How to make a brilliant salad

With recipes for two beautiful dressings, a savoury granola for crunch and lots of tasty salad ideas

Hello and thanks for finding your way to Pen and Spoon. As ever, my recipes are for paid subscribers. If that’s not you, can I tempt you? It costs less than a pint a month (and considerably less than a decent glass of wine). Sound reasonable? Click below - it will take you to your options, including becoming a free subscriber.

Image: Facundo Bustamante, styling: Pip Spence

Do you get irrationally impatient about certain kitchen tasks? I do. Waiting for the microwave to ping – even it’s just a few seconds – is tantamount to being on hold to HMRC for me. Yet, half an hour spent frying and grinding a long list of spices for a curry brings me happiness. Likewise, I mostly leave knives to sharpen themselves because I can’t be arsed to do it, but cleaning out the fridge (and re-organising all those condiments!) brings much satisfaction. Go figure.

Regrettably, I often bring these peccadillos to salad making. Pop a few ingredients in a jar, give it a good shake and pour over vegetables? Nah. Easier to do the bare minimum with a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon and pinch of salt. This is despite the fact I know a properly emulsified dressing – even a basic one – can lift a bowl of leaves into something glorious. Similarly, chopping and slicing ingredients is often a slapdash affair for me, even though I know the salad is worse for it. At heart, I’m a lazy cow, except when I choose not to be.

With summer here – at least in theory – I’ve decided to up my salad game and follow my own advice. I’m not short on know-how. I wrote a whole book about salad, and several chapters in others, including my latest, Second Helpings, which has a master recipe for making one with leftovers. Basically, I just need to give salad making a bit more welly in the effort department

So, today I‘ve got a flexible guide to making a basic but substantial salad. It’s not a recipe, more of an approach, with suggestions about elements to include. Below the guide, you’ll find three recipes for salad dressings – one vinaigrette, a creamy one, and another - plus a recipe for savoury granola that’s brilliant for adding crunch and flavour.