An EASY side salad recipe to serve with your favorite entree or alongside the main course! Made with common ingredients that you likely have already, but it's flexible and adaptable so you can ADD anything else you have on hand! The simple vinaigrette is easy, light, and flavorful but your favorite salad dressing also works.See Notes below for other lettuce, vegetable, and vinaigrette options and substitutions.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Total Time10 minutesmins
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: best side salad, easy side salad, house salad, house salad dressing, house salad ingredients, house salad recipe, red wine vinaigrette
Servings: 6
Calories: 280kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
Salad
1head Romaine lettucewashed and trimmed (or 12-ounce bag of Romaine)
1large diced tomatoheirloom or similar, 2 diced Roma tomatoes, or 3/4 to 1 cup halved or sliced cherry/grape tomatoes
½medium cucumber or English cucumbersliced or diced small (I peel regular cucumbers but not English)
½cupshredded carrots or about 1/2 cup small diced carrotspeeled
⅓cupthinly sliced red onionsrinse under cold water to remove some of the 'bite'
Freshly grated Parmesan cheesefor garnishing to taste
Croutonsfor garnishing to taste (homemade or store bought)
Vinaigrette
½cupolive oil
¼cupred wine vinegar
1 to 2tablespoonsDijon mustard
1 to 2tablespoonshoneymaple syrup, or agave nectar, or to taste
1teaspoongarlic powderor to taste
1teaspoononion powderor to taste
½teaspoondried oreganoor to taste
½teaspoonkosher saltplus more to taste if desired
½teaspoonfreshly ground black pepperplus more to taste if desired
Instructions
Salad - To a large bowl (or individual plates), add the lettuce, and top with the remaining ingredients, as desired.
Vinaigrette - To a small glass jar with a lid (Mason jar or an old and well-washed mayo/jam/jelly jar, etc.) add all the ingredients. Seal, shake, and taste. Tweak the flavor, as desired. Flavoring/Seasoning Tips - If it tastes at all "boring" or lacks pizzazz or oomph, that's generally a sign it needs more salt. Don't be afraid to add it (and generously), as desired. Likewise, don't be afraid to add more sweetener (or a pinch of granulated sugar) if it's overly "bitey" or potent. It's normal to need to add something sweet to balance the acidity of the vinegar.
Once dressed, salad should be served immediately. Extra vinaigrette will last airtight in the fridge for at least 7 days. Remove it from the fridge about 30 minutes before shaking and using as the cold air in the fridge will cause it to be overly thick and hard to shake but it will loosen up at room temp.
Notes
Nutritional Information - Plain salads are extremely low in fat and calories. It's the vinaigrette (or salad dressings of any kind) that add calories and fat which is what is happening here. The less you add, the lower the stats will be. Nutritional info is computer generated and provided as a courtesy. Calculate on your own or by hand if desired.Lettuce - Romaine lettuce is the classic but a lettuce blend or mix with a variety of lettuces such spinach, endive, arugula, butter lettuce, iceberg, radicchio, and so forth all work. You can use a head of lettuce or use bagged lettuce that's already washed, chopped, and ready to go. Tomatoes - Heirloom, beefsteak, Roma, cherry, grape, heirloom, yellow or orange, etc.Vinegar - Instead of red wine vinegar, you can use rice vinegar/rice wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, champagne vinegar, balsamic vinegar, etc. but I am not a fan of basic white vinegar here. You can also use equal parts lemon juice + vinegar rather than solely vinegar if you want a lemony vinaigrette. In this recipe, use 2 tablespoons lemon juice + 2 tablespoons vinegar.Onions - Red onions, shallots, white or yellow onions are fine.Cheese - Freshly grated Parmesan cheese is great but another favorite shredded or grated cheese such as Pecorino, Romano, grated white cheddar, feta or blue cheese crumbles, or shredded blend/mix such as a “Mexican cheese blend” or “pizza cheese blend”, etc. Vinaigrette Options and Substitutions