Are wilted soggy greens staring back at you?
For the longest time I made salads thinking there were no steps involved in order to better its taste and texture. I would grab some lettuce, put it on a plate and top it with veggies and a drizzle of vinaigrette. This resulted in salads that were okay but nothing close to what I ate in four stars restaurants.
Then one day as I was working in a professional kitchen slicing tomatoes when I saw a chef behind me tossing lettuce in a big mixing bowl using tongues. That’s when I realized there was more to making a salad than just plopping veggies on a plate if you want top notch tasty leafy greens. Here are some quick and easy tips on how to dress a salad that will change the way you toss and season.
- Blot with paper towel or use a salad spinner to dry your lettuce. Any water left on the lettuce will repel oil base vinaigrettes and leave your salad bland.
- Dress your salad only right before serving. This will prevent the leaves from wilting (oil penetrates the leaves, so the longer they soak in dressing the darker and droopier the salad).
- Put your greens in a large bowl, pour the dressing down the sides of the bowl (start will less dressing than you usually use) and gently toss. This will coat the salad more evenly.
- Serving your salad on cold plates will keep it fresh and crispy for a longer time.
Now that you know how to dress a salad, learn how easy it is to cook fluffy quinoa, how to brine fish so the flavor is always spot on, how to cook shrimp for the best texture, how to cook jasmine rice, or how to make the crispiest tofu.
