Oils for Salads & Finishing
A finishing oil is poured, not cooked, its whole job is flavor. This is where the beautiful oils belong: a peppery extra-virgin, a toasty hazelnut, a bright lemon-infused. A drizzle at the very end can make a simple plate feel like a restaurant.
Save the good stuff for the finish
Heat dulls a delicate oil’s flavor and aroma, so the loveliest oils are wasted in a hot pan. Keep them for drizzling over finished dishes, tossing through salads, and shaking into dressings, anywhere you’ll actually taste them.
The ones worth keeping
A robust extra-virgin olive oil for greens, soups, and grilled vegetables. Toasted nut oils like hazelnut and walnut, gorgeous on autumn salads, roasted squash, and cheese, though use them sparingly; they’re intense. And infused oils, lemon, garlic, chili, for instant flavor with no effort at all.
A simple everyday dressing
Good extra-virgin, fresh lemon or a good vinegar, a little Dijon, salt and pepper, shaken in a jar, that’s the whole thing. My Classic Lemon Vinaigrette is the one I come back to on almost everything.
My own little collection
I keep a few infused oils on the shelf because they change a dish in seconds: Everyday Mediterranean Oil for roasting and everyday cooking, a Lemon Herb Finishing Oil for fish and salads, a Garlic Chili Oil for a little heat, and an Italian Bread Dipping Oil for the table. A beautiful bottle within reach is the easiest way I know to make everyday food feel special.
A finishing oil should taste of something. Buy small bottles, keep them cool and dark, and use them within a few months, their magic fades with time.
When the mind needs somewhere to land
Everything in this wing points, in the end, to the same place, the breath, and the nervous system beneath it. It is why I built SOVA: a quiet companion for the moments in between.
- Today, a daily practice that aligns you before the day pulls you a dozen directions.
- Companion, a place to process any feeling, even the happy ones.
- Pages, a soft place to set your thoughts down and out of your head.
- The House, rooms of calm to step into, whenever you need one.