Green Salad with Cucumber, Radishes, Homemade Croutons and Grape Must Vinaigrette

Categories : easy peasy, lent, potatoes & vegetables, Recipes, soups & salads, vegetarian or vegan

A delicious salad with cucumber, radishes, carrot, onion and mixed green leaves such as iceberg and escarole lettuce, Chinese cabbage and radicchio. Homemade croutons make for a crunchy and filling addition, and if you can find them, snow peas are also delicious. The vinaigrette is made with grape must syrup for a sweetness that complements the slight peppery tones of the salad.

I’ve tried grape must syrup in several recipes now, but I haven’t experimented with it in salad dressings all that much. I should, it’s really good. It provides a depth of flavour and sweetness that really elevates even the simplest of salads. Here it also helps to balance the slight peppery flavours of some of the veggies, namely the radishes and rocket.

I wouldn’t call this salad a simple one, however the ingredients aren’t at all hard to find, apart from maybe the snow peas here in Greece. Can you find snow peas easily where you are? Anyway, all you need is a good mixed leaf salad (mine has romaine, iceberg and escarole lettuce, Chinese cabbage, radicchio and rocket), some cucumber, carrot, a few radishes, onion and if possible, the snow peas.

Green Salad with Cucumber, Radishes, Homemade Croutons and Grape Must Vinaigrette www.thefoodiecorner.gr Photo description: A bowl of salad leaves next to a chopping board with a peeler and slices of cucumber and carrot on it. To the top of the photo is a small plate with croutons.

I’m not usually a huge fan of raw onion in salad. It’s just a bit too strong for me. However, I recently tried this trick and I must say it’s really good. Soaking the onion for a short time in a vinegary dressing (or plain vinegar) takes away some of the “bite” and mellows it out a bit. Perfect.

Croutons are always a good idea in my book, and as they are the best way to use up leftover bread I’ve included a very easy homemade version in this recipe. There are no grains or other particularly filling elements here, so a few crunchy croutons do the trick without making the dish too bulky. This salad is intended mainly as an accompaniment to a meal, it’s not a meal in itself. So I’m keeping it light. I hope you like it!

Green Salad with Cucumber, Radishes, Homemade Croutons and Grape Must Vinaigrette www.thefoodiecorner.gr Photo description: Three plates of salad with the vegetables arranged in a pretty way with slivers of cucumber, carrot and radishes. To the top right a small plate with croutons and a jar of vinaigrette.

Ingredients

For the croutons
160 gr bread, cut into small cubes
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp flakey sea salt
1/2 tsp thyme

For the vinaigrette
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs red wine vinegar
2 Tbs grape must syrup
1/2 tsp flakey sea salt
1/4 tsp white pepper

For the salad
1/2 red onion, medium sized, sliced very thinly
200 gr mixed salad leaves (lettuce, rocket, Chinese cabbage, radicchio etc)
1/2 cucumber, medium sized, sliced thinly (either with a peeler or in thin rounds)
1 carrot, medium, sliced thinly (either with a peeler or in thin rounds)
4-6 radishes, sliced very thinly
10 snow peas, halved
1 cup croutons

Step 1

To make the croutons preheat the oven to 100C fan assisted. Put the bread cubes in a large bowl, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle in the salt and thyme. Toss well with your fingers and spread on to a lined baking tray. Bake for one hour until very dry. Set aside to cool. There will be more than you need for the salad, keep the rest in an airtight container.

Step 2

For the vinaigrette whisk the olive oil, vinegar, grape must syrup, salt and pepper in a small bowl to combine. Add the onion and let it marinate for about 30 minutes.

Step 3

Arrange the salad leaves in a large bowl or platter, and add the cucumber, radishes, carrot, snow peas and vinaigrette (with the onions). Add the croutons and toss well. Serve immediately.

Notes:
The vinaigrette is just enough to lightly dress this salad. If you prefer a juicier result make a bit more.

If you can’t find grape must syrup you can substitute with pomegranate molasses.

The onion can also be used without marinating first, or it can be omitted altogether.

If you give this a try I’d love to see! Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (@thefoodiecorner & #thefoodiecorner) so I can find it and share on my stories.

The Greek version of this recipe is sponsored. All opinions are my own.