From simple side salads to fully loaded bowls, salad is pizza’s perfect sidekick. All five of these salads are bright and punchy and help balance the richness of cheesy, topping-laden pizza. On your next pizza night, consider tossing one of these recipes into the mix.
Nancy’s Chopped Salad
This iconic salad from Chef Nancy Silverton, which can be found on Food52’s site, features an oregano-packed vinaigrette that pairs great with pizza seasoning. The bitter greens and acidity of the juicy tomatoes are a perfect foil for all types of cheese too.
Arugula and Fennel Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
EatingWell’s simple salad allows complex pizzas to really shine. The better quality cheese, olive oil, and produce you can source for this dish, the better it will taste.
Lemon-Garlic Kale Salad
This salad dressing from New York Times Cooking requires just four ingredients—lemon, olive oil, salt, and garlic—so there’s no excuse to skip the greens on pizza night! Don’t forget to massage the dressing into the kale, which makes the green more pleasant to eat.
Radicchio Salad with Manchego Vinaigrette
Ultra-crunchy radicchio is a nice change of pace from slice after slice of soft and chewy pizza. Its bitter quality is mellowed by the onion-infused vinaigrette, but not so much that it doesn’t balance rich pizza. Food & Wine recommends using sherry vinegar, which will help balance the balsamic without too much bite—don’t skip it!
Smashed Asian Cucumber Salad
Not only is this cucumber salad from The Woks of Life light, refreshing, and summery, but it’s very fun to make! Consider doubling the batch and allowing some cucumber to marinate in the dressing overnight for amplified flavor the following day.
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