An easy green salad for everyday eating. Lettuce and fresh herbs tossed with lemon juice, olive oil and salt. This simple side salad goes with any meal and the customisations are endless.
This everyday green salad is always on my dinner table in some form. It is quick and easy to throw together – no need to mix a complicated vinaigrette or dressing. And it can be customised endlessly to use up whatever you have in the fridge.
The Best Side Salad
The beauty of this easy green side salad is that it goes with pretty much any meal. I love it in its simplest form as a side for a decadent creamy dish like Sausage and Kale Pasta or Smoked Salmon and Prawn Linguine.
You can also add some extras to compliment whatever dish you are serving a green salad alongside. For example, add some sliced olives and red onion with dill and parsley to compliment a Greek Chicken Traybake. Mixing diced tomato and cucumber with coriander goes perfectly with curries like Easy Prawn Jalfrezi while sliced peppers and cherry tomatoes with basil and parsley make an excellent green salad to compliment any pasta dish.
Basic Green Salad
The key components of this easy green salad are:
- Salad Leaves – a bag of mixed leaves or a whole head of lettuce like romaine, cos, butter lettuce or iceberg. Or use a mixture of lettuce leaves with spinach or rocket.
- Fresh Herbs – like parsley, basil, dill, coriander, chives – pick one to two fresh herbs that compliment your main dish.
- Lemon Juice – or lime juice, always freshly squeezed. You can also substitute some vinegar in a pinch – apple cider or sherry vinegar are my favourites.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – good quality extra virgin, or another type of oil suitable for salad – like cold pressed rapeseed oil or high quality avocado or walnut oil. I like to keep a basic olive oil in my kitchen for cooking and a higher quality extra virgin olive oil for salads and drizzling over fresh dishes.
- Flaky Sea Salt – A must for any kitchen. Maldon is my favourite. Flaky salt is less ‘salty’ than regular table salt and is perfect for adding flavour to fresh dishes that are not cooked.
What to Put in a Green Salad
The basic salad recipe is then ripe for customisation. Pick two to three additional ingredients that compliment the dish you are serving the side salad with. My typical go-tos are cherry tomatoes, cucumber and red onion, with parsley and chives though I do mix it up. I have included some other ideas below, but this list is not exhaustive.
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Diced Cucumber
- Sliced Red or Green Onion
- Diced Pepper
- Sliced Radish
- Olives
- Shredded carrot
- Berries – strawberries, blueberries or blackberries add a lovely sweetness and go well with onion.
- Sliced stone Fruits – peaches, nectarines, depending on what’s in season.
- Pomegranate Seeds
- Slices of apple or pear
- Beans – cannellini, chickpeas (garbanzo), black beans.
- Chopped Nuts – almonds, walnuts, pecans.
- Seeds – sunflower, pumpkin, sesame or poppy seeds all add texture and crunch.
- Cheese – crumbled feta, mini mozzarella balls or tangy blue cheese.
- Croutons
- Cubes of roasted butternut squash or sweet potato.
You can also make this everyday green salad a quick and healthy whole meal by adding some protein like grilled chicken or meat, grilled halloumi, canned tuna or flaked smoked mackerel or salmon and/or grains like quinoa, couscous, bulgar or cooed pasta.
Lemon and Olive Oil Dressing
Lemon and Olive Oil make the perfect salad dressing. You can get fancy and shake them together to emulsify, but really who has time for that everyday? There are also plenty of health benefits associated with lemon juice and olive oil, making this green side salad the perfect compliment to any meal.
It’s no secret that citrus juice is packed with vitamin C which is great for your immune system. But citrus also helps you to absorb iron, meaning it’s an excellent addition to salads stuffed with iron-rich leafy greens. A citrus dressed salad is also a great side for dishes with iron rich foods like fish, red meat, legumes and tofu.
Extra Virgin Olive oil, aka Liquid Gold, is well known for its many health benefits. It is rich in antioxidants, heart-friendly fatty acids plus vitamins E and K. Plus it tastes delicious! I like to keep a basic or light olive oil on hand for cooking and marinades, and a higher quality extra virgin olive oil for dressings, drizzling and dipping.
I hope you like this recipe as much as I do!
Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment or tag me on Instagram @carrieskitchen_ if you make it!
More Easy Salad Recipes:
- Tomato and Mozzarella Salad
- Halloumi Tomato Salad
- Roast Sweet Potato Salad with Pomegranate and Tomato
- Lemon Dill Potato Salad
- Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing
- Borlotti Bean Salad
Easy Green Salad with Lemon and Olive Oil Dressing
Equipment
- 1 large bowl
Ingredients
- 200 grams mixed salad leaves - or 1 head of lettuce, sliced
- ½ lemon - juice of
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
- 1 handful fresh mixed herbs – parsley, basil, dill, chives, coriander etc - pick 1 or 2 herbs that compliment your main dish
Optional Add-Ins
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes - halved
- ½ cucumber - thinly sliced
- 1 red onion - thinly sliced
- or whatever else you like – see notes
Instructions
- Wash the lettuce or salad leaves well in cold water, drain and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
- Add the lemon juice and olive oil to a large bowl and top with the lettuce.
- Roughly tear or chop the fresh herbs and add to the bowl with any additional mix-ins you like – I usually add cherry tomatoes, cucumber and red onion.
- Sprinkle with flaky salt and toss everything together. Add more lemon juice, olive oil and salt as desired to taste.
Notes
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Diced Cucumber
- Sliced Red or Green Onion
- Diced Pepper
- Sliced Radish
- Olives
- Shredded carrot
- Berries – strawberries, blueberries or blackberries add a lovely sweetness and go well with onion.
- Sliced stone Fruits – peaches, nectarines, depending on what’s in season.
- Pomegranate Seeds
- Slices of apple or pear
- Beans – cannellini, chickpeas (garbanzo), black beans.
- Chopped Nuts – almonds, walnuts, pecans.
- Seeds – sunflower, pumpkin, sesame or poppy seeds all add texture and crunch.
- Cheese – crumbled feta, mini mozzarella balls or tangy blue cheese.
- Croutons
- Cubes of roasted butternut squash or sweet potato.
Nutrition
A great side salad for any meal, I like to make it with lime juice, onion and tomatoes.
This easy green salad looks delicious and perfect for a quick, healthy meal, I love how simple yet fresh the ingredients are, and the addition of a light dressing really elevates the flavors. It’s great to see such a versatile recipe that can be customized with different greens or toppings based on what’s in season or what you have on hand. I’d love to know if there are any tips for making the salad more filling—maybe adding some protein like grilled chicken or chickpeas? Overall, this is a great go-to recipe for anyone looking to enjoy a nutritious, vibrant dish.