Green Salads

Simple Garden Salad

This simple garden salad is the everyday bowl worth getting right — crisp lettuce, sweet cherry tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, and red onion in a quick house vinaigrette. It is the kind of fresh, honest salad that goes with everything, and the difference between good and forgettable comes down to dry leaves, seasoned vegetables, and a properly balanced dressing. Keep the components ready and you can build it in minutes any night of the week.

Simple Garden Salad
10 minPrep time
10 minTotal time
4Servings
150Kcal / serving

Ingredients

  • 1 head romaine or butter lettuce, torn
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 cucumber, sliced
  • 1 carrot, shaved into ribbons
  • 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • Salt and black pepper

Instructions

  1. Prep and dry the leaves

    Wash and thoroughly dry the lettuce — a salad spinner is worth it, because dressing slides off wet leaves.

  2. Season the vegetables

    Add the tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, and onion to the leaves and season the vegetables with a small pinch of salt.

  3. Whisk the vinaigrette

    Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, Dijon, and a pinch of salt and pepper until emulsified.

  4. Toss and serve

    Pour just enough dressing to coat, toss gently, and serve straight away.

Finish it with a homemade greek yogurt ranch, or pair it with our Classic Greek Salad for a bigger spread. New to building bowls from scratch? Start with our How to Build a Salad That Actually Tastes Good guide.

The MakeSalads secretDress at the last second. Acid wilts delicate leaves the moment it touches them, so toss this salad only when you are ready to eat.

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