The Great Big Umami Bomb Salad

Mega flavor that hits the spot this time of year

Issue 14: From Dana

Spring can be a bit of a food tease. On one hand, our heart leaps with the arrival of asparagus, peas – finally, something fresh and green! But on the other hand, there’s not much variety at the market yet. The rainbow of vegetables we like to toss into our salads are still weeks and weeks away. 

Enter The Great Big Umami Bomb Salad, one of my longstanding food crushes. I often think that if I were to open a food truck or a restaurant serving just one thing, this would be it – I’m that much of a believer in it. And over the years, thankfully, it’s become one of my family’s favorite meals.

We’re big on salads at The Dynamite Shop. Most lessons we teach include one, and some salads (like our Grain Bowls and Cobb) are meals in themselves. Salads are a great way for kids to work on their knife skills, to learn about making balanced vinaigrettes, to talk about how something fresh, raw and green can complement a hearty cooked main dish.

But let’s be honest: rare is the kid who craves salad. Lots of adults feel the same way; when I worked as a magazine editor, it was a known fact that we couldn’t put a salad on the cover, no matter how beautiful it was. It just wouldn’t sell!