After reading about Via Carota’s Insalata Verde on two blogs, I decided to try the recipe. Everyone is on to something. This salad is delicious!
I found the original recipe in The New York Times. The first time I made it was for our Valentine’s dinner at home. I revised the recipe a little, replacing endive with radicchio for a little color. Radicchio is a little more bitter than endive, but they are similar in flavor, both being in the chicory family. I left out the frisée, because the stores I visited were out of it. The next time I made the salad, I used endive and frisée. I used the salad dressing multiple times on different collections of the greens and it was delicious every time.
The salad assembly is unusual in that you don’t toss the greens and dressing before serving. Instead the greens are layered and the dressing drizzled over the layers. I have followed those instructions and tried tossing the salad with the dressing. Both methods are very good.
One blogger suggested topping the salad with shaved Parmesan cheese, which sounds delicious.
This recipe makes 6 – 8 large servings.
Tips
I’ve made some minor adjustments to the instructions for personal preferences.
- I used less shallot than the recipe called for and let the chopped shallot sit in cold water. I like to limit raw onion flavor in my salads, so I soaked the shallot pieces to calm down the strong flavor. If you are a fan of the “shalloty” taste, use the original instructions from the link above.
- The original recipe says to keep the butter lettuce leaves whole and halve the romaine and endive leaves. I find the larger outside leaves a bit too big to eat without making a mess and I suggest tearing the larger ones into smaller pieces.
Ingredients
You need the following ingredients to make Via Carota’s Insalata Verde.
Dressing Ingredients
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon aged sherry vinegar, more as needed
- 1 tablespoon warm water
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
- 1 1/2 teaspoons honey (optional)
- 2 sprigs thyme, washed, stripped, and lightly chopped
- 1 large clove garlic, finely grated
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salad Ingredients
- 2 heads butter lettuce, such as Boston or Bibb
- 1 romaine heart
- 1 large Belgian endive
- 1 bunch watercress
- 1/2 small head frisée
Directions
Make the dressing.
Add the chopped shallot pieces to a small bowl filled with very cold water and let them sit for at least 30 minutes. Drain them with a fine mesh strainer, then add them to a medium bowl. Add the vinegar and warm water and allow it to sit for two minutes. Whisk in oil, mustards, honey, thyme, garlic, salt, and a little pepper. Taste and adjust salt and vinegar as needed. Set the dressing aside.
Process the greens.
Fill a sink or large basin with tepid (a little cooler than lukewarm) water. Remove wilted or damaged leaves from the butter lettuce, romaine, and endive. Trim each head at the root to release whole leaves. Tear the larger outside leaves of the romaine and butter lettuces into manageable sizes. Keep the smaller leaves whole. Halve the endive leaves. Put all leaves back into the water.
Remove the roots and thick stems from the watercress and add the leaves and tender stems to the water.
Remove dark green outer leaves and tops from frisée, keeping only the light green and white parts. Trim at the root to release the leaves and add to the water.
Gently swirl the greens in the water and then drain them. Wash them twice more: once in cool water, then in cold water. Transfer the greens to a salad spinner to dry. Gently wrap them in clean dish towels.
Assemble the salad.
Pile a large handful of greens into a serving bowl. Sprinkle them with salt, pepper, and a generous drizzle of dressing. Add another handful of salad and more seasoning and dressing. Repeat the layering until you have “a glorious, gravity-defying mound of salad”. Top with a final drizzle of dressing and serve it immediately.
Related Posts
You might enjoy these salad recipes.