Recipe from Adam Baumgart
Adapted by Eric Kim
Updated May 29, 2024
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 10 minutes
- Rating
- 4(28)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This green salad, on the menu at Oma Grassa, a pizza restaurant in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, is sprightly but deeply savory, with a shower of cheese curls on top. (A grater with wide holes works best here for dramatic shavings.) If the soft bed of cheese is the protagonist, then the fresh herbs are the supporting characters that give this salad verve. Use tarragon if you have it and love it, but basil works, too. There is no dressing to make — just toss oil and vinegar through the greens. The significantly higher ratio of vinegar to oil here means the lettuces stay peppy and crunchy. Don’t forget to season the leaves with salt: It’s the secret to many restaurant salads. —Eric Kim
Featured in: The Ingredient That Unites My Favorite Salads
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Ingredients
Yield:2 servings
- 1tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 2tablespoons white wine vinegar (see Tip), plus more to taste
- 1small fennel bulb, very thinly sliced
- Salt
- 6 to 8ounces lettuce, any mix of crunchy greens and chicories (about 8 loosely packed cups)
- 1tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves or chopped basil
- 1teaspoon chopped chives (optional)
- 1 to 2ounces Piave or Gruyère, for grating
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 servings)
208 calories; 14 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 10 grams protein; 578 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
To a large salad bowl, add the oil, vinegar and fennel. Season generously with salt, then toss.
Step
2
Wash, dry and refrigerate the lettuce until ready to eat, up to 30 minutes, or use right away: Add the lettuce to the bowl with the fennel, then toss. Taste the lettuce for seasoning. It should be assertively tangy and salty because the cheese will mute the flavors a little. Add more salt and vinegar, if needed.
Step
3
Divide the salad among plates, then sprinkle over the tarragon and chives if using. Using the large holes of a grater, generously grate the cheese all over the salad so there’s a thin carpet of it. Serve immediately.
Tip
- To enhance the anise flavor from the tarragon that makes this salad so delightful, you can steep 1 sprig of fresh tarragon with 4 tablespoons of white wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon of hot water for 10 minutes. Remove the sprig and use the vinegar to taste.
Ratings
4
out of 5
28
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Cooking Notes
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nuts!
I followed the recipe as written, and used an organic white wine vinegar. I thought the vinegar was too harsh, bracing even. And I like vinegar! Any suggestions fellow cooks?
Jan
Excellent tip on the tarragon steep in vinegar! Thank you Eric!
Rebecs
This is my supper most evenings. Almost exactly like this. But with an added protein of whatever is in the house. Any herb works. Any green works. My favorite vinegar is balsamic white. It adds a slight sweetness. Never mix the vinegar and oil. I just sprinkle on top and then toss all together. I find 99% of prepared salad dressings heavy and gloppy on the tongue. This is good eating to me.
Constance
Sadly I don’t like fennel or tarragon. Any substitution ideas for the fennel? (I would stick with the basil without the tarragon.) Maybe radish? Or very thin slices of very crisp, tart apple?
Bebe Von Bernstein
Whatever you have in the frig that's crisp, so either radish or apple sounds deightful!!Julienned celery root could also be nice. . .
Cat
this served on a very cold plate - sounds like dinner tonight!
Nancy
I recently had a salad similar to this in Zurich. They added thinly sliced garlic which had been softened in EVOO, so the flavour was very subtle. May not be for everyone, except for garlic lovers. But this salad is a keeper, with or without.
Robin
Love the LETTUCES at Oma Grassa and excited to try (and fail) to replicate its perfection. Thanks Eric Kim!
ArtsBeatLA
I very much like the finer details of the techniques advised here and can tell this will be a delicious salad. Dressing the fennel but keeping the greens chilled until just before serving is ideal. The steeping of the tarragon in the vinegar with some hot water is ingenious. Comté cheese would suit too, but cheddar might not. Thank you Eric.
Frederick Tibbetts
Besides the salt, there’s another “secret” experts use for the perfect salad. Keep a wedge of freshly-cut lemon beside the salad. Just before serving, gently brush it over the top of the salad while just barely squeezing. (One cook calls this motion “painting.”) You’re not really adding a lemony taste, but an extra pop of brightness. Surprising what a difference it makes.
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