Here’s a little silly but sweet vignette from my week. I call it The Shelf Salad.
Because the food inspiration for the salad I’d thrown together came from the placement of the ingredients snuggled side by side on my local grocery store shelf.
Crunchy white sprouts, narrow red chili peppers, the classic magenta and white round radishes (non-sharp tasting ones), and mini Persian cucumbers.
To expand and add a bit more flavor and also some anti-inflammatory value, I decided to grate some fresh ginger.
Scallions seemed to slide right into the culinary profile of the salad.
And I like to add herbs, so cilantro went in too.
For the crunch factor, I toasted some cashews.
Because the sprouts are long and thin, I cut the vegetables up matchstick style.
Sometimes I would dress the salad with an Asian inspired sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce and a touch of maple syrup-type of flavor.
Other times — most often — I would combine Sriracha-mayo with some regular mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon juice and a touch of maple syrup, for a creamy shade of blush type of dressing.
For up to a day or two prior to serving, I would slice all the vegetables and herbs, and mix with the sprouts.
I would make this quite a bit because, since it’s a lettuce and tomato free salad, it was easy to prep in advance and keep fresh and crisp. All it would need is some dressing poured on, and a sprinkle of nuts.
It was nice to know I had something prepared to eat in a storage container in the fridge, that I could just whip out.
It felt like I was onto something with this salad and secretly harbored a bit of pride in this practical, pretty, tasty and healthy creation.
Recently, a friend and I planned on meeting up for lunch.
We arrived at the café and began looking over the menu.
Wanting to order something protein focused, I chose a tuna appetizer. It was called “tuna tataki.”
Hey, the picture looked nice too! Let’s be honest, that’s also a metric in choosing what to order.
As my friend and I were chatting, the waiter arrived with our appetizers. Mozzarella sticks for my friend and tuna tataki — small square slices of thin sesame encrusted reddish pink tuna steak on a bed of . . . you guessed it. The Shelf Salad!
To a T.
Other than the black sesame seeds the café added, it was exactumento. Even down to the creamy dressing.
I plan on replicating this version, of course. Searing some sesame crusted tuna slices in a drop of sesame oil and sprinkling it with a touch of salt.
OK. It’s no longer just The Shelf Salad, but rather a proper restaurant worthy dish.
Perhaps even a fish course for a fancy Shabbat meal.
Meanwhile, I’m considering becoming a salad recipe developer based on which produce is adjacent on the grocery store shelf or at the farmer’s market. I don’t have exact measurements, as it’s a you-can’t-go-wrong, little-bit-of-this-and-a-dash-of-that type of salad you can throw together and is consistently tasty.
It’s about the balance of the produce, colors and spice level you are comfortable with.
So I hope you will try it and enjoy it!
It’s not like I dine at cafés so often, but as I had just returned from abroad and was reconnecting and had occasion to meet up with someone.
I’m sure you see this one coming, by now.
But yeah, I had an abundance of sweet potatoes on hand. And feta cheese’s expiration date is always long away, so aside from enjoying it, it’s practical to keep in the fridge.
I sliced and roasted the sweet potatoes, brushing them with olive oil, maple syrup and salt.
Once they were out of the oven and a bit cooled off, I crumbled some feta — and still had some roasted cashews from The Shelf Salad.
A variation on this combination is nothing new. It doesn’t exactly take a food genius to assemble this three-ingredient dish that’s almost a snack more than a meal.
That said, it’s often served on a bed of lettuce, as well with other vegetables too.
But this was my super quick three ingredient improvisation that I pathetically called “dinner.”
Imagine my surprise when I saw a platter of this precise combination as I subtly peeked at the table near us to see what looked good.
In my life there were times I’ve slaved over elaborate recipes and meals. But go figure, these two times my bare minimum food prep effort is when it just so happens to land on a café menu!
© IJN 2026
