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The holiday season is upon us! With Hanukkah just around the corner, I’ve wrapped our gifts, pulled out the menorahs and decorations and ordered my son a new pair of Hanukkah pajamas.
The last, and most important, item on my list is to plan my holiday menu. Last year, I welcomed my son, Ari, just five days before Hanukkah. This year, I’ve moved to a new home — meaning that Hanukkah has become for me the season of celebrating, lots of change and extra planning. One thing that is constant, however, is my obsession with curating the perfect menu, regardless of whether I’m cooking for a party of 30 or my family of three.
When I think about my holiday menu, it’s all about balance, tradition, experimentation and playfulness. There will always be a classic latke on my table, but I might experiment on day two or three with an added sweet potato, parsnip or hint of ginger as I fry my way through the holiday.
There’s no doubt I’ll make a batch of pillowy, jammy sufganiyot, a tradition reserved for the first night, but the main and side dishes offer a little more leeway when it comes to thinking outside the box.
Given that much of our meal is centered around fried foods, I like to balance the heavy with fresh side dishes to lighten and brighten the meal. I’ll offer two salads, a cooked vegetable dish and a platter of fresh citrus.
But how do you give a salad a Hanukkah theme? Think of the three types of people at Hanukkah: those who enjoy latkes without any garnish, those who top their latkes with sweet applesauce and those who add a dollop of tangy sour cream.
The combination of crispy potatoes, bright apples and sour cream serves as inspiration for this salad — but don’t be fooled into thinking this should only be in your rotation for Hanukkah. It’s great all year long.
The dressing, a sour-cream based ranch, has a touch of tahini for added richness, balanced with bright, fresh parsley, dill and chives. You can use dried herbs in their place, but fresh is always best. Double the dressing recipe to serve it alongside your latkes, chips or veggies. You can also make it with a plain yogurt, if preferred. The addition of buttermilk and lemon juice help make it tangy enough to cut through the richness of the sour cream and the potato chip “croutons.”
While you may be used to adding croutons to your salads, why not add potato chips? Both add texture, crunch, saltiness and excitement to a salad. And for Hanukkah, I can’t think of a more fitting ingredient to include.
Thick-cut, kettle-cooked chips work best, as they are less likely to get soggy from the dressing. Lastly, to balance the rich dressing and oily potato chips, it gets mixed with crispy lettuce, cucumbers, apple and a sprinkle of fresh herbs. This ranch will surely become one of your favorites. Happy holidays!
Herby Salad with Sour Cream Ranch and Potato Chips
Serves 4
Dressing:
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 2 Tbs. lemon juice
- 1 Tbs. tahini
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 Tbs. finely chopped parsley
- 1 Tbs. finely chopped dill
- 1 Tbs. finely chopped chives
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Salad:
- 2 small heads Romaine lettuce, chopped
- ½ of an English cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 medium Granny Smith apple, thinly sliced
- 2 Tbs. finely chopped parsley
- 2 Tbs. finely chopped dill
- 2 Tbs. finely chopped chives
- ½ cup crumbled thick-cut potato chips
- For dressing
In a medium bowl, whisk together sour cream, buttermilk, lemon juice and tahini. Add chopped garlic, parsley, dill, chives. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Thin with 1 to 2 Tbsp. water, if necessary. Set aside.
For salad
In a large bowl, combine lettuce, cucumber, apples, parsley, dill and chives. To serve, drizzle with dressing, and garnish with the crumbled potato chips.
Note: You can store dressing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.