Roman-Inspired Mixed-Green Salad (Misticanza alla Romana) Recipe

For a truly great mixed greens salad, make your own mix with the freshest stuff you can find: whole heads of lettuce, radicchio, herbs, dandelion greens, and more.

By
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Senior Culinary Director
Daniel joined the Serious Eats culinary team in 2014 and writes recipes, equipment reviews, articles on cooking techniques. Prior to that he was a food editor at Food & Wine magazine, and the staff writer for Time Out New York's restaurant and bars section.
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Updated Aug. 12, 2019
Roman-inspired mixed green salad
Photographs: Vicky Wasik

Why This Recipe Works

  • A good mix of the freshest leafy greens delivers a flavorful salad with personality.
  • Using what's seasonal and available to you means the salad will always be at its best.
  • A light dressing of good olive oil and lemon juice is all top-quality greens need.

Want a truly great mixed green salad full of vibrant lettuces, flavorful herbs, and bitter greens? You're not going to find it in the pre-mixed salad section of your supermarket. Instead, make your own with the freshest whole heads of lettuce, radicchio, herbs, dandelion, and more. This incredibly simple recipe is inspired by the Roman salad called misticanza, which traditionally combines several wild greens. It's unlikely most of us outside of Rome can find those greens, but we can capture the same spirit by combining a good mix of tender, bitter, and herbaceous greens.

Recipe Details

Roman-Inspired Mixed-Green Salad (Misticanza alla Romana) Recipe

Active 15 mins
Total 15 mins
Serves 4 servings

For a truly great mixed greens salad, make your own mix with the freshest stuff you can find: whole heads of lettuce, radicchio, herbs, dandelion greens, and more.

Ingredients

  • About 8 cups wild and/or cultivated leafy greens and tender fresh herbs, such as lettuces, chicory, endive, radicchio, dandelion, purslane, frisée, kale, fennel fronds, parsley, tarragon, chervil, basil, mint, and more, preferably grown locally and at peak season and freshness (see note)

  • Extra-virgin olive oil

  • Fresh lemon juice

  • Kosher or sea salt

Directions

  1. Pick over the leafy vegetables, discarding any wilted or damaged leaves. Cut lettuce leaves free of their cores, pick the tender herbs from stems, and quarter, core, and slice tight leafy heads like radicchio and endive. Wash everything in several changes of water until no dirt or grit remains. Dry well in a salad spinner.

  2. In a large serving bowl, gently toss salad with just enough olive oil to gently coat leaves. Add a splash of lemon juice and salt to taste, tossing to combine. Serve.

Notes

The key here is to use what you can get, and not try to force anything into the salad that won't be great. If you live near a farm stand or farmers market, that may be your best bet.

If not, or if it's not the right season, stick to hardy leafy vegetables and herbs like radicchio, endive, romaine, escarole, frisée, and baby kale.

Special Equipment

Salad spinner

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
197 Calories
21g Fat
4g Carbs
1g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 197
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 21g 26%
Saturated Fat 3g 14%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 299mg 13%
Total Carbohydrate 4g 1%
Dietary Fiber 2g 7%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 1g
Vitamin C 7mg 34%
Calcium 32mg 2%
Iron 1mg 6%
Potassium 240mg 5%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)