Columella Salad
from Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome by Patrick Faas

Columella (AD 4 - ca. AD 70) wrote De re rustica, a treatise on agriculture between A.D. 35 and 45. Columella's writings suggest that Roman salads were a match for our own in richness and imagination:

"Addito in mortarium satureiam, mentam, rutam, coriandrum, apium, porrum sectivum, aut si non erit viridem cepam, folia latucae, folia erucae, thymum viride, vel nepetam, tum etiam viride puleium, et caseum recentem et salsum: ea omnia partier conterito, acetique piperati exiguum, permisceto. Hanc mixturam cum in catillo composurris, oleum superfundito."

"Put savory in the mortar with mint, rue, coriander, parsley, sliced leek, or, if it is not available, onion, lettuce and rocket leaves, green thyme, or catmint. Also pennyroyal and salted fresh cheese. This is all crushed together. Stir in a little peppered vinegar. Put this mixture on a plate and pour oil over it." (Columella, Re Rustica, Book XII, LVII)

A wonderful salad, unusual for the lack of salt (perhaps the cheese was salty enough), and that Columella crushes the ingredients in the mortar.

100g fresh mint (and/or pennyroyal)
50g fresh coriander
50g fresh parsley
1 small leek
a sprig of fresh thyme
200g salted fresh cheese
vinegar
pepper
olive oil

Follow Columella's method for this salad using the ingredients listed.

In other salad recipes Columella adds nuts, which might not be a bad idea with this one. Apart from lettuce and rocket many plants were eaten raw—watercress, mallow, sorrel, goosefoot, purslane, chicory, chervil, beet greens, celery, basil and many other herbs.

from Eat Like a Roman, Part 3
Robert Sietsema, http://www.gourmet.com/, 03.20.08

Robert Sietsema served this salad at a dinner party and related the following: "The guests loved it immediately, eagerly calling for more. Who could have imagined fresh mint and cilantro went so well together? Moreover, the recipe could easily accommodate any constellation of herbs or weeds you could forage or buy. Here is a recipe that needs to be brought into the modern world, I concluded. This one's a keeper."

Roman Salad

1 bunch cilantro, leaves removed and stems discarded
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves removed and stems discarded
1 bunch mint (peppermint or spearmint preferred), leaves removed and woody stems discarded
5 sprigs thyme, leaves removed and stems discarded
1 thick leek or 2 thin leeks, trimmed of all but 2 inches of green, coarsely chopped
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 oz feta cheese

Wash herbs and leeks thoroughly. Place all ingredients except feta cheese in the hopper of a food processor and blend for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of processor and blend for another 30 seconds, leaving the mixture coarse, but with no large lumps of leek.

Transfer salad to a bowl, and crumble feta over the top. Stir into the salad until mixed. Check the seasoning and adjust salt as necessary.

Note: Any mixture of herbs and wild edible herbs will work in this infinitely variable recipe.