Gorgeous Greens for Your Holiday Table

Salads probably aren’t the first thing you think about when planning Thanksgiving (or any holiday meal), but a pile of greens is the perfect foil to piles of mashed potatoes and stuffing. I love the way they can add a fresh note to an otherwise-decadent meal--and they are super pretty and super easy to throw together.

All three of the salads below start with the same greens mix (which you can alter to your heart’s content) and use the same basic vinaigrette. The recipes make enough for eight to ten servings, but it’s not an exact science. If you’re feeding more people, just add a few more handfuls of green, double the vinaigrette, and up the add-ins. But first, a few salad “rules:”

1. Switch up your greens. Throw some arugula in with your spinach, toss in a handful of parsley or basil, or switch kale for romaine. Mixing up the greens will add a little complexity without much work.
2. Mix flavors. I love salads that have a range of flavors. If you add something sweet, add something savory or salty to balance it.
3. Add some crunch. A little crunch is the difference between a great salad and “meh” salad. Nuts, homemade croutons, or pumpkin seeds can all do the trick.
4. Make your own dressing. It’s SO easy. You can make a big batch all at once and suddenly your salads taste high-end.

For each salad, you'll need greens and vinaigrette, plus ingredients for one of the variations below. Download a printable recipe here.

Salad Mix
6 cups spinach
6 cups mixed greens (arugula, frisee, watercress, etc.; a prepackaged spring mix works)
1 cup mixed soft herbs (Italian parsley, dill, basil, chives, etc.)
Toss together in a large salad bowl.

Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1 shallot, finely chopped (or grate on a zester)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Whisk together the Dijon and honey. Add the shallot, salt, and pepper. Whisk in the vinegar. While whisking, slowly stream in the olive oil.

Dressing can be made 3 days ahead. Whisk before serving.

To dress up the dressing:

• Add the zest of an orange or lemon
• Switch out 2 tablespoons of the vinegar for citrus juice (orange, grapefruit, etc.)
• Add some herbs...thyme or herbs de provence are nice

(I like my dressings to have some bite, which is why the vinegar/oil ratio is 1:1 rather than the classic 3:1. If it’s too much for you, just add a little more oil. The best way to test a salad dressing? Dip in a lettuce leaf and taste.)

Variation #1: Pear and Prosciutto

3 pears, thinly sliced
4 oz prosciutto, crisped
4 oz blue cheese, crumbled
½ cup Marcona almonds

To crisp the prosciutto, turn on your broiler. Put the prosciutto on a foil-lined baking sheet (easy clean-up) and broil about two minutes per side. Watch it closely...it can burn.

Variation #2: Apple and Fennel

2 Honeycrisp apples, sliced into matchsticks
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 cup pecans, toasted

1 cup pomegranate seeds (save yourself the mess and buy just the seeds)

To toast the pecans, preheat oven to 350. Spread pecans on a baking sheet and roast for 8 minutes until you can smell them. Cut the apples and fennel right before serving to prevent browning.

Variation #3: Citrus and Beet

2 red grapefruits, sliced into rounds with skin and pith removed
2 oranges, sliced into rounds with skin and pith removed
2 beets, roasted and sliced into rounds
4 oz goat cheese, crumbled (I love the honey goat cheese at Trader Joe’s for this)
½ cup walnuts, toasted

To roast the beets, cut off the stems, leaving about an inch attached (this prevents bleeding). Put the beets in a square baking dish, toss with a little olive oil and salt. Cover with foil and roast at 350 for 1 hour. The beets are done when you can easily pierce them with a fork. Let them cool and then slip the skin off by gently rubbing with your hands (warning: beet juice stains!) and chop off the remaining stem. You can do this 2 days ahead.

To toast the walnuts, preheat oven to 350. Spread walnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 8 minutes until you can smell them.

Assembling your salad:
Right before you’re ready to eat, toss the greens together with half your chosen mix-ins and a couple tablespoons of dressing until moistened but not soggy. Then arrange the rest of the mix-ins on top, drizzle with a little more dressing, and give a very gentle toss (you want the majority of the mix-ins to stay on top for a prettier look).

Download a printable recipe.