The radicchio I picked up three weeks ago, and by some miracle it looked just as perfect three weeks old as it did when first I gaped over it at the farmer’s market. The manchego I got two weeks ago, when I was visiting my mother and had lofty visions of using it with strawberries in some way. The herbs were leftover, as bunches of herbs usually are, from a different salad to debut someday soon. The first of the season corn and tomatoes found their way into my bag for less mysterious reasons --- I just could not leave the farmers’ market without them, obviously.

This was a made-on-a-whim salad, a caprice salad, if you will (I just learned that word and had to use it). All its components were gathered at separate times. Nothing about this salad was planned. It actually came about because some plans fell through. And in a moment of fierce Saturday night laze we decided to order a pizza.

As a person who grew up with a salad on the side for dinner every night, I naturally wanted to balance the pizza with a big bowl of veggies. I peeked into the fridge and suddenly all these random purchases fortuitously came together in a brief wave of brilliance.

It came about much in the way a Kitchen Sink Salad comes together. You look in the fridge and go “what of these things need to get used up now, fast.” Kitchen sink salads are pretty miraculous because in a sense they shouldn’t work at all. You cross your fingers and hope it works.

But this salad, this is no Kitchen Sink Salad. It’s too composed and perfectly compatible. I firmly believe that this salad was meant to be. That I had bought all these ingredients knowing that one day weeks later I would look in the fridge and be their matchmaker.

The sweet juicy tomatoes and fresh raw corn are the perfect foil to the bitter nip of radicchio. The manchego dressing delivers a rich needed punch to a salad so virtuous. The herbs keep things seeming summer light. And as always, sunflower seeds for crunch. I feel like this would make a delightful panzanella if you’re into that kinda thing.

First of Summer Salad with Herby Manchego Dressing

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1 garlic scape, sliced small

1 tablespoon finely chopped dill

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

½ shallot, finely minced

¼ cup shredded manchego cheese

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup olive oil

Salad:

½ head romaine, cut in ½ inch pieces

¼ head radicchio, shredded thinly

1 cup sliced baby tomatoes

1 raw ear of corn, kernels shorn from cob

½ cup roasted sunflower seeds

Directions:

Place all dressing ingredients in a small mason jar or bowl. If using jar, put top on jar and shake vigorously to incorporate ingredients. If using bowl, whisk thoroughly until all ingredients combine. Set aside.

To assemble salad place all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour amount of dressing to your liking over top and then toss very gently to coat.

Note: You will most likely have dressing left over. It will keep in fridge in an airtight container for at least a week.

Serves 4 to 6 as a side or starter.