everything alex cooks

six herb salad

I guess you could call it New American.

(I take back everything I said about New American.)

mains

July 20, 2025

last updated: July 20, 2025


adapted from nytcooking’s soft herb salad

six herb salad
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six herb salad

Recipe by AlexCourse: Main
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

10

minutes
Total time

30

minutes

my summer six herb salad with a brown butter vinaigrette.

Ingredients

  • salad

  • 1 cup of cilantro

  • 1 cup of parsley

  • 1 cup of basil

  • 1 cup of arugula

  • 0.5 cup of mint

  • 0.5 cup of dill

  • vinaigrette

  • 6 tablespoons butter

  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice

  • salt, red pepper flakes or black pepper

Instructions

  • Roughly chop all herbs. Combine in a large mixing bowl.
  • On low heat, add raw pistachios. To prevent burning, stir pistachios intermittently until slightly fragrant (~3-5 minutes). Add toasted pistachios directly from pan to into the large mixing bowl.

    make sure that you… wipe the pan gently with a paper towel to remove any remaining pistachios bits. We are using the same pan again in the next step and do not want any pistachio remnants to burn.
  • Using the same pan on low heat, add butter to pan. Brown butter.

    how to brown butter: Melt. Wait for the butter to foam. As butter foams, stir, scraping th bottom of the pan constantly so that 1) the butter browns evenly and 2) the dark bits (milk solids) do not stick to the bottom of the pan. The dark bits are the good stuff! Once fragrant, set aside into small bowl.
  • To make brown butter vinaigrette: add acid or vinegar of choice, a pinch of salt, and a crank of black pepper.
  • Dress salad to your liking. Toss. Serve immediately.

Notes


  • It is better to underdress this salad and add more later. The herbs are all quite tender, so sitting in the dressing too long will make them soggy.

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non-negotiables

  • butter – The key to this salad is the brown butter. It is a purposefully rich dressing to complement soft herbs.
  • more than 3 herbs – You really should do all six herbs, but I understand if that is not within your budget or fridge space. Please do at least 3 (that is, no less than 4) herbs.

try experimenting with

  • acid – No lemons on hand? Lime or any vinegar will do.
  • pistachios – Pistachios in this economy? Toasted almonds, walnuts, or any nut should work.

extra ingredients?

  • Extra arugula? Extra herbs? Make my Hot Girl Salad. You can easily substitute the kale for arugula and toss the extra herbs in the white bean dressing.

sorry, no recipe development notes this time! but trust me, this recipe did go through 2 tests–one of which was for dinner party, and it received many good reviews. ⋆⭒˚｡⋆