No lettuce needed: Salads made fun

One principle of a good salad is that it’s chockfull of the bites worth digging around for. So why not make a salad that’s only treats? Go all in on the fruits and nuts. Skip the lettuce and the winter squash.

An enticing fruit salad offers a wide spectrum of textures and flavors: crunch and creaminess, salt and sweetness. Generally: variety. This time of year it can be filled with crunchy apples and pears, juicy citrus and crisp-tender Fuyu persimmons.

In a savory salad, the dressing’s fatty element is key to bringing a desired softness, whether it’s dairy or oil. While you could toss your fruits in dairy, like the sour cream in an ambrosia, or drizzle them with olive oil like a caprese (also a fruit salad!), there’s another rich and savory fat that works well: nuts blended into a butter.

Employ a nut butter you might’ve used for breakfast oatmeal or toast or apple slices. It can be made with almonds, cashews or peanuts, to name a few, or a seed butter such as sunflower or even tahini. Lots of black pepper and freshly grated ginger deliver a spicy kick reminiscent of gingerbread cookies or cake, which you know goes well with winter fruit. Lime or lemon juice and zest brighten, and water thins the sauce to a drizzle. Eventually.

Adding water to nut butters can be mystifying because the mixture will initially stiffen before it slouches. As Cook’s Illustrated magazine explains, the carbohydrates in the nuts and seeds glom to the liquid, resulting in a thicker mixture, until enough liquid is added so the mixture thins. Science!

Once you have a nutty, spiced and bright dressing, it’s time to assemble the salad. The simplest version I’ve made is sliced apples drizzled with the nut butter dressing (you already know from afterschool snacks that apples and nut butter make a good pair). But, as Becky Krystal wrote, a fruit salad dazzles when there are at least three types of fruit on offer. Cut the fruits into one- or two-bite pieces, depending on whether you want to eat the salad with a fork, spoon or fingers. Then layer the fruits on a plate and drizzle the dressing over top.

Be sure to lightly season your fruits with salt, too, so their flavor is punchy and in balance with the dressing. While the salad can stand alone, it’s also amenable to shape-shifting. For a sweet application, eat it over yogurt, muesli or toast. Or for a savory version, add bitter or baby greens, or roasted squash. But only if you really want to.

Before digging in, admire the variety of flavors and textures — what a great salad you just made.