Alda’s Salad

This is my mom’s simple salad. If it hadn’t accompanied every Italian meal that she made, I’d be hard-pressed to include it here because it doesn’t stand out as Italian food. The key to this salad is her choice of olive oil: the mild, no-frills Filippo Berio NON-extra-virgin. I normally do not measure the ingredients, but have included dressing measurements for 1 kg of spun-out vegetables which you can use as a starting point.

Tomatoes, cut into wedges

Cucumbers, peeled and sliced

Iceberg lettuce or hearts of romaine, leaves torn into bite-sized pieces

Celery, cross-sliced

[the following measurements were taken for 1 kg of the above vegetables as measured after they had been spun out]

13 g coarse sea salt (I may have under-measured this, but will come back later and update if necessary)

80 g Filippo Berio Olive Oil (for sautéing and grilling) – Don’t even think about using anything else!

57 g Italian red-wine vinegar (Do not substitute balsamic.)

1. Cut and soak all vegetables in cold water in a salad spinner for 30 minutes. You can keep them in the fridge if you need to cut them earlier.

2. Spin out the water and transfer to a serving bowl.

3. Sprinkle the coarse sea salt across the top and do a quick mix.

4. Add the olive oil. Start with a moderate amount, but proportionally more than the red-wine vinegar.

5. Add the red-wine vinegar. Start with a moderate amount.

6. Mix well.

7. Taste and make adjustments. It takes practice to get it the way you want.