leaf.
Spice: your favorite seasoning and spice.
MY PANTRY CREATION
Citrus: blood orange (the last of the season). You will always find a bouquet of citrus on my kitchen countertop.
Cheese: I went for shanklish, an aged Lebanese cheese. It’s brittle to the touch, tastes salty, and has a pungent smell.
Vegetable: keeping with the original salad, I chose fennel.
Nut: I toasted a handful of pine nuts.
Aromatic or Herb: I used some fennel leaves and green onions.
Spice: Salt, black pepper, and tangy red sumac which a Lebanes spice that has fruity notes to match the blood oranges.
You will be left with a fresh, bright salad that sets itself apart from your everyday kitchen sink salad. Perhaps some direction is a good thing.
METHOD
Toast the nuts.
Peel the citrus and cut it into rounds.
Break the cheese into bite-sized chunks.
Chop the vegetables into rounds or chunks.
With your hands rip up the herbs and or chop your aromatics.
On a serving plate add the chopped vegetables and sliced citrus. Top with cheese aromatics, herbs, nuts, seasoning, and spices, and drizzle with olive oil.
It looks sooo appetizing, this is such a great guide for summer salads! Can't wait to make my own...