Salads go all the way back to the Roman Empire. The ancient Romans loved their raw, crisp vegetables and leafy greens served with oil, vinegar, and brine. A good salad needs the vegetables to be crisp and dressed with just the right mix of oil, vinegar, salt, and sweetness.When I first started experimenting with salad dressings- I did it separately, in a bowl and started with small amounts of whatever Ingredients that I had around; remember to mix it well, taste, then made adjustments accordingly. If it is too oily, add a bit more vinegar. If it is too vinegary, add a bit of sugar and oil to balance the flavour (honey,maple syrup are great options to sweeten the dressing). Balance it with salt and freshly ground pepper. There are so many ways to experiment.
This is one of the simplest salads. It does not need much as all of the vegetables are fresh and the flavours come alive with using good aged vinegar, olive oil and salt. In this salad, I used spicy green mix, watermelon radishes from one of our local farmers, and tomatoes from our garden. For the dressing I used olive oil, traditional balsamic vinegar, salt, and freshly ground pepper. With this type of salad mix I like my vegetables thinly sliced and my tomatoes to be bite sized. After rinsing and drying the greens, I sprinkled it with salt, then added olive oil and then the balsamic. Add the greens when you are ready to eatand toss and serve. Experiment on!
