If you’re not a salad person, here are two that will keep you coming back time after time — savory, sweet, and extremely delicious. I’m the type of person to never follow a recipe to the letter, so when I made these I took a few liberties.
Let’s start off with the Avocado and Peanut Cluster Salad.
Honestly, the highlights of the flavor combinations in this salad is the dressing, the avocado, and the scallions. In my opinion, the peanut clusters aren’t even necessary, but by all means, go all out if that’s what you’re feeling. If you decide to make the peanut clusters, make sure to crush up the peanuts a decent amount. I made the mistake of not doing that the first time and realized later that it would have been so much better if I did.
I’ve found that the peanut dressing is way too thick when using the proportions in this recipe. If your palate likes things tangy, add more soy sauce and lime juice. If you want it sweeter add more syrup. If you like the taste and just need it to be less thick, simply add water.
When I first made this, I almost skipped the cucumber...it’s actually a must-have! It gives the salad that extra crunch, which is especially imperative if you didn’t make the peanut clusters. Finally, the scallions are a garnish and may not seem needed but they truly bring this salad to the next level. I always use spinach for every salad I make, pretty much always, but obviously feel free to substitute your favorite type of leafy green.
Next, let’s look at the Kale and Apple Salad.
This salad is such a winner I can’t even explain it. The apple, the candied pecans, the pancetta, and the pecorino create such an amazing meld of flavors.
They start off by baking the pecans. You can either follow what they do or caramelize in a pan depending on what’s less messy. When cooking the pancetta, make sure it’s thoroughly browned or it won’t have the desired crunchiness. Cut your apples into exactly how they’re shown in the picture, they’re so much better thin.
They recommend making the dressing for this salad in a complicated, and in my opinion, somewhat gross way. I made a simple olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and maple syrup dressing with salt and pepper. It’s simpler, and you won’t have any pan drippings in there or have to buy capers. In terms of proportion for the dressing I usually do ½ olive oil, ¼ balsamic, ¼ maple syrup and salt + pepper to taste (I would love to give you true measurements but I never measure anything when I cook).
Chives are nice in this, I never used the tarragon. Kale can be good but soaking it first is usually a good idea. I hate when kale is super chewy and you can’t even chew it properly.
These are my go to salads when I have a bit of time and wanna make something (at least moderately) healthy and fun, too! Apologies for no original pictures, I was too hungry to stop a second to take some, oops.