My favourite iceberg lettuce salad ever! The dill and coriander/cilantro is a unique herb pairing with iceberg lettuce that makes this really memorable. It’s so refreshing and light, and the simple dressing is absolutely smack bang perfect with this salad. Everyone I’ve made this for LOVES it!
My friend JP is the Queen of Salads. When she puts on a summer lunch, she makes the most amazing spread of salads. So good that you don’t even think twice there’s no big slab of meat, or piles of carbs. Her salads are always interesting, satisfying, perfectly dressed and never, ever boring.
If all salads in this world were as good as hers, I could swear off meat and carbs forever.
Well! There’s a blatant lie. It sounded good. But it’s an outright fib. 😉
When it comes to iceberg lettuce, I think many people think of stock-standard green salads. Add some tomato, cucumbers and a classic French or Italian dressing.
That this salad is quite different is the very reason why I love it so much. I really think it’s the herbs that makes all the difference. I had never thought of combining dill and coriander with iceberg lettuce before, but I don’t know why because I love those two herbs together – such as in this Pearl Couscous Salad and Mediterranean Brown Rice Salad.
PS Also love JP’s tip to soften the herbs by drizzling over some of the dressing and setting aside for 20 minutes. This also infuses more of the herby flavour into the dressing too.
She adds a handful of red cabbage for colour and sliced snow peas for crunch. It’s a delightful sight, the fresh crisp iceberg lettuce and the pops of colour. And it tastes SO GOOD!
I’m sharing this Iceberg Lettuce Dill Salad recipe today because it is part of my 2016 Christmas Menu! This years’ Christmas menu is a seafood one with a Parmesan Crusted Side of Salmon as the centrepiece. So this salad is an absolute perfect match.
No more boring Iceberg Lettuce Salads! Try this once, and I think you’ll be as addicted as I am! – Nagi x
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JP's Iceberg Lettuce Dill Salad
Ingredients
- 8 cups iceberg lettuce , chopped or torn into bite size pieces
- Handful of finely sliced red cabbage (just for a bit of colour)
- 6 snow peas , diagonally sliced (adds crunch to the salad)
- 3/4 cup dill , lightly packed
- 3/4 cup coriander/cilantro , lightly packed
- 1/2 eschalot / french onion (US: shallots), finely chopped
Dressing:
- 4 tbsp Verjuice (Note 1)
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or use lemon infused and skip the zest)
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp sugar (white)
- 1/2 tsp yellow mustard powder
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Mix Dressing together in screw top jar and shake.
- Mix eschalot and herbs together in the salad bowl. Drizzle with 1/3 of dressing about 20 mins before serving.
- Lay rest of salad ingredients on top.
- Just before serving, add rest of dressing and toss
Recipe Notes:
I have made this several times and just realised I didn’t post how good it is. It is such a fresh salad and I love the dill in it. I use cos lettuce and it is great for BBQ’d meat. The other night we had it with lasagne.
Thanks! N x
Oh my gosh, how fresh and tasty is this salad?! Had it with the slow cooked shredded beef ragu pasta on this site and complemented it so well. Will definitely be making it again.
Hi Nagi,
I’ve got to say, I love your recipes! My sons American girlfriend has joined him here in Oz so i’m going to attempt a whole Turkey at Xmas – which recipe of yours is the easiest do you think? Would hate to stuff it up as im feeding 16 people. Just a quick question though, most of my family have an absolute heart attack at the thought of eating coriander, but it is in sooo many recipes. Am i better leaving it out or replace with what?
Regards, and best wishes for Christmas. Karen.
Hi Karen, give this turkey a go: https://www.recipetineats.com/genius-easy-juicy-roast-turkey-dry-brined – You’ll nail it!! Some people just loathe coriander – but it really depends on each individual recipe with what to replace it with! – N x
I make this with a different dressiong we call it Grandp’s salad and it is quite German. Shred your iceberg and add either spring onions or cucumber. A splosh of vinegar, sprinkling of brown sugar, salt and pepper and cream.
I added some arugula and a little julienned spinach to this to give the iceberg some more green and pop. The herbed dressing makes it. I think any lettuce would compliment, but iceberg in itself is so crispy and refreshing. Add it lastly and toss like the recipe states. I made the dressing a day in advance to allow it to “come up” with the sugar and lemon. (Plus, a too- cold salad tends to hinder some flavor — letting this warm up to room temp a bit helps bring out the flavors). Really light and tasty. I’m making it again for New Years (other guests). Might add some slivers of radish to it for holiday color, plus the peppery angle of this along with the cilantro and arugula, with the sweet snow peas is really nice. 🙂
Woo hoo! So glad you enjoyed it Martin, thanks for letting me know! And thank you for the extra tips! N x
Nagi – you’re my cooking superhero !!!
what can i substitute in place of iceberg? my husband will not eat iceberg because he thinks there is no nutritional value (argh)
OK, I had to LAUGH!!!! I don’t know what sub I can offer than he might think has MORE nutritional value!! So any lettuce of similar colour / texture is fabulous with this – cos etc – but also those living lettuces you can get will also be fantastic with this. Green, not the red ones. The red ones are a bit bitter. Hope that helps!
Try butter lettuce. It’s one of my faves.
Nagi, my Christmas lunch is sorted thanks to you! I was lucky enough to trial the dishes and have been waiting for you to post every recipe. The shopping list is written, now bring on 25/12 . This salad is as amazing as your other postings. Enough compliments – give me more recipes for 2017 and have a very happy holiday.
Hi Linda, it’s so nice to hear from you! Thank you for your flattering message, I’m so pleased that you enjoyed the Christmas Menu tasting session we had 🙂 Bring on 2017 and more taste testing!! Merry Christmas to you and Rob! N x
Nagi, I’ve just recently discovered your amazing recipes and am working my way through them! Can you please let me know how far in advance I can make this dressing? Thanks so much! x
Nagi, I hate to tell you this but lettuce IS a carb, just not one of the kind people seem to want to avoid these days… I really like the idea of having the herbs soak in the dressing for a while, because I have a hard time with the strong flavor of fresh herbs without that. The salad sounds wonderful, though I doubt I’d choose to buy iceberg lettuce, unless I can find the leaf form of it (called green ice, a variety I used to grow), which has definite, good flavor.
Yikes, really? Gosh I’m not up on all the technicalities, am I? 🙂 Glad you like the look of this!! I actually ate that entire bowl for dinner last night – made it at 5.30 pm and couldn’t let it go to waste! N xx
Nagi, there are what I have been taught to call “slow carbs”, which include most veggies; and there are “fast carbs”, which include starchy veggies, as well as grains. The ones that digest slowly have a lot of fiber; the ones that digest quickly and raise your blood sugar levels quickly are the starchy ones. We need both kinds, but most of us need to moderate the starchy carbs. Hope all this makes sense.
Sounds like a great cook, that friend of yours! I love salads and my mom does too – I’ll have to swap out our regular salad for this iceberg salad the next time I visit them. Have a great week!
She’s amazing! 🙂 She’s one of the few people in this world who makes me want to live just on salads! N x