Emilie-inspired salad

This is my take on the type of salad that our housemate Emilie used to whip up in about 5 minutes (a simple version with lettuce/kale, cucumber, red onion, and cashews).

I have come to almost exclusively make salad this way.. adding the salt and vinegar first then olive oil at the end instead of mixing a dressing together separately.. both because this is easier, faster, and because I find it tastier. It does work best with a balsamic you really like — I think if I only had more questionable vinegar, I would make my dressing separately, but maybe this would work well in that case too???

Ingredients 

• Lettuce, ideally romaine or medium-finely chopped kale but any lettuce or combination of lettuces will do (if you use only kale, you may want to salt and massage it lightly to soften it a little)
• A small amount of finely sliced red onion, to your liking (but at least a small amount is strongly recommended)

All remaining ingredients are optional, but avocado makes a huge difference if you have it, and a protein source like feta or roasted cashews or beans will make it a lot heartier). Include some combination of the following, depending on what you have on hand and what you like:

• Sliced cucumber (I half it lengthwise and slice so they don’t roll around)
• Diced apple or tomato or orange (probably not all together)
• Crumbled feta cheese
• Broken up or roughly chopped roasted nuts (eg cashews or pecans or…?)
• Sliced red pepper 
• Finely sliced fresh basil can be a nice addition
• Optionally some black beans or chickpeas?
• Some homemade croutons if you’re feeling really fancy 
• Etc

For the dressing you will need..

• Kosher salt
• Black pepper (optional)
• Good quality balsamic vinegar (I really like the Costco one and I like that it is a bit sweet - if yours is more sour, you may want to add a good pinch of white sugar at the same time as the salt. To me, this makes a big difference)
• Olive oil 

Method

1. Put all the main salad ingredients you are using (aside from the dressing) in a large bowl
2. Sprinkle with a couple of good pinches of kosher salt (and optionally sugar - see note in the dressing ingredients list) and toss lightly. Add some pepper at this stage too, if you like.
3. Pour over some balsamic vinegar (maybe start with around a tablespoon, possibly more? I just eyeball it)
4. Toss well, taste, and if needed, add more vinegar/salt/sugar to your taste (but err on the side of too little rather than too much)
5. Finally, add olive oil at the end (about as much as you did vinegar or a little less) and toss well to bring it all together (again, err on the side of too little not too much).

The key here is to coat everything with the salt and vinegar before you add the oil so they can penetrate really well. The oil is an important touch at the end but you don’t need much when you do it this way.