fftf: my #1 dressing for delicate summer salad greens 🥬

^ the first salad I made in my new kitchen! Lettuce from my new CSA, strawberries and ricotta ^

Hello friend!

Ahh - it’s the first Friday email I’m writing to you from my new home in Pittsburgh, PA!

We got here on Sunday night after 10 days of various family visits (went from CA -> CT -> Chicago -> Kentucky -> Pitt) in between the big move. Even though I was exhausted from that, as soon as we arrived at our new house, my pre-baby “nesting” instincts kicked in HARDCORE. (On Sunday I’ll be two months from my due date, so I guess this makes sense, ahh!)

I’ve been riding a wild adrenaline rush all week, unpacking + organizing like my life depended on it; going to bed at midnight and somehow waking up at 5am eager to continue my house-set-up tasks 🤣. I finally crashed yesterday when I was supposed to be writing this email, but instead passed out on the couch at 4pm and then woke up at 7:30pm, dazed and confused from a very deep slumber.

Obviously I unpacked the kitchen first, although I have a ways to go in feeling really at home in it... still need to figure out my pantry and ideal storage locations for everything, etc. My new cooking setup includes a few major upgrades that I’m excited to write about soon, and hoping will re-inspire my creativity in the kitchen (which has been lacking a bit in the past 6 months).

In the meantime, I've been making a few of my usual basics, the most exciting of which are simple summer salads with those gorgeous, delicate lettuces that come around this time of year...

I've made two of these garden-y salads in the last 2 weeks, and when deciding which dressing to make, I still turn to my favorite lemon vinaigrette, which I thought I'd re-share with you today in case you are also making early summer salads!

The super delicate lettuces that come around this time of year (in CSA boxes, at farmers markets, or fresh from the garden!!) are so delicious and beautiful, they deserve to be the star of the show, which means you want everything else in the salad to take more of a back seat. With greens like this, I often keep it simple with just oil and vinegar, but sometimes even the plain vinegar seems too harsh, in which case I crave a more well-balanced vinaigrette, like my favorite lemon one, recipe below.

If you don't have lemons or just want to change it up, this recipe would also work well with any light vinegar like white wine, rice wine, champagne, or apple cider vinegar instead of the lemon juice. The pinch of sugar/sweetener and dijon really balance out the flavors, allowing the sweetness of the lettuce to shine through! (Be careful not to overdress it too, these greens just need a little bit of dressing!)

(THE BEST) LEMON VINAIGRETTE
Takes 10 mins, makes about 1 cup of dressing

Ingredients:

1-2 lemons
1-2 small cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
about 1.5 teaspoons dijon mustard
a tiny pinch of sugar/any other sweetener you like
about 1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions:

Mince garlic or use garlic press and add to jar.
Squeeze 1 entire lemon into the jar. Use your finger to mark the top of the lemon juice, then add olive oil to double the volume. Add 1 tsp dijon and pinch of sugar.
Put lid on and shake it up in the jar until well blended. Taste and adjust.
(I usually end up doing 1.5 lemons and 1.5 tsp dijon but adjust to taste!)
Taste it again plain, you can also dip a veggie or piece of lettuce in to taste it, and adjust proportions again as necessary.

PS. This dressing is amazing with meyer lemons if you have access to those!

Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!