How to Dress a Green Salad
Simple salads belong after the main course or as a side dish, while more complex salads come first as an appetizer or stand on their own as a main course. The best time to dress green salads is always at the very last minute.
1. Less is more. It’s better to underdress than overdress salads. Overdressing weighs lettuces down, making them limp and translucent within seconds. Plus, you won’t taste the greens, only the dressing.
2. Delicate and heartier greens should be dressed separately. When dressing a salad that includes both dainty lettuces and heavier items such as artichoke hearts or pieces of fruit, dress and season the heavier items separately from the lettuces. Then arrange them among the dressed lettuce leaves. Otherwise, the heavy items fall to the bottom and the delicate greens get crushed.
3. Dress the bowl instead of the salad. Place your salad ingredients in a large, wide mixing bowl. Spoon or squirt the dressing around the inside upper portion of the bowl. Then, using salad tongs, grab the dressing from the sides of the bowl a little at a time and fold it into the leaves. Using your hands again, transfer the salad to a large serving bowl or individual plates. If you pour the dressing directly on the leaves, there’s no turning back: You’ve got a soggy salad. By dressing the bowl, you can incorporate a little dressing at a time.
4. Gently toss the salad. Use salad tongs
5. Taste before serving. You may need to adjust the seasonings after you have tossed the salad.
Source Material from Jill Santopietro of chow.com
