Herb Salad is a light salad using mixed herb leaves with a simple dressing. Quick and easy, it pairs well with chicken, fish and steak.
Recipes like my Cherry Tomato Caprese Salad and the Panzanella Salad bring colour and texture to the table! The Caprese Pesto Pasta Salad is a hearty meal in one!
Pair them with recipes like the Air Fryer Chicken Skewers, Air Fryer Chicken Legs or Air Fryer Roast Chicken for relationships that last a lifetime!
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Recipe highlights
This is a simple, quick and easy salad that takes less than 10 minutes to make!
Use your own fresh garden herbs or pop to the shop and gather for a nice change to a traditional rocket or lettuce based salad.
Allow the white wine vinegar to elevate the dish to the next level of deliciousness and bring the parmesan and capers for pops of variety and texture
Ingredients needed
Everything you need to make the salad is shown in the photo below. Each are simple ingredients and easy to find!
As you can see, the recipe calls for:
- mixed herbs (I am using basil, curly leaf and flat leaf parsley)
- parmesan cheese (shaved version)
- capers (reserve a little of the brine)
- caper brine (liquid that capers have been in)
- white wine vinegar
- salt and pepper
One of the reasons I started developing the recipe for this salad is to utilize my home grown garden herbs.
It is so enjoyable to pop outside with some kitchen scissors, snip away to gather some herbs and return to the kitchen to create with them.
You can use a combination of any mixed herbs you choose. We do cut the stems from the leaves and give them a good rinse to begin!
Instructions
Here are the step by step instructions to make this sauce.
You will need kitchen scissors to start as we need to snip off the stems from the herb leaves.
- rinse herbs and shake off excess water (Photo 1)
- snip off the stems of the herb leaves (Photo 2)
- add capers to the herbs (Photo 3)
- followed by parmesan cheese (Photo 4)
The herbs, capers and cheese will be reasonably dry ingredients as the capers have been drained prior to use.
If you are not looking to serve the salad straight away, then you can combine the dressing, but hold off tossing and dressing until ready to serve.
- gather the dressing ingredients (Photo 5)
- combine in a small bowl and whisk till consistently mixed (Photo 6)
The dressing is a simple combination of white wine vinegar, caper brine seasoned with salt and pepper.
All we need to do is whisk these ingredients together!
The caper brine cuts through the vinegar and levels the flavor to really compliment the soft delicate touch of the herbs.
Serving suggestions
This salad is flexible and compliments many dishes you will find on the blog. Some delightful combinations are with:
- Air Fryer Beef Kabobs
- Teriyaki Salmon Air Fryer Fillets
- Air Fryer Salmon with skin
- Slow Cooker Honey BBQ Chicken Wings
- Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken
- Air Fryer Chicken Skewers
- Air Fryer Roast Chicken
- Easy Air Fryer Chicken Legs
If you want to use a creamy type sauce for the salad, by all means, you can and I recommend the garlic yogurt sauce to achieve that.
In the photo below you can see the partnership of this salad with the Air Fryer Jerk Chicken. It is a flavor combo that works wonderfully and you can prep the salad whilst the chicken is cooking!
With a combination like the dish set out above, you are bringing a complete feast to the table!
If you want to add other sides, try the gravy fries, air fryer corn on the cob or chips and gravy.
Frequently asked questions
- This recipe is quick, easy and ever so simple!
- It takes about 5 mins to prepare the herbs
- The dressing is best kept on the side till ready to serve
- For a creamy salad dressing, use the garlic yogurt sauce
- This recipe is not suitable to freeze
What are the best herbs to use for a salad?
I recommend a combination of basil and 2 types of parsley for a simple herb salad.
These herbs are both easy to grow and or find at the shops.
Using both curly leaf and flat leaf parsley brings a combination of textures to the salad.
What dressing to use for herb salad?
A white wine vinegar dressing brings a light zesty fresh taste to a herb salad. It is a simple matter of seasoning it and adding a splash of caper brine for superior yum!
Alternatively a creamy sauce works and I recommend the Garlic Yogurt Sauce.
Salad recipes
If you love making homemade salads, with colour and texture, I can recommend the following combos of yum:
Or check out all of the salad recipes on the blog.
Adrianne xx
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📖 Recipe
Herb Salad
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Kitchen scissors
- Small mixing bowl
- Mini whisk
Ingredients
- 2 cups mixed herbs Note 1
- ½ cup capers drained, not rinsed and reserve 1 teaspoon of liquid
- ½ cup shaved parmesan cheese Note 2
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon caper brine Note 3
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Use kitchen scissors and a bowl and go through and snip the leaves from the stems of the herbs (Note 4)
- Add herb leaves, capers and shaved parmesan cheese to a mixing bowl and use a soft stirrer to combine.
- Add the caper brine, salt and pepper to the white white vinegar, stir or whisk to combine
- Plate the salad, then when ready to serve, drizzle with the dressing
Notes
- Note 1 I use a combination of basil, parsley and flat leaf parsley, sometimes coriander. I do this as I find those herbs are the easiest to grow and cultivate. That way it also saves money as you can eat from your garden instead of the shops all the time!
- Note 2 The type of cheese to use is the shaved (ie flaky) type, not the finely grated type.
- Note 3 This is simply the liquid that the capers have sat in, in their bottle. I find it cuts through the flavour of the white wine vinegar and adds a subtle but present caper flavour to the dish even whilst a mouthful doesn't include a bursting caper.
- Note 4 This process will take you longer than you think, however, it is worth it. For this recipe we don't want to stems as their texture is not palatable. For some recipes ie when blitzing, it is fine to use them. However we are wanting mouthfuls of pure bliss including a soft texture. We get this from the leaves of the herbs but not from the stems. Discard the stems at the end of this process.
Nutrition
Zesty fresh and saucy!
I think from memory, we were at the saucy, cheesy, getting to garlic point when we last spoke.
There is no garlic in this salad, so you can put that breath of freshness aside and get ready to sing the praise of what the white wine vinegar delivers with this dish.
I would LOVE to hear your feedback in the comments below, please let me know if you make the recipe.
It doesn't have to be wine o clock to enjoy this salad, but we all know, it is always wine o clock somewhere in the world!
It's getting herby around here my friends and you are going to love it!
Adrianne xx
Seema Sriram says
In spring my garden is full of herbs. This recipe will be perfect for the season.
Adrianne says
Thanks Seema! I appreciate your feedback.
Maria says
This herb salad is perfect for Sunday brunches! Thank you for sharing this!
Katherine says
Such a flavorful salad. I love the addition of caper brine.