Go green with this scoopable Green Goddess Salad

I know from my media days that there is very little overlap between newspaper readers and TikTok users. Yet the social media app - where people make, share and watch 15-second videos - features plenty of recipes. Some of those become viral sensations, and a handful are truly great. To spare you, dear readers, from the highly addictive TikTok algorithm, I share one of those recipes here.

Green Goddess Salad may be peaking in popularity now, but its origins go back to the Middle Ages. Sauce vert (green sauce) was common, with blended greens, herbs and garlic. Mayonnaise got into the act somewhere along the way, evolving into Green Goddess dressing in the 1970s. Sometimes, cooks add avocado or basil to their Green Goddess dressing, which brings us full circle. The blogger behind Baked by Melissa posted a Green Goddess Salad recipe on TikTok in September 2021, and - more than 22 million views later - there are many versions of it online.

The finely chopped cabbage and Persian cucumbers are common to all variations, as is an herby, garlicky and Kermit-green dressing. But that is where the similarity ends. The original recipe calls for nutritional yeast; others substitute cheese. Some incorporate jalapeño in the base, and others use avocado in the dressing. People use different greens, nuts and herbs in the dressing - reminiscent of pesto thinned with vinegar or lemon juice. Instead of the spinach in the base recipe, I used Swiss chard and Malabar spinach (both grow well in hot weather while true spinach does not.) I had some basil but supplemented it with parsley, tarragon and chives. I had no shallots or green onions, so I added a small, mild white onion instead. You get the idea.

Flexible recipes like this are an opportunity to use up what's in the fridge and swap ingredients to your liking. You can't go wrong as long as the basic ratios of greens, oil, garlic, acid and nuts stay consistent. This salad is hydrating, refreshing and light during the remaining hot, humid summer days. It doesn't require an oven or stove and comes together in about 10 minutes. You can eat it with a fork or scoop it up with pita or tortilla chips. Tuck leftovers into a sandwich or spoon them into a taco. There are very few rules with this one, so enjoy making it your own.

• Leslie Meredith is the winner of the 2019 Cook of the Week Challenge and teaches people how to grow and cook "real" food. She runs Farmhouse School on a historic homestead in Campton Hills. See the school's Facebook or Instagram pages @FarmhouseSchool or contact Leslie at food@dailyherald.com.

Green Goddess Salad

1 small green cabbage, finely diced

1 large English or Persian cucumber (the long thin ones with very few seeds)

1 small mild onion, finely chopped (or 1 bunch of green onions, thinly sliced)

For the dressing

2 lemons, zested and juiced

¼ cup good-quality extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic

1 cup tender herbs (basil, parsley, cilantro, tarragon, chives)

1 cup greens (spinach, kale, chard, arugula, collards)

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (or Asiago, Pecorino Romano, Cotija, Manchego or nutritional yeast to keep it vegan)

¼ cup walnuts (or cashews, pistachios, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds)

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

Toss cabbage, cucumber and onion into a large bowl. Add dressing ingredients to a blender in the order listed. Pulse a few times then blend until smooth. Pour some dressing over the salad and toss to mix. Add more if needed, but be careful not to overdress.

Serves 6

Leslie Meredith