This spring salad is a specialty of Nice in the south of France. A tasty blend of young greens and with a few slivers of parmesan cheese or pine nuts, walnuts, and black olives, and if you are lucky enough to purchase some truffles, are a fabulous addition to this simple salad finished with a vinaigrette dressing!
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❤️About This Recipe And Why We Love It
At one time it was only found in Nice France. However, today it is found in most places and accompanies an assortment of dishes in good restaurants, and sometimes included as part of the Hors d'oeuvres.
The inhabitants of Nice used to pick their own fresh herbs and plants for this salad and indeed some still do to this day.
You too can pick your own, especially dandelion leaves when they are young but do make sure that no weed killers have been sprayed on the area!
The beauty of this spring salad is in its simplicity, ease of preparation, and delightful taste.
Discover more types of salads like this exquisite spring salad in the Complete Salad Handbook.
🥬️What Is A Mesclun Salad?
It is a blend of young tender greens before they grow into mature plants. It often consists of a mixture of young shoots, harvested especially for their delicate flavors such as rocket, watercress, dandelion leaves, and oak leaf lettuce.
Most people have heard of a Salad Niçoise (Salad Nice) or Delightful French Lentil Salad Recipe with their fresh array of vegetable and protein ingredients that make them suitable for a main course. But this one is a simple spring mix made with Provencal herbs and tender plants.
🙌Variations
Many chefs and home cooks now add many delicious food items like pecans, cashews, goat cheese, tomatoes, that create a tasty alternative to this classic salad and could also be added to this Mixed Green Salad Recipe. Also parmesan cheese, pine nuts, walnuts, black olives, and if you are lucky enough to purchase some truffles, are all delicious options.
If you choose this salad in a restaurant these days it is one of the most expensive of salads, but you can easily create your own at home for a fraction of the cost.
📸Ingredient Shot
📝Ingredient List
Any combination of fresh young salad leaves such as:
- arugula (rocket)
- watercress
- curly parsley or Italian parsley (flat leaf parsley)
- dandelion leaves
- sorrel
- oak leaf lettuce
- garlic
- Vinaigrette Dressing
Basic Vinaigrette Dressing Ingredients
- cider or wine vinegar or another of your choice but not balsamic vinegar as this would over power not enhance the soft flavor of the lettuces.
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
This basic vinaigrette dressing recipe can have many flavor additions that you can choose from French Salad Dressings.
🔢Instructions
- Wash the fresh salad leaves in cold water and dry them on a kitchen towel or use a salad spinner. (If using curly parsley wash carefully as grains of sand or dirt hide easily in all those lovely curls.)
- Rub the garlic clove around the bowl the salad will be served in.
- Arrange leaves in a salad bowl.
- Toss in a light vinaigrette dressing just before serving.
- It is delicious served with a few slivers of parmesan cheese, pecans, cashews, goat cheese, tomatoes, pine nuts, walnuts, black olives and if you are lucky enough to purchase some truffles these would be a fabulous addition. (Slice any additional ingredients thinly to go with the delicate texture of the lettuces.)
Kitchen Tools
- Salad Serving Bowl - I like a glass bowl that shows off the food.
- Salad Tongs
- Salad Spinner
🤔What To Serve With This Recipe
- A light lunch with fish like a salmon fillet cooked court bouillon style..
- Mesclun salad is an excellent side dish for any main course that fits with a light salad option.
- It does not hold as a main dish itself, but again is a wonderful side dish and a good choice for a buffet table.
❔FAQ
Yes, as with most vegetable salads it is full of vitamins and minerals, that are necessary body building elements.
The choice of lettuce types will determine the flavor mix of this salad. So choosing bitter, sweet, and sour leaves produce a tasty bowl.
If you search for this on the web you will not find an answer that clearly states this is a green salad and this is a mesclun salad and never will the two cross over. They do in many situations depending on the cook at home or a professional chef overlap in ingredient choices. To me though a mesclun salad will have a selection of greens traditionally used from Provençal France like the ones listed in this recipes ingredients, along with classic French herbs also listed here, and topped with one of the many tasty vinaigrette dressings. Whereas a green salad can have a variety of vegetable greens too, like kale, spinach, Swiss chard, and more, too numerous to list here, with a variety of lettuces, and a salad dressing.
📖 Recipe
Plain Simple & Tasty Mesclun Salad
Ingredients
Any combination of fresh young salad leaves such as:
- 1 handful of watercress
- 1 handful of rocket arugula
- 1 handful of parsley
- 1 handful of dandelion leaves
- 1 handful sorrel
- 1 handful oak leaf lettuce
- 1 garlic clove
- Vinaigrette dressing
Instructions
- Wash the fresh salad leaves in cold water and dry them on a kitchen towel.
- Rub the garlic clove around the bowl.
- Arrange leaves in a salad bowl.
- Toss in a light vinaigrette dressing just before serving.
- It is delicious served with a few slivers of parmesan cheese or pine nuts, walnuts, black olives and if you are lucky enough to purchase some truffles these would be a fabulous addition.
- Bon Appétit
Did you make this & like it, or not, let us know?!