Greek salad with roasted carrots

Jun 23, 2024

∙ Paid

Welcome to To Vegetables, With Love, a celebration of a vegetable life, less ordinary. Find archived recipes on my recipe index.

My book Tenderheart is available from Books are Magic, Kitchen, Arts and Letters, Book Larder, Bold Fork Books and also here or here.

It’s the first official day of summer as I write this but the heat in New York is already stifling. Summer cooking is in full swing. While I eat salads all year round, summer salads are unique in their simplicity. Vegetables need only a light touch, already heavy with juice and sweetness.

Greek salad needs no improvement. It is one of the world’s most famous and loved salads for a reason - it is perfectly balanced, both fresh and salty. But yet, spurred by salad curiosity, I have still tinkered with greek salads. Recently, I created this recipe with gnocchi, and in my book FAMILY, I created a charred version, where the cucumbers and tomatoes are seared in a hot pan or barbecue and then tossed through orzo (risoni) with a feta and mint dressing. Yes, I tinker and I have done so again in this recipe.

Those new to my recipes often leave comments which start with words like this: “I was sceptical about this recipe but….” or “I would never have thought to combine x with y, but…” and recently, this actual comment from @215kate on Instagram “ok I was a little nervous about @hettymckinnon’s charred bok choy and bean salad but this slaps! Always trust her recipes”.

I understand the sceptism, I really do. Often, the recipes I am presenting are new ideas, outside of the realm of the Caesar salad that food media still peddles endlessly. I love to play, I love to invent. Contrary to what some commentators will say, I do think that there are new ideas in food, new flavours and combinations that are still waiting to be created. As @215kate says, trust her recipes.

This time, I’ve done something unconventional, but trust me. I’ve added roasted carrots to Greek salad. It’s unusual yes, but the result feels incredibly natural, an intuitive pairing. The roasted carrots add lovely bites of sweetness and earthiness, a contrast in texture and flavour that makes the very familiar Greek salad feel exciting and new.

This is not an improvement of Greek salad because, as I said earlier, it doesn’t need any. But what it does offer is an idea, a different way to enjoy familiar flavours, and a rejuvenation of a classic which inevitably highlights how good the original salad is. I daresay, you could tinker yourself and add other roasted veggies to Greek salad - zucchini, eggplant, and cauliflower spring to mind as excellent options that would add complexity to the Greek salad flavour profile.

🥦 My cookbook, Tenderheart is for cooking vegetables, all year round. Pick up your copy here. It is also mostly vegan (or vegan-izable) and gluten-free adaptable.

COOK / EAT / SHARE

NYT Cooking shared this reel recently of me making my chilled zucchini, basil and lemon soup. There is no cooking - just blend and serve with ice cubes. Recipe is here and also in the post caption.

nytcooking

A post shared by @nytcooking

I like the idea of making a salad at the start of the week, and adding to it on following days. This broccoli salad keeps for 4-5 days in the fridge (and the apple doesn’t even oxidize) so is perfect for that. If you don't like your broccoli raw, there’s also this one where the broccoli is briefly blanched.

Here’s a summery cold sesame salad accented with corn and basil.

Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Cyd Raftus McDowell.

Heat or no heat, I love rice and I’ve been really into it lately. This spanokorizo is both rice and spinach heavy. Highly recommend for my antipodean friends.

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