I was recently having a conversation with my family about how difficult it must be as a parent to have kids who are picky eaters. I’m clearly not a parent (yet), but I could see myself taking a pretty hard line on this, and I guess I do believe that if you do not give a child a choice about what’s going into their mouths, then they will eat things because they’re going to be hungry otherwise. But I also remember reading an article somewhere in which a chef was lamenting that despite her best efforts and utter embarrassment, she had a child who would basically only eat chicken fingers. So I really don’t know what the right answer is. What I do know is that I wasn’t given a choice growing up, and as a young weirdo, my favorite food, for a time in elementary school, was salad.
I really couldn’t name a favorite food nowadays. I mean, it’s probably not salad, but that’s not to say that I don’t love a good one. Especially a bright one full of textural contrast on a warm day. Here in the northeast, it might be post-Labor Day, but that doesn’t mean the summer temps are behind us! The living room air conditioner, already on its last leg, is wheezing its way through what is hopefully the final week of 90+ degrees.
So as a last toast to summer, here’s a salad I’ve been eating out of the refrigerator as a snack between meals! It’s that good. First of all, you can put your dog days tomatoes to good use (lots of people seem to have an abundance of these, though I have a grand total of 1.5 this season). It also features a dressing that is a good receptacle for aspects of the herb garden that may be overflowing from your balcony right now (just me?).
This would be a fantastic side to some hamburgers or hot dogs. I served it alongside a pork shoulder that I roasted in a homemade North Carolina-style barbecue sauce. It was outrageously delicious (as well as outrageously easy) and of course a recipe I’ll be sharing with you shortly.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon lard or unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cup stone-ground cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cups whole or lowfat buttermilk (preferably whole)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 lbs. ripe tomatoes (4-6 medium tomatoes), seeded and chopped- seeds and pulp reserved
- 6 cups roughly torn sturdy fresh lettuce, such as Bibb, butter or Boston lettuce
- 2 cups bitter greens, such as arugula or dandelion greens
- 1 large Vidalia onion, trimmed, peeled, sliced crosswise as thinly as possible and separated into rings
- 3/4 cups whole or lowfat buttermilk (preferably whole)
- 5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from 3-4 limes)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 cup finely minced fresh basil
- 1/4 cup finely minced green onions
- 1/4 cup finely minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
Instructions
- First make the cornbread. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease a 12-inch skillet with the lard, leaving any excess in the pan, and place it in the oven.
- In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until frothy and then whisk in the buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix thoroughly. Melt the butter in a small skillet over low heat and whisk the butter into the batter.
- When the fat in the large skillet is smoking, carefully remove the skillet from the oven and swirl the fat around to coat the bottom and sides evenly. Pour the batter into the skillet- it should sizzle. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the top of the bread is golden brown and the edge has pulled away from the side of the skillet. Remove from the oven.
- Next make the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk the ingredients together until thoroughly combined. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator not more than 2 days.
- Finally, assemble the salad. Preheat the oven to 250°F. Scatter the corn bread in a single layer on a half-sheet and bake until the pieces are lightly toasted, about 7 minutes.
- Using a wire-mesh strainer held above the bowl of chopped tomatoes, dump the reserved seed clusters and juice into it. Tap the strainer quickly and forcefully against your palm for about 1 minute to extract as much juice as possible from the seeds. You should be left with only seeds in the bottom of the strainer. Discard them.
- Add the lettuce, greens, 3 cups of the toasted corn bread and onion to the bowl of tomatoes and toss to combine. Drizzle the buttermilk dressing over the salad, toss again and serve immediately.
Notes
Adapted from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
