Fall Salad Dressing

A template for tinkering and a Crisp Fall Salad

If you like the crisp edges of lasagne, the soaked croutons, the whipped cream that gets icy around the chocolate scoop - you’re in the right place.

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Hi everyone,

There’s a season to dress delicate produce with nothing more than a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of oil (spring), and a season when the produce is so sweet and juicy that only red wine vinegar is needed to bring it into focus (summer). But fall is a season for more: complex and slightly sweet vinaigrettes play off and enhance October’s bitter waxed leaves, Jurassic kales, and russeted fruits. They transform the season’s independently-minded veg into unified and revelatory (!) salads.

I follow the basic formula for a dressing (1/3 acid to 2/3 fat), but I mix acids to create vinaigrettes with a range of flavor. Sherry, Banyuls, and balsamic vinegars bring musky, barrel-aged depth. Apple cider vinegar—which should be mandatory for any salad that includes the fruit—is so mild it adds flavor and funk but little zip. Lemon is sharp and clean—and usually all a dressing needs to be complete.

So, take a look in your cupboard and see which vinegars you have. Taste each one and ask yourself if it’s base-y, middle, or mild. Then, pull out a jar, pour in a little of the base, a longer pour of something middle or mild, and add a squeeze of lemon. Add some salt and pepper, a few grated cloves of garlic, and a spoonful of honey or maple syrup. Then top the jar off with twice the amount of your favorite olive oil, and shake. Dip an endive leaf or celery stalk into the jar to taste, and begin to tinker.

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FALL DRESSING TEMPLATE

This is a template for you to begin tasting and adjusting. Bear in mind that vinegars vary wildly (balsamic, for example, can range from syrupy and mellow to wet and as harsh as Windex). Consider your salad, too: if it includes rich, sweet ingredients like pumpkin, dried fruits or cheese, lay off the honey or maple. If you’re dressing a bowl of radicchio or trevise, lean into the sweetness to tame the bitter leaves. When winter rolls around, and you find yourself segmenting citrus or pomegranate, squeeze any juices into the dressing jar, too.

Dressing can keep on the counter for a few days.

These quantities will make enough dressing for a salad for 4-6 people

3 cloves garlic, grated

1 tablespoon sherry, Banyuls, or balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Juice of half a lemon

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

A few twists of black pepper

2 teaspoons honey or maple syrup

½ cup olive oil

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CRISP FALL SALAD

I’ve left out any brown vinegars to keep the salad pristine

This salad is audibly crisp and vaguely Walforf-y, with celery, apple, cheddar, Brussels sprouts, and endive. But instead of the Waldorf’s traditional mayonnaise dressing, it has a layered and tangy vinaigrette that echoes the flavor or the fruit. Dress the sprouts first while you chop the rest, so they have time to soften.

For the dressing

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

3 small garlic cloves, grated

3 teaspoons kosher salt

1½ tablespoon honey

½ teaspoon thyme leaves

½ cup olive oil

For the salad

~12 Brussels sprouts (10.5 oz) (300 g)

1 celery heart

4 white endives

1 apple, any variety you like to eat

½ pound, 215 grams semi-firm cheese, like Manchego or Cheddar

To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a small jar and shake. Dip a finger or endive leaf into the dressing to taste it, and adjust as you like.

Trim and discard any tatty outer Brussels sprouts leaves and roots, then sliver the rest and place in a large salad bowl. Toss with half the dressing.

Slice the cheese into matchsticks and set aside. Slice the apples into matchsticks and drop them into the remaining dressing so they don’t go brown.

Slice the top inch off the endives, adding these cup-like leaves to the dressed sprouts.

Sliver the rest of the endive and add to the bowl. Finely slice celery and add this, too. Add the apples and some or all of the remaining dressing, and the cheese, and toss.

Grind black pepper over the top and enjoy lunch!

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The vinegars on my shelf