KMatheson Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I learned this from a chef once and thought I'd share it with those who... don't know. Ignore me if you do know this tip! One of our members mentioned eating a salad this weekend and reminded me. How to make your salad like the ones in a restaurant: Greens of your choice (I prefer to buy the prepackaged field green variety because I like the pretty stuff) Whatever else you will use to assemble your salad If you wash your leaves, spin them dry in a spinner. If you don't have one, drain the leaves in a collander for a long while, then pat them dry (gently!). Use only "light" things for your initial salad assembly. Things like onion slices, olives, broccoli, cucumber, celery - etc are heavy and you can add those to each salad individually - or add them right at the end. Salt and pepper your "leaves" and/or shredded carrot/cabbage, etc. Make a nice light dressing - I like mine to have a bit of a twang, but I'll share it... Dressing: 3 tsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) 2 tsp Organic Apple Cider Vinegar 1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar Place all of those ingredients into a shaker (I use a 20 ounce water bottle) and shake vigorously. Drizzle the dressing over your leaf base and very gently - toss with your hands. Treat your leaves as if you are handling feathers. Do NOT use thongs. Thongs will bruise your leaves and make your salad less appealing. Taste a leaf. Adjust your seasoning as desired. Drop the heavier items into your bowl now or decorate each salad individually. Your salad will be light and airy and beautiful. **Note: Many people do not like the bitter taste of cucumber seeds. You can peel the cucumber, slice in half lengthwise. Use a spoon and scoop the inside of the cucumber out, creating a canoe like effect. Slice into half moons. Link to comment
Snowmom Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 We love our salads, but, what gets me is that once the prepackaged lettuce mix is opened, it turns bad fast. Sometimes it is even turning pink or brown when we first open it. I always try to get the package with the longest time to use too. Link to comment
Girl Next Door Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 We love our salads, but, what gets me is that once the prepackaged lettuce mix is opened, it turns bad fast. Sometimes it is even turning pink or brown when we first open it. I always try to get the package with the longest time to use too. I read about that the other day. Someone said to pat the lettuce dry in paper towels after spinning it in a salad spinner before serving. Link to comment
Crazy4Canning Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Your salad will be light and airy and beautiful. Ooooohhhh. Light, airy AND beautiful?!?! Nice. Makes me hungry for salads even though I just had dinner. I toasted my salad spinner this summer when I was making...oh what was I making??? Something I was canning. I miss it. I really want to get an Oxo - both the small and large one. Violet has both sizes and they work beautifully. How does this work with the milk-base dressings? Do you serve it on the side and have people add it little by little? Link to comment
Girl Next Door Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 How does this work with the milk-base dressings? Do you serve it on the side and have people add it little by little? For calories sake I have always dipped my fork into the side dish of salad dressing, then speared my salad. You still get all the taste. Link to comment
Amishway Homesteaders Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Guess what we are having for Dinner (lunch) today? yup! Link to comment
Homemaker Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I have never heard of salting your salad. I know the dressing has salt. I'll have to pass that on to my husband. He loves salads. He puts everything into his salad. It takes him 20 minutes just to make his. Link to comment
KMatheson Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 How does this work with the milk-base dressings? Do you serve it on the side and have people add it little by little? I always serve milk based dressings on the side so that the person can choose how much or how little to add. I don't think the milk based variety would work as well in the "light and airy" effect. Worth a shot to find out, though. Link to comment
KMatheson Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 I have never heard of salting your salad. I know the dressing has salt. I'll have to pass that on to my husband. He loves salads. He puts everything into his salad. It takes him 20 minutes just to make his. I had never heard of it either, but it makes sense. If you salt the leaves and make your own dressing, there's no need to add salt to the dressing. I've done it and it was great! It's my daughter's favorite type of salad. Link to comment
Canned Nerd Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Doesn't Salt bring out the sweetness and flavor of foods? Link to comment
KMatheson Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 Doesn't Salt bring out the sweetness and flavor of foods? Aye, that it does. Nice point. Link to comment
Vlynn Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 ... I toasted my salad spinner this summer when I was making...oh what was I making??? Something I was canning. I miss it. I really want to get an Oxo - both the small and large one. Violet has both sizes and they work beautifully. I have the big Oxo - I really love that thing! I also have the plastic lettuce knife that you're supposed to use instead of metal to prevent browning. I use the Foodsaver to store the unused portion of the lettuce. By doing all that, I can usually get it all used up before it goes bad. Link to comment
cheles2kids Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I have never heard of salting your salad. I know the dressing has salt. I'll have to pass that on to my husband. He loves salads. He puts everything into his salad. It takes him 20 minutes just to make his. MMmmm, us too. We use boiled eggs of course, dried cranberries, grapes, bacon bits, sunflower seeds, carrots, red peppers, the salad mix from Sam's club (excellent price & big container), tomatoes, olives, red peppers, garbanzo beans, frozen peas (run under cold water & defrosted), cucumbers, radishes (LOVE radishes), well, you name it, we throw it in there. I love my salad spinner, before we got ours, our dressing would always be all watered down in the bottom of the bowl. But I bought the large one & we have salads at *least* twice a week, and it more than paid for itself the first couple of times. Oh! Another trick on the salad dressing, instead of pouring it *over* your salad, I add my dressing in the bottom of my bowl and then add all the salad toppings, then just take my fork and 'toss' it in with the dressing. Soooo much easier. Michelle in middle Tennessee Link to comment
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