Easy Garden Salad
User Reviews
5
Easy Garden Salad
Description
This salad combines a variety of greens including romaine and iceberg lettuce with chopped endive, halved grape tomatoes, sliced radishes, carrots, and cucumbers to create a colorful and crunchy base. The homemade ranch dressing incorporates dairy bases like buttermilk, mayonnaise, and sour cream with fresh herbs such as dill and parsley, alongside garlic and red onion, yielding a creamy, herby flavor.
The salad and dressing are prepared separately, allowing the dressing to chill and flavors to meld before tossing just prior to serving. This helps maintain the crispness of the greens and freshness of the vegetables. The recipe makes enough for roughly six generous servings.
Variations include substituting other greens, adding bell peppers, avocado, croutons, or blue cheese for different tastes and textures. Leftover undressed salad can be stored refrigerated for several days, and the dressing can be made in advance and whisked before serving.
Ingredients
For the ranch dressing (see note 1):
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 6 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon red onion minced
- 1 tablespoon dill minced, fresh
- 1 tablespoon parsley minced, fresh
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- sugar pinch of
- salt freshly ground
- black pepper freshly ground
For the salad:
- 8 cups lettuce such as romaine, green leaf, or iceberg, torn into bite-sized pieces (see note 2)
- 1 blub endive cored and chopped (see note 3)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes halved lengthwise (see note 4)
- 4 radish ends trimmed, halved lengthwise and sliced
- 2 carrot peeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced
- 2 cucumber or 1 hot house cucumber halved lengthwise and chopped, Persian
Instructions
- To make the ranch dressing, in a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise, sour cream, red onion, dill, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste (I like 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper). Refrigerate at least 10 minutes to blend flavors. Whisk to recombine before serving.
- To assemble the salad, in a large bowl, combine lettuce, endive, tomatoes, radishes, carrots, and cucumbers. Drizzle with salad dressing and toss until evenly coated.
Notes
- Store leftover undressed salad in the refrigerator covered for up to 4 days.
- Prepare dressing up to 3 days ahead; whisk before serving to recombine.
- Belgian endive can be omitted if unavailable.
- Customize salad with additional vegetables or toppings such as croutons or cheese crumbles.
- For large groups, dress salad just before serving to preserve crispness.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 6servings (2 cups each)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 204 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Serving | 2cups | |
| Calories | 204kcal | 10% |
| Carbohydrates | 10g | 3% |
| Protein | 3g | 6% |
| Fat | 17g | 26% |
| Saturated Fat | 4g | 20% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 9g | 53% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 4g | 20% |
| Trans Fat | 1g | 50% |
| Cholesterol | 16mg | 5% |
| Sodium | 179mg | 7% |
| Potassium | 479mg | 10% |
| Fiber | 3g | 12% |
| Sugar | 7g | 14% |
| Vitamin A | 4740IU | 95% |
| Vitamin C | 17mg | 19% |
| Calcium | 76mg | 8% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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