Classic House Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette
The Ultimate Classic House Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette Recipe
Have you ever been looking for that one side salad that complements a main course beautifully without overshadowing it? It’s that simple, crisp, and refreshing salad you enjoy in a lovely restaurant, making you think, “I’d love to recreate this at home.” Well, the good news is, you certainly can, and we’re here to guide you. It’s time to move on from uninspired, pre-packaged salads and bottled dressings laden with preservatives. We are returning to the fundamentals to craft the ultimate Classic House Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette. This recipe is a celebration of how straightforward, high-quality ingredients can come together to create something truly remarkable. It’s the ideal companion for so many meals, offering a burst of freshness and a tangy note that cleanses the palate, preparing you for the main event.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Wonderfully Quick & Simple: This recipe goes from your chopping board to the dinner table in less than 15 minutes, showing that delicious food doesn’t need to be demanding. It’s the perfect choice for hectic weeknights or when you need a swift, elegant side dish.
- Restaurant-Quality Flavour at Home: The true highlight here is the vibrant, homemade red wine vinaigrette. It’s wonderfully bright, tangy, and far superior to anything you could purchase in a shop. We’re sure your family and guests will be thoroughly impressed.
- Endlessly Customisable: We’re providing you with the perfect foundation, but we encourage you to make it your own! Feel free to add your preferred cheese, nuts, seeds, or additional vegetables to match your taste or simply use up what you have in the fridge.
- Healthy and Vibrant: Brimming with fresh, raw vegetables and a dressing crafted from wholesome ingredients like extra virgin olive oil, this salad is as nourishing as it is delightful. It’s a superb way to enjoy your daily portion of vitamins.
- The Perfect Accompaniment: This salad never overwhelms the plate. Its clean, crisp flavours are a brilliant match for everything from rich pasta dishes and hearty roasts to grilled fish and simple soups.
The Essential Basic Side Salad Ingredients
The true charm of a classic house salad is found in its simplicity. We aren’t attempting to reinvent the wheel; rather, we are aiming to perfect it. Quality is paramount, which is why we suggest using the freshest ingredients you can source. A fantastic salad always begins with excellent produce.
For the Salad Base
The foundation of our salad is a delightful mix of crisp, cool textures and fresh flavours. Here is what we believe strikes the perfect balance:
- Lettuce: We have a fondness for crisp Romaine lettuce due to its robust crunch and refreshing character. You could also opt for Iceberg for a classic wedge-salad feel, or a blend of softer leaves like butter lettuce or a spring mix for a more delicate texture. The most crucial step is to make sure your leaves are well-washed and, most importantly, completely dry. Dressing adheres beautifully to dry leaves but simply slides off wet ones!
– Cherry Tomatoes: Halved or quartered, cherry or baby plum tomatoes contribute a pop of juicy sweetness and vivid colour.
– Cucumber: Our preference is for a crisp English cucumber, sliced into half-moons or diced. It introduces a wonderfully cool, refreshing crunch.
– Red Onion: Sliced very thinly, red onion offers a sharp, savoury note that elegantly cuts through the richness of the vinaigrette. If you find raw onion a bit too strong, you can soak the slices in cold water for 10 minutes to soften their flavour.
For the Homemade Red Wine Vinaigrette
This is where the real magic unfolds. Creating your own dressing requires only a few minutes, yet the improvement in flavour is enormous. We doubt you’ll ever return to shop-bought dressings again. The classic ratio is three parts oil to one part vinegar, but don’t hesitate to adjust this to your own taste.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: This forms the very backbone of our dressing. A high-quality, flavourful extra virgin olive oil truly elevates the final result. As it’s a key flavour element, we recommend choosing one you would enjoy by itself. The health advantages of olive oil are also well-established by institutions like the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
- Red Wine Vinegar: This provides the distinctive sharp, tangy acidity that characterises a vinaigrette. It possesses a robust flavour that pairs splendidly with the olive oil.
- Dijon Mustard: This ingredient is not just for flavour! Dijon mustard acts as a brilliant emulsifier, helping to bind the oil and vinegar together to form a smooth, creamy dressing that won’t separate right away.
- Garlic: A single small clove, minced or grated very finely, adds a wonderful layer of savoury depth.
- Honey or Maple Syrup (Optional): Just a little drizzle (around half a teaspoon) helps to balance the vinegar’s acidity without making the dressing overly sweet.
- Salt and Black Pepper: Absolutely essential for seasoning. Always remember to taste and adjust as you go.
Crafting the Perfect Classic House Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette: Step-by-Step
Assembling this salad is a very straightforward affair. We will guide you through each stage to make certain you achieve that flawless, crisp, and flavourful outcome every time.
Step 1: Prepare Your Vegetables
The first principle of a superb salad is meticulous preparation. This ensures that every single mouthful is as delightful as the last.
- Wash and Dry the Greens: Separate the leaves of your chosen lettuce and wash them well under cold running water. The most vital part of this process is drying them completely. A salad spinner is the ideal tool for this task. If you don’t own one, you can gently pat the leaves dry using a clean tea towel or paper towels.
- Chop the Veggies: As the lettuce is drying, you can prepare the other vegetables. Halve or quarter your cherry tomatoes, slice the cucumber, and slice the red onion as thinly as possible. Place all these prepared vegetables into a large salad bowl.
- Combine the Salad Base: Tear or chop your dry lettuce into manageable, bite-sized pieces and add it to the bowl with the other vegetables. Give everything a gentle toss to mix it all together.
Step 2: Whisk Up the Easy House Dressing
This wonderfully simple vinaigrette can be made in under two minutes. We find the easiest method is to mix it in a small jar with a secure lid—you can simply shake all the ingredients together!
- Combine Liquid Ingredients: In a small bowl or a jar, add the extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, and Dijon mustard.
- Add Flavourings: Now add the minced garlic, a pinch of salt, a few twists of freshly ground black pepper, and the optional honey or maple syrup.
- Emulsify: Whisk vigorously with a fork or a small whisk until the dressing is thoroughly combined and has slightly thickened. If you’re using a jar, just secure the lid tightly and shake it for about 30 seconds until it has emulsified. Have a taste and adjust the seasoning if you feel it needs it. It might seem strong on its own, but it will be perfectly balanced once tossed with the salad.
Step 3: Toss and Serve Immediately
When it comes to serving a salad, timing is key. To prevent a disappointing, soggy result, we always dress our salad just moments before it goes to the table.
- Dress the Salad: Pour roughly half of the vinaigrette over the vegetables in the bowl.
- Toss Gently: With salad tongs or two large spoons, gently turn the salad over until all the leaves and vegetables are lightly and evenly coated in the dressing. Be careful not to overdo it! The goal is to coat, not drown, the greens. You can always add a little more dressing if required.
- Serve: Transfer the dressed salad to a serving platter or into individual bowls and present it immediately to enjoy the best possible texture and flavour.
- Add some crunch: Homemade or shop-bought croutons, toasted nuts (such as walnuts or almonds), or seeds (sunflower or pumpkin) will add a fantastic textural contrast.
- Bring in some cheese: Crumbled feta or goat’s cheese introduces a creamy, salty dimension. Shaved Parmesan or Pecorino cheese also works beautifully.
- More veggies: Don’t hesitate to include thinly sliced bell peppers, shredded carrots, radishes, or even a small handful of olives.
- Add slices of grilled chicken breast or steak.
- Stir in a can of drained chickpeas or white beans for a satisfying vegetarian option.
- Prepare the vegetables: Thoroughly wash and dry the lettuce leaves, then chop or tear them into bite-sized pieces. Chop the tomatoes, cucumber, and onion and place all vegetables in a large salad bowl.
- Make the vinaigrette: In a small jar with a lid, combine the extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, optional honey, salt, and pepper. Secure the lid and shake vigorously until the dressing is smooth and emulsified.
- Toss and serve: Just before serving, pour about half the dressing over the salad and toss gently to coat everything evenly. Add more dressing if needed. Serve immediately.
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Tips and Variations for Your Garden Salad Recipe
This classic recipe serves as a brilliant starting point. We invite you to think of it as a blank canvas for your own culinary imagination! Here are some of our favourite ways to personalise this simple salad.
Salad Add-in Ideas
Make it a Main Course
This salad can effortlessly be elevated from a simple side to a fulfilling main meal by incorporating a source of protein.
– Top with a generous scoop of tuna salad or a couple of sliced hard-boiled eggs.
What to Serve with Your Simple Green Salad
One of the finest qualities of this recipe is its incredible versatility. This crisp and tangy simple green salad recipe acts as the perfect counterpoint to a vast array of main courses. It cuts through richness, brings a welcome freshness, and completes a meal without being heavy.
We particularly enjoy serving it alongside hearty pasta dishes. The acidity of the vinaigrette provides a beautiful balance to the creaminess and richness of meals like a comforting One Pot Creamy Garlic Pasta or a deeply savoury Beef Ragu Pasta Recipe. It is also a classic partner for grilled steak, roast chicken, baked fish, or even a simple bowl of homemade soup served with a slice of crusty bread.
FAQ
Conclusion: Your New Go-To Salad
And there we have it—a simple, elegant, and utterly delicious Classic House Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette that we are confident will become a firm favourite in your recipe collection. It stands as proof that you don’t need countless ingredients or complex methods to produce something wonderful. The marriage of fresh, crisp vegetables with a zesty, homemade dressing is a timeless combination that is always welcome at the dinner table.
We hope you’ll master this fundamental recipe and then feel inspired to make it your own by trying different add-ins and variations. It’s the ideal way to introduce a healthy, vibrant element to any meal. We would be delighted to see your versions! If you make this Classic House Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating below to let us know how it turned out for you. Happy cooking!
Classic House Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette
A crisp, refreshing, and incredibly simple side salad that pairs perfectly with any meal. The homemade red wine vinaigrette is the star of the show!
Ingredients
Instructions
Calories: 155 kcal
Protein: 2g
Carbs: 5g
Fat: 14g
