One of the great perks of my job as a food writer is that I’ve been privileged to eat some really amazing food, all in the name of “work.” Not that I’m complaining, but the downside to this is that it becomes increasingly rare for me to be surprised by a dish. The more I eat food from various cuisines and chefs to expand my knowledge and palate, the less often I experience novelty - and the sense of excitement from tasting something unexpected.
Thankfully, I stumbled upon a post from Matt Adler on social media that mentioned a salad with a lime and hot sauce vinaigrette and immediately felt that spark. The chef behind Caruso’s Grocery and Cucina Morini in the D.C.
area used it to dress a salad with kale, shredded broccoli, jalapeños, peanuts, figs, feta and charred corn. “Salads don’t need to be boring,” he posted, a reminder I welcome. “I often use an acidic hot sauce as the base for vins,” or vinaigrettes, Adler wrote, which includes brands such as Crystal, Louisiana and Frank’s RedHot.
These bottles are known as Cajun pepper hot sauces and consist mostly of chiles, vinegar and salt. Combining one with lime juice and honey in a salad dressing helps to balance the flavors and make it that much more enticing. It’s “nice with other punchy ingredients that can stand up to the full flavor,” Adler wrote.
Using his post as a jumping-off point, I decided to stick with kale as the base. What I love most about using heartier greens such as kale in salads.