“OH, THIS IS my favorite salad right now,” said chef David Nayfeld of his second Slow Food Fast recipe. The layered winter mix makes use of seasonal ingredients like radicchio and apples, plus soft, ripe La Tur cheese and fresh basil. “It’s so simple, it’s stupid,” he added.

With a relatively short list of ingredients, each one counts. “All the nuances are what make this salad spectacular, rather than just really good,” the chef said. “But you don’t need to know a lot to get this right.” It’s more a triumph of thoughtful...