If there were an official salad month, I think it would be January. After the holidays, many are searching for ways to incorporate some vegetables into their diets. However, salad doesn’t have to be boring. May I present my favorite salad of all time…Columbia Restaurant’s famous 1905 Salad. This punchy, zesty salad is meal-worthy. I often order it as my main entree, served with delicious freshly baked Cuban bread. If you’ve never been to this famous Florida restaurant, take a day trip to Ybor City to its original location, which opened in 1905. Other locations include: Celebration, Clearwater, Sarasota and St. Augustine.
As a history lover, my favorite location is the original Ybor City Columbia Restaurant. With gorgeous hand-painted tile, flamenco performances and the original bar from the 1903 saloon, the place is brimming with stories. Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio dined at Columbia Restaurant while visiting Tampa on their honeymoon. Joe was familiar with the area from his baseball spring training days. He enjoyed it so much, he brought Marilyn along. I wonder what she ordered! In 1980, family owners of the restaurant introduced a celebratory day in September called 1905 Day, where the menu reflected the prices of the year 1905! Coffee was just five cents. Their famous 1905 salad cost $1.95, and their wonderful sangria cost just 95 cents! Sadly, in 2016, this celebration went away, disappointing the many customers who lined up down the block to partake in this fabulous deal.
So, what exactly makes this salad great anyway? Though not on the original menu, this salad made its grand debut in the 1970s and still remains a staple of the menu to this day. Its ingredients are fairly simple, but together they make something truly unique.
The bed of iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and green olives get married table-side with baked ham, Swiss cheese, grated Romano cheese and a bold salad dressing. The magic dressing includes excellent quality extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, dried oregano, lemon juice, fresh garlic and, most importantly, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. Toss everything together in a large bowl with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper, and you’ve got the most fresh and satisfying dinner in five minutes. The only changes that I make to this salad are a slight reduction in garlic and oregano. Who am I to mess with perfection? I had to put my own spin on this recipe, and I feel that the garlic and oregano in their recipe are a little too strong, but feel free to bump up the garlic to 4 cloves and 2 teaspoons of dried oregano if you want to be authentic.
Columbia Restaurant’s 1905 Salad (Serves 2 as a meal or 4-6 as a side)
Ingredients:
1 head of iceberg lettuce
5 roma tomatoes (or Campari)
1/2 cup green olives (halved)
5 slices Swiss cheese (julienned)
5 slices ham (julienned)
1/3 cup grated Romano cheese
Dressing:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (highest quality you have)
1-2 cloves of garlic (microplaned or minced)
A pinch of dried oregano
Juice of 1 lemon
Large pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/8 cup white wine vinegar
Instructions:
- Make the dressing in a mason jar by combining all the ingredients and closing the lid. Add plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Shake the dressing very well until combined. Set aside.
- Chop the lettuce and tomatoes into bite-sized pieces and add to a large mixing bowl. Add julienned Swiss cheese and ham and the olives.
- Toss the salad with the dressing.
- Top with grated Romano cheese and more freshly ground black pepper.
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