Salad Ideas for a Chef in Training

As winter gives way to spring, my thoughts turn to lighter foods as I make my annual Internet search for new salad ideas to complement my own informal chef training.

When I was growing up, dinner salad was chopped iceburg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and an errant slice or two of onion tossed with Russian dressing. When I attended my first formal mother-in-law dinner and timidly tasted her foreign-looking salad only to be polite, I discovered that red onions, mandarin oranges, and cucumbers could harmoniously co-exist in the same bowl. My eyes were finally open to a bright new world of salad ideas.

Nouveau Salad Ideas

Before I learned to surf the Internet, I searched for salad ideas in newspapers and cookbooks. Whenever I dined out, I would order a different salad and then try to replicate those that piqued my taste buds. With baby steps, I started my earliest chef training foray into designer salads, initially preparing my mother-in-law’s signature salad. When I felt comfortable and ready for more advanced chef training, I tried other slightly more exotic salad ideas.

By the time my local newspaper ran one of my all-time favorite salad recipes, I was totally at ease with terms like ‘mesclun greens’ and ‘arugula’. Combine a variety of these greens, chopped watercress and celery, green onions, orange slices, and chopped walnuts, and add tarragon vinaigrette with a dash of Tabasco for a refreshing salad.

Designer Salad Ideas

As my salad habit grew, I found new ideas everywhere—romaine, fresh sliced pairs, rings of red onions, chopped walnuts, and shaved parmesan with balsamic vinaigrette courtesy of a local Italian restaurant. I moved on to a salad of baby spinach with red seedless grapes, sliced strawberries, mandarin oranges, sugared sliced almonds, and a raspberry hazelnut vinaigrette that I had tried in a neighborhood bistro. The other day I caught myself sneaking a peek at Emeril’s online recipe for baby arugula, endive, walnut, and goat cheese salad with diced Fuji apples and blackberry vinaigrette.

Chef school can provide you with the training you need to understand the subtle and complex combinations of ingredients that go into signature salads and exotic vinaigrettes. Let your imagination loose and create your own salad ideas.

About the Author

Judi Sandall is a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York.

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