This time of year, when I’m eating lots of yummy decadent foods, sometimes I just have to break the cycle of richness with something light, bright, tangy and nutritious. This simple salad of mixed greens and herbs with a super zesty and bright lemon vinaigrette is just the answer! Perfect for a light lunch or side salad to go with any grilled/roasted meats, fish, pasta and much more.
This is pretty much a non-recipe recipe, just select the greens and herbs you have access to and that you enjoy! I love the earthiness of arugula, the slight bitter taste inherent to radicchio, the crunch from romaine or a hearty green leaf lettuce and the complexity that comes from a mix of herbs like cilantro, mint, basil and dill.
Depending on where you live, or the time of year that you are making this salad you may have access to fresh herbs. Yayyyy! But for me, it’s nearly winter and I’m living in the mountains, so these grocery store packaged herbs are my friend and an excellent substitute for fresh garden herbs.
Prep should take you about 10-15 minutes! A quick washing/drying of the greens and then tear them into bite sized pieces. For the herbs, a simple rough chop is perfect. No need for any type of tedious perfection here, in fact I think it’s actually better to have whole leaves (like the cilantro above) to toss in the this salad.
Next just 5 minutes or so to whisk together this tangy vinaigrette made with fresh lemons, EVOO, dijon and salt and pepper. Before I juice the lemons, I like to zest one of them and use the zest in the dressing. You may find this brings a little too much zing to your dressing, so if that’s the case just fuhgettaboutit!! It’s completely optional! I’d suggest making the dressing without the zest, and then adding it to your own taste.
And there you have it, an anything but boring salad to either be the star of your next meal, or the perfect complimentary side dish to whatever else is on tonight’s menu. Toss the greens right before serving so they don’t get soggy!
Herby Salad With Tangy Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Herby Salad
- 2-3 cups arugula
- 2 cups green/red leaf lettuce
- 1 cup radicchio
- 1 cup cilantro
- 1 cup mint/basil leaves
- 1/2 cup dill, small sprigs
Tangy Lemon Vinaigrette
- 1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
Herby Salad
- Place arugula into serving bowl. Add lettuce and radicchio, torn into bite sized pieces. Add in rough chopped herbs
- Toss with about 3 tablespoons Tangy Lemon Vinaigrette just before serving, use more dressing if desired.
Tangy Lemon Vinaigrette
- Whisk all vinaigrette ingredients together in a small bowl.