Spring Forward Salad

Okay, so it can be hard to make a salad entirely ahead. Just get everything organized in your fridge on Sunday and all you have to do at mealtime is wash the greens.

This was a very nice salad: spinach and beets greens (I would say the availability of baby greens in my market was the only nice result of the e coli/spinach fiasco.) with salami, mushrooms, carrots, fennel, hardboiled eggs and really nice bread from Annarosa’s bakery in Newburyport.

To make salad ahead for a lunch, wash some extra greens at dinner, dry them really well, wrap them in paper towels and put them into tightly sealed Ziplocs in the refrigerator. They’ll stay pretty crisp for a few days (I’ve gone as long as 5 days this way). Then, when you’re ready to eat – toss everything in the Ziploc bag and shake.

Big Spinach Salad

Per person:

• 4 cups of one or several of the following: spinach, beet greens, endive, radicchio


• 1 cup of chopped vegetables: any combination of carrots, celery, scallions, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, etc. (What’s in your refrigerator?)


• ½ cup of chopped cold cuts and/or cheese


• a few olives or capers


• 1-2 hardboiled eggs, peeled and cut into large pieces


• ¼-½ cup cooked beans (this is a nice way to use up leftover beans)


• Salad dressing – I usually use a red wine vinaigrette with garlic

Get out a big bowl. Wash and dry the greens and put them in the bowl. Put the vegetables, cold cuts, cheese, and eggs in the bowl. Toss with salad dressing. Serve with toast.

To make ahead: wash and store the greens as directed above. While you’re making the salad for dinner, prep double amounts of the toss-ins. Throw half into a small Tupperware as you go. Then at work, toss the contents of the Tupperware in with the greens (take the paper towels out first) with some dressing, shake it like a Polaroid picture and eat.