With just a month after the new year began, you’re probably keeping your word of eating more vegetables, especially salads. Fingers crossed you’ll keep at it for the rest of 2023.
But let’s face it, salads do not exactly have a reputation for being exciting. Sometimes we get bored picking through a bunch of lettuces topped with the same ingredients over and over again. This rings true especially for convenience store-bought salads, or the ones we thoughtlessly and haphazardly toss at home for a semblance of a healthy meal.
But think about the vibrant salads served at great restaurants. Have you ever thought that perhaps we’re doing salads wrong?
It turns out we have a lot to learn from the culinary masters. With just a few tweaks and tricks, here’s how you can whip up exciting and satisfying salads.
Mix Up the Greens
The most popular greens are baby spinach, kale, and romaine lettuce. Why not switch things up by making a salad out of spinach one day, arugula the next, or butter lettuce the day after that? Use different varieties of lettuce, there are 16 varieties!
Season Your Salad
A chef’s secret which completely blew my mind: they add salt and pepper to the vegetables, especially the greens. By doing this, the natural flavor of the greens, and any veggies you’ll add, is accentuated. You’re not relying on the salad dressing to do all the heavy lifting. Season each component of the salad, whether that includes leaves, roasted veggies, and other add-ins
Ice, Ice Baby
Root and tuber vegetables make excellent sidekicks to greens, especially when they’re crunchy and vibrant. Chefs dish out this great tip: submerge root and tuber vegetables in a bowl of icy water before drying and chopping them.
Choose at Least Three Bright Colors
Make your plate dazzle with an assortment of colors. We eat with our eyes, right? So there’s nothing more enticing than a colorful plate. There are many rainbow salad recipes on the Internet you can try. But if you want to start with something basic, some greens, carrots, corn, and some nice and juicy cherry tomatoes will do.
Use Fresh Herbs Mixed With the Greens
This is one trick that will elevate your salad to new heights. Toss in herbs like parsley, basil, cilantro, dill, oregano, mint, or tarragon with your greens for a pop of freshness. Author Sara Faye Green of Women’s Health loves this salad trick– “While most people associate herbs with pasta sauce and roast chicken (and they’re not wrong), I swear by them in salads. They always add extra color and freshness, no matter the recipe. And they punch up the flavor of even the dullest, most everyday salads in no time. They make salads so delicious I actually crave them.”
Roast Some Veggies
Sometimes a major turn-off for people is having the same raw veggies over and over again for salads. Here’s a pleasantly surprising discovery: you can actually add roasted veggies to your salad. Think roasted sweet potatoes, winter squash and rutabaga. True, it will entail more prep work on your part, but the time is well-worth adding a great dimension to your salad. Think about what an extra 10 to 15 mins. prep time is equivalent to: you eat more veggies, you reduce risk for illnesses, you have increased energy, and whole lot more. (READ: 10 Things That Will Happen to Your Body if You Eat Greens Daily)
Protein is Lit
Salads earn an unfair reputation for being a mere side dish, but actually, if you add some protein, it makes for a satisfying and filling meal. There is a plethora of options like meat, fish, eggs, tofu, or even beans, nuts and quinoa. Take your pick, and go crazy.
Add in Some Satisfying Fats
This is another great tip for making your salad more filling. Adding fat will balance the fresh flavors of your green and herbs. Some great ideas for fat components are avocado, cheese, and crispy bacon. Most restaurants will also sprinkle some walnuts or sunflower seeds. Just a sprinkle, a little goes way.
Think Beyond Croutons
If you’re tired of the same old croutons, consider trying other crunchy ingredients, like crispy chicken skin, mushroom chips, and panko toasties. It’s all about the crunch of course. If you want a more enticing salad, play up with textures for your salad. How about tossing in a blend of crunchy nuts and seeds, dried fruit for chewiness, something soft like eggs, or avocadoes?
Add Fruits
Want more colors to your salad? Fruits will do splendidly in this area. But more than that, fruits like mangoes, berries, oranges, and pineapples can be the sweet counterpart to the bitter greens.
Use a Microplane
Take it from Jass Damuck, author of Salad Freak, “That’s nothing new or crazy, but putting lemon zest or lemon juice is really going to brighten it up and add a lot of flavor.” Lemon zest can brighten up a salad, or any dish, really. What’s more, said Damuck, it’s super easy and only takes a few seconds. So go ahead, log online and shop for a microplane.
Go for Grains
Let’s face it, there are days when we need something more filling than a plate of salad, even if there’s a whole chicken breast in there. On days like this, you can simply switch things up by making a hearty, flavorful, and fresh summer grain salad. You can choose among quinoa, buckwheat, couscous or even barley. Plate your dish like a pro, just watch one of those reality shows and see how they create depth and let the colors pop.
Create Your Own Salad Dressing
Those grocery salad dressings? Never a good idea. For one, they’re not fresh. Second, most of them contain high fructose corn syrup for flavor and processed trans fats to prolong shelf life. Once you make your own and taste the difference, you will never ever take a second look at ready-made salad dressings again.
Update Your Vinaigrette Formula
The culinary mantra of 3 parts fats to 1 part acid is already outdated. Chefs today prefer this livelier ratio of 2 parts fat to 1 part fat acid. Bon Appetit suggested the following combos:
- Yogurt + lime + harissa
- Mayo + rice vinegar + gochujang and grated garlic
- Olive oil + apple cider vinegar + maple syrup
- Neutral oil + rice vinegar + miso and grated ginger
Challenge Your Perception of a Salad
What makes a salad? Just a toss-in of some veggies and a dressing? Perhaps a salad can be a wrap, a taco, a pizza, or a sourdough toast! Think outside the box.
Most Important Life-Changing Tip: Balance the Flavors
Think about how each ingredient interact with one another. Restaurants know this, so for any salad that they serve, they make sure the five different tastes are present in the plate: salty, sweet, sour, acidic, and even bitter or spicy flavors. That makes all the difference.
There you go: chefs and cooks have divulged their secrets so you will never suffer through a sad and boring salad ever again. Follow two to three tips here, and we promise you won’t look at salad the same way again. Which of these tips will you try the next time you eat salad?
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