Green Goddess Salad

Steps

1. chop12 min
   cabbage and cucumber pieces small and even enough to scoop with chips or a spoon
   Chop the cabbage and cucumbers much finer than for an ordinary tossed salad, then combine them with the chives and scallions. Even tiny pieces are the structural point: the dressing can coat every surface, and no single wet cucumber chunk dominates a bite.
2. mix5 min
   greens and nuts broken down before final oil incorporation
   Blend the basil, spinach, garlic, shallot, lemon juice, rice vinegar, cashews, nutritional yeast and salt until the herbs and nuts are finely broken down. Scrape the sides as needed; coarse nut pieces make the dressing gritty instead of creamy.
3. emulsify3 min
   dressing completely smooth, thick but pourable and able to cling to a spoon
   With the blender running, stream in the olive oil and continue until glossy and smooth. If the dressing is too stiff to circulate, add only a spoonful of water at a time; it must coat chopped vegetables rather than pool beneath them.
4. mix3 min
   vegetables evenly coated with no puddle at the bottom
   Pour the dressing over the chopped vegetables and toss thoroughly just before serving. Stop once every piece is coated. Acid and salt immediately begin drawing water from cabbage and cucumber, so holding the finished salad for hours trades its scoopable crunch for dilution.
5. rest2 min
   brief rest only; vegetables still crisp
   Let the salad stand for just a couple of minutes so the dressing settles into the cuts, then serve. This is not a slaw that improves overnight; its best texture depends on the contrast between a thick dressing and freshly chopped crisp vegetables.