Presenting my old-school Garden Salad! Yep, the one I can make any day because I always have these vegetables on hand. Sometimes, I even get real fancy and add a sprinkle of parsley. 😳
There really are no rules when it comes to a Garden Salad. Any greens and any vegetables will do, all tied together with a classic and simple salad dressing. Make this your own!
My Garden Salad
Ordinarily I write an introduction about the recipe I’m sharing. But I find myself stuck to come up with something witty or some back story about Garden Salad.
I wish I could say this salad is made with crisp organic vegetables fresh from my garden. I want to be able to tell you that this was the only salad my hardworking mother knew how to make when I was growing up and thus has a special place carved in my heart.
I want to at least be able tell you that this version is the definitive, the classic, the original, the real-deal garden salad.
But I have nothing. No authority on this matter, and no sentimental backstory. This is just my basic everyday salad that I make “all the time”, for no other reason than it’s made with the most pedestrian of veggies that always seem to find their way into my shopping basket, week after week!
No doubt you make a similar salad, as does the majority of households in the country. Garden Salad: the great leveller! 😂
What goes in my Garden Salad
So, that said and done, here are the typical things that I put in my Garden Salad.
Well, I won’t lie. Iceberg lettuce doesn’t always make my shopping trolley these days because it just seems so, well, eighties! 😂 It is quite regular when in season though because it’s crunchy, sweet and frankly pretty damned delicious even if it’s about as fashionable as a giant, hair sprayed perm. If not iceberg lettuce, I’ll always have some form of leafy greens in my fridge.
Garden Salad Dressing
The dressing I use is my basic salad dressing: 1 part vinegar to 3 parts olive oil, thickened with Dijon Mustard so it emulsifies and clings to the salad better, simply seasoned with salt and pepper.
There’s all sorts of extra flavouring options available to you if you want to upgrade your Garden Salad, including garlic, lemon zest, dried or fresh herbs. And I’ve listed some suggestions in the recipe notes.
But at its core, this is the basic salad dressing that I use “all the time”.
And that, my friends, is all I have to say about my Garden Salad.
Gee, I wish all recipes I shared could be this short and to the point! 😂 – Nagi x
PS. No video for the 3 simple side salads I’m sharing today! (This Garden Salad, a Blood Orange Salad and Panzanella – Italian bread salad). But if you really want a Garden Salad recipe video, shout out below!
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Garden Salad
Ingredients
Salad:
- 1 small head iceberg lettuce or other lettuce or leafy greens , chopped into big bite size pieces (5 to 6 big handfuls)
- 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (~125g/4oz), or 2 tomatoes cut into wedges or chunks
- 1 cucumber , sliced (medium Lebanese / Persian cucumber, or 1/2 long Telegraph/English cucumber)
- 1 carrot , peeled and grated using a box grater
- 1 tsp parsley or chives , very finely chopped (if you’re feeling fancy!)
Dressing:
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar (or any vinegar or lemon juice) (Note 1)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or other neutral oil)
- 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard (or other non spicy smooth mustard)
- 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt (or 1/4 tsp table salt)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Dressing: Shake Dressing in a jar. Taste and adjust – more oil for creamier/less tang, vinegar for more tang, sugar if you want touch of sweet.
- Toss: Place all Salad ingredients in a big bowl. Pour over Dressing. Toss well.
- Serve: Transfer to serving bowl and serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
- Apple cider vinegar (my most used)
- White wine vinegar (2nd most used, use a touch more as it’s milder)
- Balsamic
- Red wine vinegar, sherry vinegar, champagne vinegar
- Plain white vinegar (most sharp, so you may need touch more oil)
- Rice wine vinegar
- 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
- Sugar or honey can take the sharp edge off dressings without using more oil. Don’t use BOTH, use one!
- Dried or fresh herbs
- Lemon zest
Life of Dozer
His big head always pops over with interest whenever he hears the rustle of a paper bag in the front seat…
This is pretty much how I made salad all my life (73) but I do add olives & chopped red onion. Use lemon juice abd yu can’t go wrong!
Yum! A great addition Marjorie! N x
This is my kind of salad! I do add a few more veggies like, celery, onion, broccoli, spinach, peppers and mushrooms if I have them. Then on the other hand, I have been known to eat just lettuce with dressing all by itself. I’m not crazy about panzanella, but might try yours after I look at it later. And lastly, I love blood oranges when you can get them, but have never tried a salad made with them. As always, your recipes are always so good that it’s a shame if I pass one up. Here in the states if you go out for dinner the garden salad is always what you are served so it’s a staple for a lot of us here. Thank you for the recipes and this fun little vote for a perfect salad!
Thanks so much Mary!!! N x
Definitely Garden Salad, easy and good.
100% Sandra! N x
Love this garden salad. I also use on a daily basis your Italian
Dressing which is spot on and absolutely perfect!
I love hearing this Regina, thanks so much! N x
Hi Nagi,
Your emails, your comments, and Dozer always put a smile on my face.
Loved your garden salad!
Thanks so much Anya, that’s too kind of you 🥰 N x
Salad is my favorite food, and you pretty much hit the mark on how I prepare my garden salad. Back in the eighties my mom would always combine red leaf or green leaf lettuce with the iceberg, because it would fill out the giant green tupperware bowl she would always use for our family salads. We had a large family, I am the middle of five kids. I still use that tupperware bowl today… and I have found that I can make a weeks worth of garden salad in that huge tupperware that stays fresh as long as there is only the garden veg! No dressing. No proteins.
Keeping the tradition alive Jennifer! Nice!!! N x
I’m sure you’ll win. I clicked out and back in (not intentionally). So that’s two votes . Am I allowed to vote twice? I’m anxious to look at the other two recipes, but I won’t until after the twelve hours is up.
My mother’s salad was even more basic. Just iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and whatever bottled dressing was in the fridge. Boring! I like mushrooms and red peppers in mine. (I’m in Canada. What do you call them in Australia?)
Dozer’s in mode 4. 😂😂 Have you ever considered putting the Dozer pics into an album for easy access? Because I know you don’t have enough to do. 😁
Hi Angela! In Australia, we call red peppers “capsicums” 😁
Thank you. I’ve seen Nagi called them that before. I just couldn’t remember it at the moment.
I love your Garden Salad
Thanks Deb! N
Garden Salad for the win!
Thanks! N
Thank you!!!! for a beautiful basic everyday salad.
Making it today.
Enjoy Melissa!!! N x
Oh Cripes!!! Now I have a hankering for iceberg lettuce!! 🤨 So I guess I’ll be going to the store today!!
I’ve been buying all those froufrou lettuces and thinking how bored I have been with them lately!! 🥱
Then tomorrow I think I’ll make a Panzanella salad!!!🤣
A vote for Garden Salad. After months (years?) of buying different lettuces, I have just started buying iceberg again. A comforting basic salad and dressing. Thank you for the recipe. Love Dozer and his antics!
As much as I love a good Panzanella Salad, my always go-to is the popular Garden Salad – I always add capers with a little of the juice and lemon juice to the dressing. Thank you Nagi and Dozer!
Nagi, you win! This is comfort food, doable 365 days a year. Panzanella and blood orange are more special occasion, when in season. Ah, Dozer has the life!
I like to add steamed beets to my garden salad. I get them in a vacuum pak at grocers. Will have to try your dressing.
I am in love with garden salads! I haven’t been adding the Dijon mustard. but I’m looking forward to trying that. I can see where it would give an extra zing…and I do love a zing! Dinner tonight is a garden salad ~ I can’t wait! Thanks for the idea!
Yippee! Garden salad recipe tells me summer is coming!
Thank You Nagi for not forgetting the basic of salads which in my book is a go to several times a week. The dressing is perfect with veggies.
Garden Salad for the win!
The infamous iceberg salad my grandmother and my mother made. I still put on my table today! It is so easy and delicious. Hugs to Dozer.
The crunch and sweet flavor of freshly picked iceberg cannot be beat for sandwiches or salads. Even the darkest green lettuces have minimal nutritional content, so I prefer that crunch. When making a salad that is headed directly to the table, it is perfectly okay to chop it up instead of tearing. We often add citrus to our basic salads.
Oops big flavour. No bugs!!!!