Salads deserve more of the spotlight — and don’t sleep on this basic vinaigrette

Few meals are more customizable than a salad, and I am willing to die on that hill.

In fact, I believe in the versatility of these greens based bowls so much so that I created a business, hoping that others believed in them as much as I do and did.

I was right. So many salad lovers came out of their respective closets to boldly claim their devotion to my fiber-filled creations. I started it in 2018, taking orders from my Instagram DMs and posting photos of the weekly combinations. More followers meant more orders and soon I was delivering these veg-filled Kraft paper boxes throughout Oakwood, Kettering and Dayton.

The thing is, people underestimate the flexibility of a salad and as such, I often dream of a universally agreed upon name change, giving these whatever-you-want-them-to-be combinations the clout they deserve. “Salad,” and all its negative connotations, conjures up images of a bed of icy greens, topped with a handful of lazily-sliced, thick-skinned cucumber rounds, some tough, out-of-season cherry tomatoes, and maybe a smattering of dried out, pre-shredded carrots. And perhaps my most-hated ingredient; massively thick slices of red onion that almost everyone removes before eating. What a waste?

I think salads have suffered a reputation leftover from a bad performance in the Low-Fat Nineties. Sadly, women worldwide turned to lettuce to make them skinny. The same fate struck low-fat dairy products - which in my opinion is well-deserved because, yuck. But for the former, I want to scream from the top of a Salad Mountain, “these are NOT diet food!”

I called the company Top Knot Kitchen, named after my everyday hairstyle, and my weekly doorstep drops defied every preconceived notion of what a salad could be. There was a spaghetti and meatball one that used zucchini noodles as the pasta, herby chicken meatballs, spaghetti squash, sunflower seed “ricotta”, marinated onions, and a roasted tomato vinaigrette that would have you licking the lid. There was another week that I created a genius (no, I’m not modest in this department) combination inspired by a cheeseburger. It had handcut baked fries, Tillamook cheddar, housemade dill pickles, slivers of red onion, and crispy quinoa and sesame seeds for a crunch element. All of this was topped with a secret burger sauce. Not all of the salads were themed, in fact, most of them were just inspired by the seasons and over-delivered on complex flavors, textures, colors, and satisfaction. But, by far, the star was always the sauce.

I am still recognized by former customers as “the salad girl,” before they beg me to bring it back. But, I honestly think a more appropriate label would be the “Sauce Boss” because that’s what kept people coming back.

I closed the concept in 2020 after an attempt to stay open during Covid and a failed partnership. I have almost opened Top Knot Kitchen 2.0 nine different times since 2020, each time ending before the doors opened.

Aside from getting to flex my culinary creativity every week to hundreds of eager customers, the experience left me with some indispensable recipes that I still use. Among them, my standard vinaigrette seems to always be in plentiful supply.

I make a batch every week and keep it in a glass container on my counter. We drizzle it over roasted vegetables, grain bowls and hearty salads. A dressing can be the missing ingredient that ties a bunch of average components together and makes the dish cohesive.

This zippy vinaigrette is a smooth combination of shallots, honey, Dijon, apple cider vinegar and olive oil. When I’m coaching how to create a lid-lickable salad dressing I always say that they are essentially concentrates. They should taste almost too flavorful when eaten alone. If this is the case, when the dressing is diluted over a big bowl of cold, crunchy greens - it should be perfect. The sauce’s job is to bring everything to life and create a cohesion and flavor pop that exists only after its application.

I give you this recipe in exchange for the promise that you will do the most with what you use it on. Stretch your imagination with what you put in that bowl, my friend.

I want to see interesting textures, maybe even use a mandolin for an extra thin slice. Add a grain or legume for some heft. Throw a flurry of nuts and seeds on there for crunch. Use fresh fruits, roast the vegetables, and season that protein.

While I’m over here waiting for salads to have their well-earned day in the spotlight, I can at least rest easy knowing this audience is attempting creative combinations undeserving of the name “salad.”

”But First, Food” columnist Whitney Kling is a recipe developer who lives in southwest Ohio with her four kids and a cat and is developing a food memoir that’s ever-nearing completion. If she’s not playing tennis or at a yoga class, she’s in the kitchen creating something totally addictive — and usually writing about it.

BASIC VINAIGRETTE

This is a versatile vinaigrette but the recipe is written for commercial volume. These measurements make approximately three bottles. Divide by three for a single bottle.

8 shallots

3 c olive oil

2 c apple cider vinegar

½ c honey

½ c dijon mustard

2 T Kosher salt

1 T freshly cracked pepper