Recipe for Success: How To Make A Salad (Tricolore Salad)

My eyes have seen the light - and it lays in a simple salad. I tell you I had no idea that a salad could be so good when proper techniques are applied in its making. I had talked about a fantastic salad in my review of Pizzeria Mozza, calling it 'fluffy' and marveling at how I could actually learn to like, maybe even love, that weed they pass off as lettuce called frisee. I didn't use those words exactly, but that's how I felt. But the salad stayed in Los Angeles and I came home to St. Louis and the love affair ended. Or so I thought...until a year and a half later I got the smarts enough to search for a recipe. It took five minutes to find.

The real secret to this salad are the rules that can be applied to any salad (all credit goes to Nancy Silverton for unlocking the secrets of a salad) :

• Use fresh and in-season ingredients.
• Dress the leafy greens a little at a time and massage the dressing into the greens. This allows for enough dressing to coat the salad so it isn't under or overdressed.
• Layer the salad so the ingredients are evenly distributed and the salad isn't compressed. (dressed lettuce, toppings, dressed lettuce, toppings)
• Any salad should have a crunch. That doesn't necessarily mean croutons as crispy lettuce can serve that purpose as well.

Here is the salad I've been obsessed with for the last month (adapted):

Lemon Vinaigrette

• 1 shallot (or less), minced
• 5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp champagne or rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Salad

• Mix of lettuce like Belgian endive, radicchio, curly endive (or frisee) and arugula
• Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Dress the lettuce and massage the dressing into the lettuce. Add if needed and massage again. Place a layer of dressed lettuce and top with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Repeat with alternating layers of lettuce and grated cheese.