Green Goddess Salad
I just spent a lovely four days in Park City, Utah enjoying the clean air and the peace and quiet (outdoors, of course; indoors I have my three kids and two of their friends, so no peace and quiet in the house from noon ’til midnight.) Â There are no televisions and I insist that the kids leave the phones in their bedrooms so we can hike and dine without the ping of 6 iPhones. Â Heaven.
Of course, with travel comes a deviation from eating the way I like to eat. Â I consumed a little too much guacamole and chips a little too late at night, and then someone tried to torture me by buying a container of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter. Â I had mentioned it was like a more healthful Nutella, not that it was actually healthful. Â By the end, I missed my juicer and my garden and all I wanted to eat were salads and vegetables. Â In fact, I was craving this Green Goddess Salad while I was on the plane home.
No, I didn’t name this dressing after you. Â The original Green Goddess dressing was created at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel in the 1920’s, for the English actor George Arliss. Â Arliss was staying at the hotel and dined there every evening before he performed in a play called “The Green Goddess.” Â There are so many variations on this dressing, the base of which is usually mayonnaise, sour cream and tarragon — the only herb I don’t like. Â Can we still be friends? Â So considering I am using none of the above, I don’t know if I can actually call it a Green Goddess dressing. Â One day last summer, I tried to clean out some little bits of herbs that were lingering and blended them into my own version of the dressing and we all loved it. Â So feel free to adjust the recipe according to whatever herbs you have on hand, even if it’s tarragon. Â The kids think it tastes a little like ranch dressing. Â So I made more the next day and used it as a dip for raw vegetables.
Green Goddess is a creamy dressing that’s a nice break from traditional vinaigrettes, and one that works well with crisp and sturdy lettuces. Â There are dozens of ways to enjoy this salad, even as a main course, since so many things work well with the dressing. Â Here I used tomatoes and radishes, which are both perfectly obvious, but you can add hard boiled eggs, shrimp, poached chicken, cucumber, avocado, and/or corn. Â One day I took a few beefy tomatoes from the garden, sliced them up and drizzled this over. Â Whatever you do, don’t leave out the anchovy paste — it really adds a little salty something and doesn’t taste at all fishy. Â Your kids and your picky spouse don’t need to know it’s in there. Â In fact, they don’t need to know anything other than you made up your own Ranch dressing.
Green Goddess Salad
Ingredients
- 1 head romaine lettuce leave washed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
- Any of the following:
- Thinly sliced radishes
- Chopped or sliced cucumber
- Chopped tomatoes
- Cubed avocado
- Raw or cooked corn kernels
- Quartered hard-boiled eggs
- Dressing:
- ½ cup whole plain yogurt regular or Greek
- 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 3 Tablespoons chopped chives
- 2 Tablespoons basil leaves
- 1 Tablespoon chopped dill if you have it
- 1 scallion chopped
- 1-2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste or two anchovy fillets
- ½ - ¾ cup unrefined cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil (depending on how thick or thin you like it)
- ¾ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place all dressing ingredients except oil, salt and pepper in a blender or food processor. With the motor running, slowly pour in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss lettuce in a serving bowl with enough dressing to coat lightly. Either toss remaining salad components separately with dressing or arrange on top of lettuce and drizzle with dressing.