Spice It Up: Cool Season Salads
Spice It Up: Cool Season Salads
By: Skip Richter
When most Americans hear the words "salad vegetables" they most likely picture a mix of Iceberg lettuce and tomato wedges. Some may also include grated carrots, broccoli or cucumbers. Now this limited palate of choices may be excusable for the nongardener whose primary experience with salad veggies comes at a pizza restaurant salad bar. But we would expect much more from a Texas gardener!
Our cool season gardens have traditionally been very limited in terms of fresh salad greens, with few venturing beyond lettuce, spinach and perhaps a bit of red cabbage to color the mix. There are in fact many delicious greens that can be added to salad mixes that really spice up our meals.
Now I will grant you – not everyone has the same tastes when it comes to fresh or cooked greens. Would you run me out of Dixieland if I confessed that I cannot stand collards, turnip greens or mustard greens?! And, I find Iceberg lettuce to have the same taste and only slightly greener color than tap water. Without some major additions of dressings and bacon bits, a standard salad is in big trouble.
Concern over fat intake and cholesterol levels has caused many to look for alternatives to dressings to flavor a bland salad. Herbs are certainly one option, but what about other leafy ingredients in the salad itself?
Many of these uniquely flavored greens are a bit too much for my palate – especially the bitter ones. There are also several that are absolutely superb. I would be willing to bet that if you will try out some new salad greens this fall and winter, there will be a few that will change your salads from now on. Flavors range from bitter to lemony to nutty to "it’s hard to describe." These individual greens can be mixed in with the standard salad according to taste. With most, a little goes a long way.
Oriental Greens
Oriental greens are a wide and largely unexplored source of new textures and flavors for Texas gardeners. I love several of the Chinese Cabbages, which remind me of something between lettuce and cabbage. Unlike some of the more pungent greens, they are quite bland (though usually much less so than lettuce) and can be used as a main ingredient in a salad.
Tatsoi (also Tah tsai) is one green that everyone should grow. It imparts a crisp oriental cabbage flavor to salads and is incredibly cold hardy. In addition to its culinary uses, you will be very impressed with its ornamental form. The plant grows flat on the ground producing a rosette of dark green, spoon-shaped leaves with prominent white petioles.
There is a multitude of other oriental greens worth mentioning. Two companies listed at the end of this article (Evergreen Enterprises and Sunrise) specialize in these veggies. Pick out a few for trial in your garden this fall.
European Mesclun Mixes
Greens have long been popular in Europe where gardeners have a taste for a much broader variety of flavors. Seed companies offer mesclun mixes (a mixture of salad greens harvested young) for various regions. These mixes of various greens are worth a try.
I have tried about a dozen different mixes in my Texas gardens and have reached the conclusion that it is better to plant individual greens in separate small patches and then harvest and mix them to taste. The reason is that the different greens in the various mixes grow at different rates and not all species in a mix will thrive here. This makes your fresh cut salad sort of "lopsided" flavor-wise. Let’s look at some of these greens individually.
Radicchio, a popular European veggie, is growing in popularity with American consumers. It can tend to be a bit too bitter for most palates, but is definitely worth a try.
Corn Salad (or Mache) has a buttery texture and distinct, nutty flavor. It is easy to grow and makes a mild addition to a salad mix.
Cutting celery (sometimes listed as Chinese celery) thrives here through cool and warm conditions. Unlike regular celery, this plant is a rounded mound of leaves attached to long thin petioles. Leaves and petioles can be chopped up to flavor salads and soups. The flavor is absolutely wonderful, so much so that you may never try to grow regular celery again.
Cress adds a peppery tang to winter salads. I have grown both the broadleaf and curly types of cress. For the timid explorers, I’d recommend the broadleaf types. Use cress sparingly as it can really pep up a salad with a sharp, hot "bite."
A number of years ago I was introduced to a popular mesclun green called Arugula (also Roquette or Rocket). This tangy/peppery green grows very well during the cool fall season and makes a great ingredient in a mixed salad. It must be picked young or it can become quite strong. In fact, some individuals with unrefined sense of taste (perhaps "gustatorially challenged" would be the politically correct term) have said this green, when too mature, tastes like a skunk dipped in hot pepper juice! Seriously, if you try Arugula, do not let it get too mature. Pick it when the plants are young and only about 4 to 6 inches high for its milder flavor. That way you get the "kinder, gentler Arugula." It should be used as a "seasoning" (that is in small quantities) rather than as the main staple of the salad. The same is true for many of the spicier and more pungent greens.
Sorrel offers us a tangy/lemon flavor for salad building. Often used in soups and other cooked dishes, sorrel deserves a place in the salad garden.
Herbs
Herbs such as dill and basil provide unique, exciting flavors. They also make great additions to your standard oil and vinegar dressing. Chopped chives and green onion leaves add zesty flavor. There are a wide variety of basil types available to gardeners. Some unique scented basils to consider for salad use include lemon basil, lime basil, and cinnamon basil. For some variation on color, the variety ‘Purple Ruffles’ makes an attractive garnish to the predominantly green ingredients of a salad.
Salad Burnet is a beautiful plant, forming a neat mound of foliage about 12 to 16 inches high. Used fresh in salads, it gives a great fresh cucumber flavor. I enjoy going out in the morning to see the tiny drops of water adorning each of the serrated points of this herb’s leaves.
Flowers
Several flowers are edible and make an interesting garnish to add color to salads. Nasturtiums, calendula petals, daylilies, violas and pansies are among your many options. Bloom will deteriorate if washed or allowed to get wet. Add them to the salad after applying dressing.
Sprouts
Everyone knows about alfalfa sprouts, but have you ever tried other types of sprouts? They are our fastest veggie from seed to harvest, and are grown indoors where weather cannot ruin the crop! Sprouts are a nutritious way to add flavor and a different texture to our salads.
Broccoli sprouts grown for three days contain from 10 to 100 times more cancer-fighting compounds than mature broccoli does, ounce for ounce. There are many other types of seed to sprout for an indoor harvest including alfalfa (mild), cress, arugula, radish (very hot), sunflower, cauliflower (peppery), clover, canola (mild), and mustard (spicy). When purchasing seed for sprouting, make sure and buy untreated seed. Most sources will specify that the seed is for sprouting, rather than for garden planting.
Great for Small Spaces!
If you do not have a garden spot, you can still grow salad greens. Greens do quite well in spots too shady for most other garden veggies.
Flower and shrub beds, patio containers, window boxes, and even hanging baskets can become salad gardens. Most do best with a well drained bed enriched with compost.
To keep leaf beetles and other pests at bay, cover the bed with a lightweight floating rowcover fabric loosely draped over the seedbed and secured around the edges with soil. This will exclude the pests, and the greens will grow right up to harvest time beneath the protective cover.
Try a few new greens this fall. Plant them in small amounts in successions so you will always have a fresh batch ready for harvesting. Experiment to find out what grows best for you and what you like best.
Remember that the salad should be balanced with strong and mild textures and flavors. Start with a base of lettuce and experiment by adding one or two new ingredients at a time.
While not all will suit your culinary fancy, you will surely find a few favorites that will become an indispensable part of your future salad gardens.
Sources
Arugula (Roquette) -1, 3-7, 10
Chinese Cabbages -2, 4-5, 7-8, 10
Corn Salad (Mache) -1, 3-6, 10
Cress -1, 3-7
Cutting celery -1, 2, 4, 8
Radicchio -1, 3-7
Salad burnet – 4-5, 7
Sorrel-1, 2, 4-6
Tatsoi (Tah tsai) -1, 4, 6-7, 10
Untreated seed for sprouts -4, 9
- The Cook’s Garden, P. O. Box 5010, Hodges, SC 29653-5010; Phone orders 800-457-9703; Fax 1-800-457-9705.
- Evergreen Y.H. Enterprises; P.O. Box 17538; Anaheim, CA 92817; Phone and fax: 714-637-5769
- The Gourmet Gardener; 8650 College Boulevard; Overland Park, KS 66210; (913)345-0490
- Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Foss Hill Road, Albion, Maine 04910, Order Line (207) 437-4301, Customer Service Line (207) 437-4357
- Nichols Garden Nursery, 1190 North Pacific Highway, Albany, OR 97321-4580, (541) 928-9280
- Shepherd’s Garden Seeds; 30 Irene Street; Torrington, Connecticut 06790-6658; (860) 482-3638;
- Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, P.O. Box 158, North Garden, VA 22959 Phone orders (804) 973-4703; Fax (804) 973-8717
- Sunrise Enterprises; P.O. Box 1960; Chesterfield, VA 23832; (804) 796-5796
- Tumalo Growers, P.O. Box 6627, Bend, Oregon 97708; (541) 330-0311, (888) 770-0311
- Willhite Seed Co.; P.O. Box 23; Poolville, TX 76487; (800) 828-1840