3-ingredient salads to snap back to reality
it’s not that serious!
My Global Pantry is designed to help you turn simple ingredients into craveable meals. Free readers get a full recipe each month, and our Monday inspiration for getting creative in the kitchen.
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I think we’re overthinking our meals. A friend told me the other day while looking at a photo of my dinner that she “could never do what I do,” as if the idea of cooking for herself was so bewildering she had crossed it off her capabilities entirely. Ok, but can you slice a tomato? Can you sprinkle some salt?
I have the opposite problem - I fiddle with recipes at home, while just outside are markets bursting with produce that need nothing more than a drizzle of olive oil. I spend my days locked on to my computer, romanticizing the wonders of cooking and striving for the perfect dish to make my point, while scarfing down the same 3pm lunch I’ve finally gotten around to pulling together.
We want convenience, but we don’t want processed. We want cheap, but we also want quality. We want to get the “correct” nutrients in our meals, which leads us towards products and people stressing their solutions to optimize our diets. Mostly we want our food to taste good, and I think we often conflate that with some sort of enlightened understanding of how to combine ingredients.
Every week as I write this newsletter I try to come up with something delicious and unique to share, a dish that looks achievable but with enough technique to be worthy of a Recipe. In my ideal world it matches your exact need, and is also something you’ve never considered - an annoyingly impossible task to set for myself.
But I think what we really crave (correct me if I’m wrong) is just good food, that satisfies us and is doable with the time and supplies we have. I get that not everyone has the natural inclination to come up with even the simplest combinations, so that’s where I come in. This stuff rolls off the tongue for me (so to speak) and it’s really what lights me up about food in the first place - the magic of just a few good things paired together which turn into far more than the sum of their parts.
In an effort to snap us both out of the idea that meals need any sort of complexity to be deemed worthy, here are 5 “salads” with 3-ish ingredients each (I’m not counting dressing, but that’s simple too). They require nothing more than chopping and stirring some things in a big bowl.
You CAN make good food, no matter how hopeless of a cook you might claim to be. Even if you “mess up” any of the combos below I promise it will still be nice, just add a little more salt or lemon.
Have a tomato. Don’t forget to get outside. It’s not that serious! (me to you, but also me to me)
Chat soon - Susanna
Apricots + feta + mint, dressed with aleppo chili, honey, salt
Halve the apricots and remove their pits, then toss with salt and leave to sit a few minutes. Put big slices of feta in your bowl and when the apricots are starting to glisten, pour those over. Tear fresh mint leaves and add those in. Sprinkle over chili flakes and drizzle with lots of honey.
I haven’t tried this with Italian peperoncino flakes but I suspect they’d be too intense - you can find Aleppo chili (pul biber) in any Middle Eastern grocery and you’ll appreciate having them around.
Orange + mozzarella + fennel, dressed with orange juice, evoo, salt
Slice the white fennel as thinly as you can, then toss with salt and any extra green fennel fronds and leave to sit a few minutes. Cut off the top and bottom of the orange and squeeze the juice from those ends over the fennel as well. Remove the rest of the orange peel and slice the fruit in rounds, then layer caprese-style with mozz and the fennel mixture. Finish with more salt and lots of evoo.
Romaine + parm + bread, dressed with evoo, dijon, lemon, salt, pep
Mix the dressing in the bottom of a big bowl, then throw the chopped crunchy lettuce on top. Use your hands to mix, and taste a leaf to make sure it’s sufficiently lemony. Grate in a bunch of parm, mix again, top with even more parm and pepper. Bread grilled in a hot pan with evoo is best, but toasted is fine too - triangles taste better.
Cucumber + chives + yogurt, dressed with whole grain mustard, lemon, evoo, salt
Slice the cucumber - I like uneven pieces - then toss with salt and leave to sit a few minutes. Mix yogurt with salt and lemon. Use a tea towel to squeeze out any extra moisture from the cucumber, then stir in mustard and minced chives. Swipe the yogurt in your bowl, top with cucumbers, and drizzle over lots of evoo.
Carrots + parsley + chives, dressed with dijon, lemon, honey, evoo, salt
Mix the dressing in the bottom of a large bowl, leaning heavier on the mustard and lemon and lighter on the honey - taste as you go and adjust to your liking. Ribbon the carrots (or grate, like the French) and pile on top. Mix with your hands. Mince the parsley and chives (or just parsley, or carrot tops), throw in the bowl with the carrots, and mix again.
Coming soon to PANTRY CLUB…
On Wednesday paid readers will get the recipe for this pickle-y cucumber & edamame salad - just as easy and refreshing as the above, but with a little more substance for a WFH lunch or weeknight dinner.
Thanks for being here! Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment with any questions or ideas from your own cooking life, and send this along to any friends who might like cooking with us.
Love these ideas! A great reminder there is no need to overcomplicate things!
Thank you, Susanna! I look forward to seeing you in my inbox every week. Can't wait to try these salads!