Big salads make dinner easy

After sitting down to dinner at a friend’s house a couple of days ago, I was confronted with something I hadn’t seen in a month: a big leafy green salad. Because of traveling on the East Coast, and eating out so much, I had forgotten the homey joys of a giant bowl packed with salad greens, various chopped vegetables and fruit, some cheese, nuts and seeds, etc. I promptly stuffed large forkfuls in my mouth, relishing the crunch of the lettuce spines while the bracing vinaigrette stung the corners of my lips. It was as good a welcome back to California as I can imagine.

To keep riding that salad high, I’ll be making riffs on substantial dinner salads all week, starting with this Chopped Pear Salad With Buttermilk Dressing that’s packed with fat cubes of pear and Gruyère cheese and topped with walnuts and sprouts. It’s based on a salad I had in Big Sur many years ago and think about often for how it felt cozy and refreshing at the same time. It’s perfect this time of year.

I revere Christian Reynoso’s Red Cabbage and Date Salad With Preserved Lemon and Pistachios in much the same way. The crunchy red cabbage feels grounding and bright while the dates and pistachios give the salad plenty of heft. Dates are in season in the markets now, so buy a few of the dozen or so varieties available and play around with them in this salad.

And David Tanis has a pair of salads that are on rotation particularly this week. His Radish Salad With Lime and Parmesan is ideal topped with any protein you like — grilled chicken, fish or shrimp all work great — or topped simply with some toasted nuts. And while it’s slightly early in the season, I love his Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad With Bitter Lettuces as a template for a salad made with radicchio. Use apples or pears instead of persimmons for now and keep it in your back pocket for whenever you want a simple but sustaining salad to make you feel right at home.

Chopped Pear Salad With Buttermilk Dressing

Cook time: 15 minutes. Yields: Serves 2. Ben Mims

I prefer a firmer-when-ripe, not-so-mealy pear for this salad, like a Comice or, if you can find them, Warren pears from Frog Hollow Farms; their texture and aroma stand up the best to the cheese, walnuts and creamy dressing. Try the dressing without garlic first and then add it if you want it. It gives the dressing a Caesar-y feeling that can compete with the other flavors of the salad.

1/2 cup chilled buttermilk

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more

1/8 teaspoon cayenne

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Salad

8 ounces butter lettuce or little gem lettuces (1 to 2 heads), whole leaves separated, washed and dried

1 ripe, chilled Comice or Warren pear, about 8 ounces, peeled (optional), cored and cut into ¾-inch chunks

4 ounces Gruyère, Point Reyes Toma or another semi-firm, lightly aged cheese, rind removed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/4 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

1/4 cup radish or broccoli sprouts

Make the buttermilk dressing: Place the mayonnaise in a medium bowl and, while whisking, slowly pour in the buttermilk (this helps avoid lumps). Add the lemon juice, mustard, salt, cayenne and season with pepper. If you like, use a microplane grater to grate in the garlic (taste the dressing without it first because the garlic will give it a Caesar-like taste). Stir everything to combine and keep chilled until ready to use.

When ready to serve, arrange the lettuce leaves over a large serving platter or plate. Topple the pears and cheese all over the lettuce then season lightly with salt and pepper. Drizzle the salad with 1/4 cup of the dressing, then sprinkle the walnuts and sprouts over the top. Serve with the remaining dressing on the side.

Make Ahead: The dressing will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Red Cabbage and Date Salad With Preserved Lemon and Pistachios

Cook time: 15 minutes. Serves 4. Christian Reynoso

Dates get the slaw/salad treatment here, adding slivers of sweet and soft to the crunch and savoriness of this dish. This goes great with pork chops, braised chicken or warm flatbread and labneh. If preserved lemon is hard to find, try substituting with sliced wheels of kumquats tossed with 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt.

1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

1/4 cup everyday olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more

1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 head of red cabbage, cored (about 12 ounces red cabbage), thinly sliced

1/3 cup preserved lemon pieces (2 ounces), cut lengthwise into thin strips

1/2 cup roughly chopped herb leaves, preferably a mix of dill, mint, cilantro and/or flat-leaf parsley

10 Deglet Noor dates (about 3 ounces), pitted and torn in half

1/4 cup raw pistachios, roughly chopped

In a small skillet set over medium heat, warm the cumin seeds, swirling often, until fragrant and toasted, about 3 minutes. Transfer the cumin seeds to a large bowl. Add the olive oil, vinegar, honey and salt to the cumin seeds and whisk to combine. Stir in the onions and let stand for 2 minutes in the dressing.

Add the cabbage, preserved lemon, herbs and dates and toss to combine. Season with more salt, then transfer the salad to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with the pistachios before serving.

Radish Salad With Lime and Parmesan

Cook time: 15 minutes. Serves 2 to 4. David Tanis

It’s nice to make salads out of things you normally wouldn’t, like this one that’s mostly radishes. If I was going to make this without greens, I’d just spoon over some creme fraiche. Thinly sliced black radishes with creme fraiche and salt are so tasty. Think of a salad that way: some kind of seasoned and dressed plant matter. This is great on its own or served with a piece of roast chicken.

2 medium-large radishes, such as watermelon radishes or other sweet varieties, peeled and thinly sliced crosswise

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Everyday olive oil

1 large lime

1 bunch mature arugula, washed, dried and stems trimmed

1 wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano

In a large bowl, spread out the slices of radishes. Season them with salt and pepper then drizzle with the olive oil. Either using a microplane, or using a vegetable peeler to remove strips of peel and mincing them with your knife, remove the zest from the lime and scatter it over the radishes. Cut the lime in half and squeeze its juice over the slices too. Toss the radishes to evenly coat with the dressing.

Add the arugula leaves and toss them with the radishes and dressing until well-coated. Use a vegetable peeler to remove large shavings of parmesan and let them fall over the top of the salad until evenly covered before serving.

Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad With Bitter Lettuces

Cook time: 15 minutes. Serves 2 to 4 David Tanis

This salad has a nice combination of sweet and bitter, my favorite flavor pairing. The proportions of the salad are whatever you want them to be, so if you like more or less of one fruit or lettuce, do that. You can also use any kind of citrus here; whatever you have on hand. If you don’t have lettuce, the fruit is a great salad in and of itself with a few mint leaves added. It would be great with some slivered fennel too.

3 fuyu persimmons, peeled, halved and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1 pomegranate, opened and arils popped out (about ¾ cup)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Juice of 1 large Meyer lemon

3 tablespoons everyday olive oil

1 head Treviso radicchio

1 head Castelfranco lettuce, tender inner leaves only (or 1 to 2 heads endive)

In a large bowl, combine the persimmon slices and pomegranate arils. Season with salt and pepper then pour over the lemon juice followed by the olive oil. Use your hands to toss everything together until the fruit is well-dressed.

Pick apart the leaves of the Treviso or radicchio and Castelfranco lettuce and add them to the bowl. Gently drag the leaves through the juices of the fruit and vinaigrette. Taste for more seasoning and serve.