BY NICKI SIZEMORE

INTENTION: I will ditch perfectionism.

Perfectionism is like a cage that tries to bind us, but in reality, we have the key to get out.

When we release the need to be perfect and instead allow our lives to be real, messy, and delightfully and tragically human, like this delicious green salad, we open the door to freedom.

In the kitchen, cooking without a recipe is a wonderful way to practice letting go of perfectionism.

We have to taste and create as we go, learning to trust ourselves, growing from our flops.

For this recipe, ditch perfectionism in favor of the messy joy of creation.

SERVES: 4–6
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
DIET: DF, GF, VG

One-Bowl Green Salad Ingredients

1/2 lemon, plus more as needed
1 garlic clove, smashed and peeled
1 small spoonful of Dijon mustard
1 small spoonful of honey (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Good-quality extra-virgin olive oil, the best you’ve got
1 head of lettuce or a bunch of salad greens, torn into bite-sized pieces

Optional Add-ins:

Shaved or sliced/diced vegetables, such as cucumber, fennel, squash, and tomatoes
Toasted nuts and/or seeds
Grated, shaved, or crumbled cheese, such as cheddar, feta, goat cheese, Gruyère, or parmesan

One-Bowl Green Salad Instructions

To Make the Dressing:

1. Combine the lemon juice and garlic. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon into a large salad bowl. (If your lemon isn’t very juicy, use the juice from the other half as well.)

2. Add the garlic and rub it around the bowl. If you have the time, let the garlic sit in the lemon juice for 5–10 minutes or longer to allow the flavor to infuse.

3. Add the mustard, seasoning, and oil. Whisk in the mustard and the honey, if you’d like. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the oil, aiming for about twice as much oil as lemon juice.

4. Taste and adjust the seasonings. The best way to gauge the seasoning is to dip a lettuce leaf into the dressing and taste it. If the dressing is too tart for your liking, add a bit more oil. Conversely, if it’s a bit flat, add more lemon juice. Adjust the seasonings as desired (remember, there is no wrong way, only your way).

5. At this point, you can remove the garlic clove or leave it in the dressing; I usually leave it in for more flavor, although it becomes a bit of a game at the table to see who has the garlic clove in their serving.

To Assemble the Salad:

1. Pile the greens into the bowl, along with any shaved or sliced/diced vegetables, if using.

2. If you’re not eating the salad right away, cover it with damp paper towels and place the bowl in the refrigerator up to 2 hours before serving.

3. Right before serving, add nuts and/ or cheese, if using, and season the salad with salt and pepper.

4. Toss everything to coat in the dressing and serve.

Notes:

• There’s no right or wrong way to make the dressing; it totally depends on your preference (and it’s okay if you don’t know what you prefer right away; sometimes that takes practice). You can use just greens or add veggies, nuts, seeds, cheese…the sky is the limit.
• The honey will lend sweetness and help emulsify the dressing, but it’s optional. Sometimes I add it, and sometimes I don’t.
• You can assemble the salad (without tossing it in the dressing) and refrigerate it for up to 2 hours before serving. Each version is a bit different; there is no perfect way.

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Well Being Journal adapted the above excerpt from Mind, Body, Spirit, Food by Nicki Sizemore. Copyright © 2026 by Nicki Sizemore. Printed with permission from Storey Publishing, an imprint of Workman Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. Recipe photography by Ricki Snyder.