Welcome to Portland Salad Week

Welcome to the inaugural Portland Salad Week! We are happy to dedicate this week on Bridgetown Bites to celebrating salad in its many forms, highlighting some of the delicious salads you can eat in Portland, ways to make your own salad at home with Portland ingredients, and what’s tasty to kids and adults alike. As we’ve come to understand through this project, salad is a wonderful vehicle for creativity; there are many out there with tasty and memorable flavors, texture, and ingredients.

Salad Week’s Origin Story

The idea for Salad Week first came up last summer during the Portland Mercury’s Burger Week. Corbin Smith asked on Twitter, “When is pdx salad week, I ask you…” Rachel Monahan responded with “But I really want a salad week.” As someone who was already smitten with salad that spring and summer, I was inspired—and started plotting Salad Week.

My friend and colleague Judith Rich offered to join me on this project. Judith and I, together with two other colleagues, ran the popular Astoria, Queens blog/now Instagram feed, We Heart Astoria; we were the go-to blog for all things going on in the neighborhood. She publishes the blog, Eaty Pie and is the resident expert on food and kids.

So today, Portland Salad Week has arrived. And in the words of Kyle at Garden Monsters, “All I can say is FINALLY.”

Anatomy of a Salad

The amazing wedge salad at Woodsman Tavern.

So what exactly is a salad? Merriam-Webster, the dictionary of choice for writer and editors, lays it out:

Any of various usually cold dishes: such as
-Raw greens (such as lettuce) often combined with other vegetables and toppings and served especially with dressing
–Small pieces of food (such as pasta, meat, fruit, or vegetables) usually mixed with a dressing (such as mayonnaise) or set in gelatin
A green vegetable or herb grown for salad, especially : LETTUCE
A usually incongruous mixture : HODGEPODGE

We consider salad to be points 1 and 2, which is a somewhat traditional approach to what a salad is. To expand on that, in Portland we’ve found salad to be a combination of vegetables, herbs, fruit, nuts, dairy, meat, and legumes, tossed or chopped up together. They are dressed in various ways—an acidic vinaigrette; a creamy dressing; and sometimes simply citrus juice in the case of a fruit salad. Sometimes salad is even wrapped up in a bread product.

The Salad Alignment Chart

Because we love alignment charts, why not use this visual aid? We consider salad to be in three categories, according to this alignment chart: Hardline Traditionalists; Structural Purist, Ingredients Neutral; and Structural Neutral, Ingredient Purist. (Click to enlarge.)

You can read about more esoteric ideas about salad in this GitHub article.

What Salad Is Not

Some people have gotten the idea in their heads that salad is only for certain kinds of people; that is simply not true. Sure, there is a whole meme/photo cliché called Women Laughing Along With Salad. And there are a lot of stereotypes when it comes to why someone eats salad (e.g., they’re trying to lose weight, they want to look healthy). We are here to tell you that SALAD IS FOR EVERYONE.

And that’s a fact.

Salads Honoring Salad Week

From left to right: Caprese Salad, Peacock Salad, Macho Taco Salad

We have a few salads to highlight right away this week, from carts and restaurants that love and acknowledge Portland Salad Week. We are grateful to them for coming on board and supporting the idea of a Salad Week in Portland. Here’s who they are and the salad they recommend:

Fru Fru Terra (formerly Vtopia): Caprese Salad

Our Caprese salad is made with a dairy-free, house-made soy-based Mozzarella layered with organic tomato, house-made pesto, salt, pepper, white balsamic, and organic olive oil. $6.50 for a small, $12 for a large. 1628 SW Jefferson Street, Portland
Note: stop by soon because Fru Fru Terra is closing June 17.

Garden Monsters: The Macho Taco Salad

We’re featuring our best seller, The Macho Taco Salad. All salads at Garden Monsters start out vegetarian and come with your choice of locally sourced meat or non-GMO veggie protein. We also have full vegan and keto menus with modified versions of this salad on each. $10.50 for a half salad, $14.50 for a whole salad. Any salad can be made into a salad wrap for just $0.50. 5029 SE Division Street and 2231 NE Alberta Street, Portland

The Sudra: The Peacock Salad

Arguably their best selling salad (they have two other salads, too), it starts with kale in tahini dressing, with soy curls, root vegetables, corn, and bell peppers. $8 for a small, $15 for a large. 906 N Fremont Street and 28 NE 28th Avenue, Portland; 4589 SW Watson Avenue, Beaverton

Many thanks to Fru Fru Terra, Garden Monsters, and The Sudra for coming along with us on this ride.

We look forward to sharing our love of salad with you, and we hope by the end of the week you will be inspired to go out and enjoy salads around Portland. Got any suggestions we should know about? You can fill out this form or email us.

Next up: Salads We Love, Part One.