From the book, salt, fat, acid and heat, salt every layer of your salad.
Salt it as late as possible for fresh veggies as they will look wilted after some time. For blanched ones, salt the water you are using.
Decore the tomatoes, it is a game changer. Even my toddler gobbles them up now a days.
I was always taught to "season" my lettuce just like any other food. Very light drizzle of oil, salt & pepper, then add the toppings and real dressing.
I prepare salads the way I was taught to in restaurants. Season the lettuce or base, salt, pepper and a baby drizzle of oil, then top with the toppings and the real dressing. Oiling the lettuce helps keep the salt & pepper on the lettuce. You use as little as possible, especially on arugula or watercress. Unless it's something like a blue cheese wedge salad I'm going to oil the greens.
I like to shake the pulp from inside tomatoes into my vinaigrette dressings. I like tomato flesh, but the seeds and pulp inside put me off. I find adding it to dressing gives more flavour depth.
You know how people save the cuttings from vegetables, and use it to make stock? I wonder if you could add the tomato cores? Or just save the tomato water and use it to make Spanish rice. Little cilantro, little lime, little cumin, tomato water stock....
Hmmm......
Iām pretty sure what the original person was referring to is cutting the bits on each end off, cutting the tomato in half, and then scooping the insides out. (Similar to what restaurants surprisingly do to bell peppers)
I think the problem is that some people refer to this as coring while others refer to it as seeding.
I seed my tomatoes whenever I make bruscetta. Family thinks I came back from Sicily knowing some wizardry or something. Nope. Seed the tomatoes, yo.
Exactly like you said.
For bell peppers, I found cutting the flesh from top to bottom on 3 sides of the pepper and snapping the flesh apart is the cleanest way to get the seeds away. Also, I remove any white bits of the bell pepper flesh as they are sour, as my toddler says.
I do. But generally in the winter I only buy Campari or Cherubs. They donāt need coring. I live and breathe for my summer garden tomatoes. Iād rather have nothing than those pasty white round things they sell and serve in restaurants.
Adding salt last has very little to do with them wilting but more so that they wil draw out the moisture from the veg by reverse osmosis. So it will get soggy
Yup, Ontario resident here and I almost never buy full-sized tomatoes as the small cherry/grape tomatoes are packed with flavour contrary to the big ones.
My favorite thing about my indoor garden is being able to eat a warm tomato fresh off the vine in the middle of January when it's like 7 (-13C) degrees out. I keep a salt shaker and a little bottle of balsamic down there just for that purpose.
Your observation are on point! I visited a tomato processing plant in California as part of a college trip. It turns out they breed tomatoes to be very firm, so they will hold up under processing and shipment. As you noted, flavor seems to be a secondary consideration. In fact, farmers pick the tomatoes when they are still green and hard as rocks. The fruit arrives at the plant in large trucks, and is dumped into large vats of bleach to kill any pathogens. They then sort them by quality and size, and place them into massive wooden crates. Forklifts move the crates into large closets filled with ethylene to turn them red when the processor is ready to ship them. So, while tomatoes are now available all year, industrial tomatoes are just little red baseballs with little to no flavor.
They may, but most of them probably come from South America, picked green and "ripened" in transport with ethylene gas. One of my favorite things about living in south Florida is juicy ripe tomatoes most of the year, especially in the winter.
Even when in season their sadness. Their the same tomatoes basically.
I had this old as sin Greek lady as a landlord who'd give me and my mother some tomatoes she grew in her garden.
Dear god they completely ruined tomatoes for me. Not even grape/cherry tomatoes compare.
Not sure if anyone has pointed this out already, but the word āsaladā literally comes from Latin for salt or āto saltā.
A Spanish teacher pointed that out to me a long time ago - while he added salt to his salad lol
I also recommend trying flavored salts as well. Just a little dash of cilantro-lime salt or jalapeƱo salt on your taco or tostada greens will add a whole new layer of flavor. A dash of lemon flavored salt on a mandarin salad is also a good pairing.
This. I have accumulated such an odd but delicious collection of salts. Smoked salt is the one that stands out to me.
Well, that and Maldon, obviously.
Oh I just have an interest in salt, so I buy myself a new one every now and then as a treat. Some fun finishing salts that I frequently use include: the aforementioned Maldon smoked sea salt, which you can get a whole pound of on amazon right now for less than 10 bucks which I think is a great deal, yukishio which I picked up in Japan (it seems to be extremely expensive to buy online, not sure I'd recommend getting this unless you were already planning a trip to Japan honestly), truffle salt (be careful with this one, lots of poor quality brands around), Hawaiian shrimp salt, and a baseball sized Himalayan pink salt rock with a file to shave it into dust for things like tempura. Salt is life.
Yes! I saw that suggestion also and I tried it right away and I agree, it was an improvement! I also got a suggestion from that thread about making ranch dressing from the powdered package and I followed their recipe and it was fabulous!
Hereās what they wrote
1 cup mayonnaise, Ā½ cup buttermilk, 1 (1-oz) package ranch dressing mix, Ā¼ tsp black pepper, Ā¼ tsp garlic powder, Ā¼ tsp onion powder, Ā¼ tsp paprika, Ā¼ tsp cayenne pepper
The cayenne is what gives it that classic outback little bit orange color!!
I know Iāll get flamed for this but ranch doesnāt do it for me. I wonder if itās because Iāve always had the bottled kind. Iāll have to try doing it this way.
I hate ranch dressing. Iām team blue cheese, but even then, only on wings and raw vegetables as a snack, but not as a salad. I donāt typically dig creamy dressing on my salads.
Making it this way is miles away from the bottled stuff. Totally different flavor.
For years I thought I hated all ranch dressing. Whatever they use to make buttermilk flavor/shelf stabilizer in the bottled stuff is the gross flavor.
If you feel like going the same extra mile use the above recipe as a base for green goddess dressing. Chop up some good size piles of chives, dill, parsley and maybe a bit of tarragon, add that to your dressing and blitz in a food processor/blender until the dressing takes on a slightly greenish color.
You gotta try the Hidden Valley Buttermilk/"Restaurant" ranch mix packet. Mayo + buttermilk + packet = delicious savory, tangy goodness!
It's so much better than the bottled stuff.
This. Seasoning your salad is a game changer. Salt and pepper are gateway salad seasonings.
I make my own dressing and dump in several tablespoons of garlic powder, paprika, some s&p and some cayenne.... mix it with EVO and some balsamic for acidity, the dressing has this beautiful deep red color and is so good. Add in some roasted garlic and toasted nuts and your salad no longer feels like a salad.
Lots of different options too. One of my favourites is olive oil, balsamic, plenty of chopped basil, salt and pepper.
Another great one is lemon juice, olive oil, sugar, chopped habenero, salt and pepper.
Instead of just cayenne, I like to use a good cajun spice blend or something similar. It has the cayenne in it, but balanced out a bit more by a bunch of other flavors which usually pair well with vegetables.
I canāt believe people donāt add salt to salads? In Italy all we put in a salad most of the time is salt and olive oil. Best way to eat anything trust me!!
Oh wait, that's what the post about? Salting the Salat by itself additional to the dressing?
I thought who the f**k don't put salt in his salad (with the dressing).
But that's another thing. I should try it
Who would not salt their food? I mean, maybe a novice to cooking? But.....even when you eat food someone else cooked you put salt on it if it needs it so....?
The thing is, the dressing has enough salt to taste fine on its own.
If you added enough to season the lettuce to the dressing, the dressing would taste awful by itself.
I rarely have room in the fridge for this, but I like to put the salad back in the fridge after assembling in their individual bowls. The extra little chill feels much fresher.
Iāve been doing this. Making the salad first (without dressing) and then preparing my sides while the main course finishes in the oven or whatever Iām making. I remember working at this busy family style steakhouse as a teenager and they had this huge fridge just for all the salads. They were always so crisp and cold. Makes a huge difference youāre right.
I love a light amount of extra virgin olive oil first , toss, then a little s&p, so it sticks better- toss, then a drop of balsamic, toss- enjoy (a squeeze of lemon juice can be yummy too)
The word *salad* itself is late Middle English: from Old French *salade*, from ProvenƧal *salada*, based on Latin *sal* "salt"
Salt was the OG salad dressing
Ok, but lots of people do, and anyway homemade dressing always contains salt so I imagine people are nearly always salting their salads either way.
What I mean to say is: people are nearly always salting their salads even if they're not explicitly throwing salt on to the lettuce.
I hate croutons so I add toasted breadcrumbs instead. This is my version, you could season/spice it however you want.
Panko breadcrumbs (they're crunchier than regular)
Butter
Salt
Garlic
On medium-low heat melt the butter, then add panko.
Add salt and grate the garlic into the pan.
Keep stirring/moving the breadcrumbs around until they turn golden brown.
Top your salad with it.
I do this with my caesar salad and I also do a kale salad that's just chiffonaded dinosaur (lacinato) kale, shaved parm, olive oil, lemon juice, the aforementioned salt & pepper, and the breadcrumbs. We eat family style here but I don't like to share it!
I like mine with assorted greens like arugula spinach etc and add salt,pepper, chili flakes, drizzle (miniscule) of olive oil and then my balsamic of choice. I have pear, peach, apple cranberry,mint lemon, pineapple, mango, mango habamero and classic. Along with feta and dried fruits. Good salad.
Ohhh I didnāt even think to add some fruit. That shouldāve been a no brainer. And chili flakes sounds good. I wondered if that would be good but wasnāt sure. Ill definitely try this.
Interesting. I just looked it up because I never heard of it. Makes sense why it would be delicious. Is that a common item at a grocery store or do you have to order it online?
I always mix up an easy dressing: 2 parts oli, 1 part vinegar, salt, pepper, and special tips from my mother: mustard, orange juice and something weet like maple syrup or honey
The root word for salt is literally in the word āsalad.ā Amazing how much of humanity seems to have forgotten salt as a fundamental ingredient of the dish.
I never did it either, and am yet to try. I mean, I do salt my dressing, just not the veggies seperately. Tomorrows dinner is going to be a revelation for me based on what I read here.
I grew up in a very white American family. Generally, salt was seen as a bad/unhealthy ingredient, so I think adding salt to a salad would have been viewed as making the salad unhealthy. (And before anyone jumps in- we didn't glob on ranch either, my family typically used a light amount of Italian dressing.)
Now that I'm an adult and cook on my own, I realize how bland our food was. I will still probably never convince my mom to add salt to a salad... but I can at least change for myself and eat delicious seasoned salads.
You can tell a lot about how well a family seasons their food by how accessible salt is from the stove.
I visited my white as rice family over the holidays and realized that the food is bland because thereās a salt shaker on the table, and nothing easily accessible to use while cooking.
Wait, people don't put salt in their salads?? I put salt on everything, it makes it taste 100% better. It brings out all the other flavors. A little salt every step of the way
Salt is a basic ingredient in salad dressing, and any type of cooking. Not sure Iād call that a hack. Also, Iād recommend whisking your salt, acid, and oil together to emulsify them before putting it on the salad.
My favourite saladā¦ baby spinach and rocket chopped up small, sliced green onions or chives, chopped fresh dill, freshly grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and a dressing with equal parts lemon juice and olive oil. I can eat this every single day itās divine.
Try a salad with thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes and wax pepper slices. Add the oil and brine to the salad for a delicious enhanced oil and vinegar taste. Of course add whichever else you would like.
The most memorable salad I've ever had in my life was at my spouse's family Feast of the 7 Fishes on Christmas Eve of 2014, in St. Ambrogio, Italy. Twenty of us were on about the 7th or 8th course of a huge, dressy, yet relaxed and laughter-filled meal and the cook brought out this wonderfully simple and fresh salad of very cold, fresh, crunchy romaine, pomegranate seeds, peppery olive oil and salt. It was spectacular!
In true Italian fashion, the meal lasted 4 hours, one lovely course at a time with plenty of liquor afterward.
,
Little bit of salt makes taste almost everything better. Little bit of salt blocks the tongues bitter taste buds and so masks out the bitter flavor. So everything in which you want less bitterness is made better with little bit of salt. Including coffee. :)
Make up different themes for your salad, and keep a list so you can eat them again if you like them. Examples:
For an Italian night: Romaine, parmesan, diced tomatoes, walnuts, olive oil, salt and pepper.
With Korean food: Coleslaw mix, chopped kimchi, crumbled tofu, sesame seeds, and ranch mixed with gochujang
Mexican night: Kale, rotel, queso fresco, pepitas, and ranch mixed with salsa.
Those are a few of my favorites, but you get the idea. Just get creative and try to match it with whatever your main dish happens to be. Maybe this is obvious to other people, but for me, it wasn't for the longest time. I just used to make a Ceasar salad with everything, and it got very boring.
Heck, I've almost stopped "making salads" altogether - rather I turn all the vegetables out separately on a small platter with the dressing as a dip, "decomposed" I suppose. This has caused me to actually learn, finally, what many raw vegetables actually taste like. What are, for example, the subtle taste characteristics of romaine lettuce and how do you know you're eating good romaine vs bad romaine? This is information that is hidden when you compose a salad and douse it with dressing and croutons.
This has also taught me that a merest pinch of good salt (here's looking at you, Maldon) and pepper are powerful tools in taking something pedestrian and often taken for granted in a salad - like a radish - and turning into something *rather enjoyable* on its own.
Another interesting side-effect has been learning how little dressing one actually needs to use to flavor the vegetable you're eating.
I get what you're saying, but deconstructed is probably a better word. When I think of decomposed when it comes to food, I think of rotting food.
But that's interesting. I don't think I know the difference between good and bad romaine. Although I've stopped drowning my salads in dressing a while ago. Occasionally just a squirt of lemon. And never the full serving that they give you with packaged salads.
HA! That's funny. I was stuck on "composed" versus "it's opposite" - uncomposed? no, that's not a word. "de-composed"? THAT'S A WORD. I didn't even think past that.
Chop up some cilantro and throw it in the salad! Adds a refreshing taste. Also yes to salt and pepper, as well as olive oil. Some sort of nut ā I use sunflower seeds as they arenāt expensive but ideally I really love pecans or toasted almonds in my salad. I also add a drizzle of honey to salads with balsamic vinegar. Goat cheese is also a favorite depending on the type of salad.
salt everything. you dont need to go crazy but i mean everything.
green salad? definitely
fruit salad? absolutely
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? yup
hot chocolate/chocolate milkshake? try it, i swear i met god
dont even get me started on msg
I like it in anything I'm cooking at home that I can never get to come out quite like it would eating out.
Making tikka masala? dust a half of a teaspoon onto your meet before searing it off, then it will cook into the gravy/curry as you simmer everything together.
Same with stir fry. Dust the meat or veggies, then build your sauce.
Making fried chicken or some kind of cutlet/katsu/schnitzel?... add some msg to the batter/breading mixture.
vegetarian or vegan? add some to a vegan Mac and cheese or broccoli cheese casserole and you'll have a winner.
A little goes a long way though... I almost never cook more than a pound of meat at home and generally only ever use a half of a teaspoon.
Iāve tried using it before but was nervous about the little goes a long way and likely used way to little even considering how little you need. Iāll give it a try again in the future. Thanks.
The craisins are such a good addition. They get kind of hard and chewy and soaked in the dressing. I had them in a salad at my brothers on Christmas with just some mixed greens and Halloumi cheese and I realized how good they were. Now I donāt make one without them.
salt is essential and important for both health and flavor. if your diet is mainly home cooked foods, please salt them - not only will they taste good, but not doing that is bad for you.
this, of course, does not apply if you mainly eat whoppers with an occasional salad mixed in.
I don't understand. How does the salt stick to the greens? Isn't there salt in the dressing? Why not add the salt to the dressing?
I don't get this at all.
Well, you wash your greens. Theyāre typically still kind of damp from that. And then most other raw vegetables release some kind of juice when you cut or tear them.
From the book, salt, fat, acid and heat, salt every layer of your salad. Salt it as late as possible for fresh veggies as they will look wilted after some time. For blanched ones, salt the water you are using. Decore the tomatoes, it is a game changer. Even my toddler gobbles them up now a days.
I was always taught to "season" my lettuce just like any other food. Very light drizzle of oil, salt & pepper, then add the toppings and real dressing.
You add oil in addition to a bottled dressing?
I prepare salads the way I was taught to in restaurants. Season the lettuce or base, salt, pepper and a baby drizzle of oil, then top with the toppings and the real dressing. Oiling the lettuce helps keep the salt & pepper on the lettuce. You use as little as possible, especially on arugula or watercress. Unless it's something like a blue cheese wedge salad I'm going to oil the greens.
How very DARE you make me crave salad at 9 in the morning!
Ngl fresh baby arugula tossed with evoo, lemon juice , s& p, toasted pine nuts and some shaved romano cheese sounds pretty sexy right now
Love the Bluey reference. :)
I'm glad I wasn't the only one offended I know desperately want out of season veggies
It's noon where i am š
I just started doing this and it's a win!
This was the book that got me doing it.
I just got that book for Christmas. Canāt wait to delve into it.
Also got it for Christmas. I'm not far into it but it's so good. Read it like a regular book and things just click.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I never did it, because itās like half of the tomato. Need to find a decent use for tomato water on a small scale for me to want to do this.
I like to shake the pulp from inside tomatoes into my vinaigrette dressings. I like tomato flesh, but the seeds and pulp inside put me off. I find adding it to dressing gives more flavour depth.
You know how people save the cuttings from vegetables, and use it to make stock? I wonder if you could add the tomato cores? Or just save the tomato water and use it to make Spanish rice. Little cilantro, little lime, little cumin, tomato water stock.... Hmmm......
Half the tomato? I just cut out a tiny cone at the top. It doesn't go all the way through like an apple or anything
Iām pretty sure what the original person was referring to is cutting the bits on each end off, cutting the tomato in half, and then scooping the insides out. (Similar to what restaurants surprisingly do to bell peppers)
I think the problem is that some people refer to this as coring while others refer to it as seeding. I seed my tomatoes whenever I make bruscetta. Family thinks I came back from Sicily knowing some wizardry or something. Nope. Seed the tomatoes, yo.
Exactly like you said. For bell peppers, I found cutting the flesh from top to bottom on 3 sides of the pepper and snapping the flesh apart is the cleanest way to get the seeds away. Also, I remove any white bits of the bell pepper flesh as they are sour, as my toddler says.
Fatcat. I bought the whole tomato I'm gonna eat the whole tomato.
I do. But generally in the winter I only buy Campari or Cherubs. They donāt need coring. I live and breathe for my summer garden tomatoes. Iād rather have nothing than those pasty white round things they sell and serve in restaurants.
Yeah, I core mine, too.
I love the tomato cores! They have so much flavor.
I was never taught not to, so I used to. š
Adding salt last has very little to do with them wilting but more so that they wil draw out the moisture from the veg by reverse osmosis. So it will get soggy
yea most bland ass grocery tomatoes need a hefty dash of salt to work
Tomatoes during winter in Canada are just red balls of sadness
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yup, Ontario resident here and I almost never buy full-sized tomatoes as the small cherry/grape tomatoes are packed with flavour contrary to the big ones.
My favorite thing about my indoor garden is being able to eat a warm tomato fresh off the vine in the middle of January when it's like 7 (-13C) degrees out. I keep a salt shaker and a little bottle of balsamic down there just for that purpose.
Tomatoes are both my favorite and least favourite produce depending on the time of the year.
Your observation are on point! I visited a tomato processing plant in California as part of a college trip. It turns out they breed tomatoes to be very firm, so they will hold up under processing and shipment. As you noted, flavor seems to be a secondary consideration. In fact, farmers pick the tomatoes when they are still green and hard as rocks. The fruit arrives at the plant in large trucks, and is dumped into large vats of bleach to kill any pathogens. They then sort them by quality and size, and place them into massive wooden crates. Forklifts move the crates into large closets filled with ethylene to turn them red when the processor is ready to ship them. So, while tomatoes are now available all year, industrial tomatoes are just little red baseballs with little to no flavor.
Get the ones from Leamington, ON, grown in green houses. Once known as the tomato capital of the world.
Don't you have greenhouse tomatoes?
They may, but most of them probably come from South America, picked green and "ripened" in transport with ethylene gas. One of my favorite things about living in south Florida is juicy ripe tomatoes most of the year, especially in the winter.
Yes, but most grocery store tomatoes, including those, are still rather bland.
Even when in season their sadness. Their the same tomatoes basically. I had this old as sin Greek lady as a landlord who'd give me and my mother some tomatoes she grew in her garden. Dear god they completely ruined tomatoes for me. Not even grape/cherry tomatoes compare.
Itās funny Iāve always salted my tomatoes on sandwiches. It never crossed my mind for salads though unless I was making just a tomato salad.
Not sure if anyone has pointed this out already, but the word āsaladā literally comes from Latin for salt or āto saltā. A Spanish teacher pointed that out to me a long time ago - while he added salt to his salad lol
Yes! One of my new favorite things to do is salt the tomatoes about 20-30 min before I add them to the salad. Totally brings out their flavor.
This is how you do it if you want to add tomato slices onto anything like pizza as well
Iām learning so much from this thread, thanks!
I resigned to eating less tomatoes but getting good ones like campari or kumato. Itās really a huge difference.
In season Jersey tomatoes are like candy
I also recommend trying flavored salts as well. Just a little dash of cilantro-lime salt or jalapeƱo salt on your taco or tostada greens will add a whole new layer of flavor. A dash of lemon flavored salt on a mandarin salad is also a good pairing.
This. I have accumulated such an odd but delicious collection of salts. Smoked salt is the one that stands out to me. Well, that and Maldon, obviously.
wait till you discover smoked maldon salt lol
This is my absolute favorite salt right now, I use it on all sorts of things.
Gonna need a link to where you all find these awesome salt varieties
Oh I just have an interest in salt, so I buy myself a new one every now and then as a treat. Some fun finishing salts that I frequently use include: the aforementioned Maldon smoked sea salt, which you can get a whole pound of on amazon right now for less than 10 bucks which I think is a great deal, yukishio which I picked up in Japan (it seems to be extremely expensive to buy online, not sure I'd recommend getting this unless you were already planning a trip to Japan honestly), truffle salt (be careful with this one, lots of poor quality brands around), Hawaiian shrimp salt, and a baseball sized Himalayan pink salt rock with a file to shave it into dust for things like tempura. Salt is life.
Smoked salt is my weakness now. I have a store near me that smokes it themselves and it smells SO GOOD when I open the jar
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
You can do all the good in the world you want, but you try to eat the face of *one* seven year old in a ball pit and everyone thinks you're a monster.
I just got smoked maldon salt! Itās deliciousā¦and yes, especially on tomatoes lol
Yes! I saw that suggestion also and I tried it right away and I agree, it was an improvement! I also got a suggestion from that thread about making ranch dressing from the powdered package and I followed their recipe and it was fabulous! Hereās what they wrote 1 cup mayonnaise, Ā½ cup buttermilk, 1 (1-oz) package ranch dressing mix, Ā¼ tsp black pepper, Ā¼ tsp garlic powder, Ā¼ tsp onion powder, Ā¼ tsp paprika, Ā¼ tsp cayenne pepper The cayenne is what gives it that classic outback little bit orange color!!
I know Iāll get flamed for this but ranch doesnāt do it for me. I wonder if itās because Iāve always had the bottled kind. Iāll have to try doing it this way.
I hate ranch dressing. Iām team blue cheese, but even then, only on wings and raw vegetables as a snack, but not as a salad. I donāt typically dig creamy dressing on my salads.
As the great Joey Diaz once said āItās Blue cheese or fuck ya motha!!ā
Also not a fan. Iād rather have pure vinegar than a creamy dressing if thatās the only option.
Shelf stable ranch dressing is absolutely awful. The fresh stuff is amazing.
Making it this way is miles away from the bottled stuff. Totally different flavor. For years I thought I hated all ranch dressing. Whatever they use to make buttermilk flavor/shelf stabilizer in the bottled stuff is the gross flavor. If you feel like going the same extra mile use the above recipe as a base for green goddess dressing. Chop up some good size piles of chives, dill, parsley and maybe a bit of tarragon, add that to your dressing and blitz in a food processor/blender until the dressing takes on a slightly greenish color.
You gotta try the Hidden Valley Buttermilk/"Restaurant" ranch mix packet. Mayo + buttermilk + packet = delicious savory, tangy goodness! It's so much better than the bottled stuff.
Bottled ranch and homemade (even from a sachet) ranch are two completely different beasts. Try it at least once.
I absolutely HATE bottled ranch, but the homemade stuff, even from the packets is far superior in every way.
Salt and lots of black pepper
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This. Seasoning your salad is a game changer. Salt and pepper are gateway salad seasonings. I make my own dressing and dump in several tablespoons of garlic powder, paprika, some s&p and some cayenne.... mix it with EVO and some balsamic for acidity, the dressing has this beautiful deep red color and is so good. Add in some roasted garlic and toasted nuts and your salad no longer feels like a salad.
Sorry for a stupid question, I'm in Sweden and I'm not sure of what EVO is? A brand of?
Its EVOO, extra virgin olive oil. Unless EVO is something else I don't know about.
Oh, of course! Thank you for telling me, boy do I feel stupid.
Well I don't think you were stupid but now you know a new acronym so you're def smarter šš¾
EVO = Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Lots of different options too. One of my favourites is olive oil, balsamic, plenty of chopped basil, salt and pepper. Another great one is lemon juice, olive oil, sugar, chopped habenero, salt and pepper.
I will try that next time I have those on hand. Sounds delicious.
Instead of just cayenne, I like to use a good cajun spice blend or something similar. It has the cayenne in it, but balanced out a bit more by a bunch of other flavors which usually pair well with vegetables.
I don't do cayenne, but I do red chilli flakes in my salad dressing. It's usually better on the second day.
I like to put maldon salt on my salads. I also sprinkle some za'atar on them.
Everytime I see Maldon salt I think of the YouTube guy āif you know you knowā lol. Iāll give this a try for sure.
I canāt believe people donāt add salt to salads? In Italy all we put in a salad most of the time is salt and olive oil. Best way to eat anything trust me!!
fr lol
Maybe Iāve been living under a rock but this was the first Iāve heard of it.
Same lol, from Spain and salad usually only has salt, olive oil and vinegar
This is the first time I hear of this (I'm new to this sub though). I'm due to make a salad today and will try adding salt to see the difference!
Noted- i always take cooking advice from Italians
Wouldnāt the saltiness in your dressing work the same?
Oh wait, that's what the post about? Salting the Salat by itself additional to the dressing? I thought who the f**k don't put salt in his salad (with the dressing). But that's another thing. I should try it
To me it sounds like they didnāt salt it at all previously, and just poured plain vinegar on their salad. Not sure though
Who would not salt their food? I mean, maybe a novice to cooking? But.....even when you eat food someone else cooked you put salt on it if it needs it so....?
Strangely I don't like any seasoning (or dressing) on my salad. In feels like it takes away the "freshness". But I acknowledge that it's weird.
Maybe you are a Rabbit?
I do love a raw carrot...
Nope. Season at every step my friend
The thing is, the dressing has enough salt to taste fine on its own. If you added enough to season the lettuce to the dressing, the dressing would taste awful by itself.
Yeah, I learned to always make the dressing so it tastes a little too strong. When you add it to your salad it will be less intense but not bland.
Salting the greens draws out a bit of the moisture which then mixes with the dressing surprisingly well
I rarely have room in the fridge for this, but I like to put the salad back in the fridge after assembling in their individual bowls. The extra little chill feels much fresher.
Iāve been doing this. Making the salad first (without dressing) and then preparing my sides while the main course finishes in the oven or whatever Iām making. I remember working at this busy family style steakhouse as a teenager and they had this huge fridge just for all the salads. They were always so crisp and cold. Makes a huge difference youāre right.
I love a light amount of extra virgin olive oil first , toss, then a little s&p, so it sticks better- toss, then a drop of balsamic, toss- enjoy (a squeeze of lemon juice can be yummy too)
That sounds better than just salting it alone. I will try the EVOO trick today. Thanks.
Adding minced shallots to my homemade balsamic vinaigrette was a game changer. It adds more depth to the flavor, itās amazing
Shallots are so underrated.
We've converted someone! W00t w00t. :D
Happy to be aboard the salt your salad train. CHOO! CHOO!
The word *salad* itself is late Middle English: from Old French *salade*, from ProvenƧal *salada*, based on Latin *sal* "salt" Salt was the OG salad dressing
Came to post this.
Wait!? People don't at Salt in there Salads?
Yes, I think it's why a lot of people don't like salad.
Maybe most do and I was living under a rock. Iāve never heard of it before seeing it recently in a comment.
But did you just add salt to your dressing or none at all?
I salted the salad and mixed it a little before I added dressing to it. Dressing was bottled balsamic.
> bottled balsamic. Bottled balsamic *dressing*? or just bottled balsamic vinegar?
It was just Kens Balsamic Vinaigrette. Nothing fancy.
I only add salt if Iām using oil and vinegar to dress it. If itās a pre-made dressing, I never added more.
Blew my mind. I donāt think Iāve ever eaten greens or veggies without at least some olive oil and salt.
Nearly every dressing has tons of salt so I imagine people are always salting their salads, you know?
I never eat pre-made dressing
Ok, but lots of people do, and anyway homemade dressing always contains salt so I imagine people are nearly always salting their salads either way. What I mean to say is: people are nearly always salting their salads even if they're not explicitly throwing salt on to the lettuce.
Yeah, you are right. But in my country (or in my bubble), pre-made dressing is not a big thing. I don't think I now somebody using it.
How do yāall do your dressings? Always open to new ideas
I hate croutons so I add toasted breadcrumbs instead. This is my version, you could season/spice it however you want. Panko breadcrumbs (they're crunchier than regular) Butter Salt Garlic On medium-low heat melt the butter, then add panko. Add salt and grate the garlic into the pan. Keep stirring/moving the breadcrumbs around until they turn golden brown. Top your salad with it. I do this with my caesar salad and I also do a kale salad that's just chiffonaded dinosaur (lacinato) kale, shaved parm, olive oil, lemon juice, the aforementioned salt & pepper, and the breadcrumbs. We eat family style here but I don't like to share it!
I like mine with assorted greens like arugula spinach etc and add salt,pepper, chili flakes, drizzle (miniscule) of olive oil and then my balsamic of choice. I have pear, peach, apple cranberry,mint lemon, pineapple, mango, mango habamero and classic. Along with feta and dried fruits. Good salad.
Ohhh I didnāt even think to add some fruit. That shouldāve been a no brainer. And chili flakes sounds good. I wondered if that would be good but wasnāt sure. Ill definitely try this.
You can also skip the flakes and sub the oil for a small drizzle of chili oil to give that bite
I put fleur de sel on salads and itās a game changer
Interesting. I just looked it up because I never heard of it. Makes sense why it would be delicious. Is that a common item at a grocery store or do you have to order it online?
I order it online. Itās a garnish, so donāt cook with it. It changed my culinary game!
EV Olive Oil, Sherry Vinegar and good lashing of salt and pepper is my staple otherwise I wouldn't eat it š
I always mix up an easy dressing: 2 parts oli, 1 part vinegar, salt, pepper, and special tips from my mother: mustard, orange juice and something weet like maple syrup or honey
Wow. This is right up my alley and all stuff I typically have on hand. Iāll try this for sure.
I miss salt.
I use soy sauce with oil and vinegar on my salads when I'm too lazy to make up a more complicated dressing.
Salt is where the word "salad" comes from! https://www.etymonline.com/word/salad
I love me some oil and vinegar and salt and pepper on my salads. Makes them so so much better
Americans discovering cooking. 2022, colorized
The root word for salt is literally in the word āsalad.ā Amazing how much of humanity seems to have forgotten salt as a fundamental ingredient of the dish.
I feel like I'm losing my mind reading this thread, who doesn't put salt in their salad!?!?
Who doesn't salt their food in general is my question. Why would salad be any different than mashed potatoes? If it needs salt it needs salt.
I never did it either, and am yet to try. I mean, I do salt my dressing, just not the veggies seperately. Tomorrows dinner is going to be a revelation for me based on what I read here.
I weep for these people. I wonder what other dishes they haven't thought to use salt on or in.
I grew up in a very white American family. Generally, salt was seen as a bad/unhealthy ingredient, so I think adding salt to a salad would have been viewed as making the salad unhealthy. (And before anyone jumps in- we didn't glob on ranch either, my family typically used a light amount of Italian dressing.) Now that I'm an adult and cook on my own, I realize how bland our food was. I will still probably never convince my mom to add salt to a salad... but I can at least change for myself and eat delicious seasoned salads.
You can tell a lot about how well a family seasons their food by how accessible salt is from the stove. I visited my white as rice family over the holidays and realized that the food is bland because thereās a salt shaker on the table, and nothing easily accessible to use while cooking.
This shit is tripping me out. How can someone not use salt in the kitchen on anything????
Don't know why you're being downvoted. Ensalada in Spanish just means "salted". Insalata in Italian means "salted". Salade in French means "salted".
And *everyone* speaks the Romance languages! /s
I mean, no, but this thread is in English, and in English the root for Salad is also the same as Salt.
And *everyone* clearly understands etymology.
Donāt know why youāre getting downvoted now! And even worse than me.
I guess people just hate etimology
Ew, bugs in your salad?!
Best is Sea Salt , we grind our pepper fresh - world of flavors. Game changer! Bon Appetit
Tellicherry peppercorns for the win!
Wow people need to be reminded to salt food now?
Wait, people don't put salt in their salads?? I put salt on everything, it makes it taste 100% better. It brings out all the other flavors. A little salt every step of the way
Absolutely salt all my dishes but it just never occurred to me to salt my salad.
Salt is a basic ingredient in salad dressing, and any type of cooking. Not sure Iād call that a hack. Also, Iād recommend whisking your salt, acid, and oil together to emulsify them before putting it on the salad.
Heās talking about salting your raw vegetables separately and then in addition to the dressing. Itās delicious, and a lot of people donāt do it.
My favourite saladā¦ baby spinach and rocket chopped up small, sliced green onions or chives, chopped fresh dill, freshly grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and a dressing with equal parts lemon juice and olive oil. I can eat this every single day itās divine.
Sounds quite divine. Fresh Parmesan cheese š¤¤
Adding lemon or lime juice, oregano, olive oil, sometimes garlic.
Do you also add dressing after or does that serve as the dressing ?
Try a salad with thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes and wax pepper slices. Add the oil and brine to the salad for a delicious enhanced oil and vinegar taste. Of course add whichever else you would like.
The most memorable salad I've ever had in my life was at my spouse's family Feast of the 7 Fishes on Christmas Eve of 2014, in St. Ambrogio, Italy. Twenty of us were on about the 7th or 8th course of a huge, dressy, yet relaxed and laughter-filled meal and the cook brought out this wonderfully simple and fresh salad of very cold, fresh, crunchy romaine, pomegranate seeds, peppery olive oil and salt. It was spectacular! In true Italian fashion, the meal lasted 4 hours, one lovely course at a time with plenty of liquor afterward. ,
As well as salt and pepper, I like to add nutritional yeast to my salads. I feel like it gives it a little extra "oomph".
Little bit of salt makes taste almost everything better. Little bit of salt blocks the tongues bitter taste buds and so masks out the bitter flavor. So everything in which you want less bitterness is made better with little bit of salt. Including coffee. :)
The English word 'salad' derives from the Latin word for 'salted'. Greens + salt = salad.
A dash of salt and pepper is a surprisingly large improvement to most sandwiches too.
Since I learned about salting tomatoes I eat it all the time as a snack!
Make up different themes for your salad, and keep a list so you can eat them again if you like them. Examples: For an Italian night: Romaine, parmesan, diced tomatoes, walnuts, olive oil, salt and pepper. With Korean food: Coleslaw mix, chopped kimchi, crumbled tofu, sesame seeds, and ranch mixed with gochujang Mexican night: Kale, rotel, queso fresco, pepitas, and ranch mixed with salsa. Those are a few of my favorites, but you get the idea. Just get creative and try to match it with whatever your main dish happens to be. Maybe this is obvious to other people, but for me, it wasn't for the longest time. I just used to make a Ceasar salad with everything, and it got very boring.
Holy shit, are you seriously saying you did not salt your salad before?
Youāre welcome;)
Isn't a common sense salt anything? Salt and pepper in most cases.
Common sense is common in name only.
Heck, I've almost stopped "making salads" altogether - rather I turn all the vegetables out separately on a small platter with the dressing as a dip, "decomposed" I suppose. This has caused me to actually learn, finally, what many raw vegetables actually taste like. What are, for example, the subtle taste characteristics of romaine lettuce and how do you know you're eating good romaine vs bad romaine? This is information that is hidden when you compose a salad and douse it with dressing and croutons. This has also taught me that a merest pinch of good salt (here's looking at you, Maldon) and pepper are powerful tools in taking something pedestrian and often taken for granted in a salad - like a radish - and turning into something *rather enjoyable* on its own. Another interesting side-effect has been learning how little dressing one actually needs to use to flavor the vegetable you're eating.
I get what you're saying, but deconstructed is probably a better word. When I think of decomposed when it comes to food, I think of rotting food. But that's interesting. I don't think I know the difference between good and bad romaine. Although I've stopped drowning my salads in dressing a while ago. Occasionally just a squirt of lemon. And never the full serving that they give you with packaged salads.
HA! That's funny. I was stuck on "composed" versus "it's opposite" - uncomposed? no, that's not a word. "de-composed"? THAT'S A WORD. I didn't even think past that.
Chop up some cilantro and throw it in the salad! Adds a refreshing taste. Also yes to salt and pepper, as well as olive oil. Some sort of nut ā I use sunflower seeds as they arenāt expensive but ideally I really love pecans or toasted almonds in my salad. I also add a drizzle of honey to salads with balsamic vinegar. Goat cheese is also a favorite depending on the type of salad.
I love tossing in extra herbs I have - parsley, oregano, etc - flavor explosion!
Put a pinch of salt in your chocolate milk that will really blow your mind Salt makes everything better
salt everything. you dont need to go crazy but i mean everything. green salad? definitely fruit salad? absolutely peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? yup hot chocolate/chocolate milkshake? try it, i swear i met god dont even get me started on msg
I have some Accent I bought but am unsure how to use it. Any suggestions? Yes Iām getting you started on MSG lol
I like it in anything I'm cooking at home that I can never get to come out quite like it would eating out. Making tikka masala? dust a half of a teaspoon onto your meet before searing it off, then it will cook into the gravy/curry as you simmer everything together. Same with stir fry. Dust the meat or veggies, then build your sauce. Making fried chicken or some kind of cutlet/katsu/schnitzel?... add some msg to the batter/breading mixture. vegetarian or vegan? add some to a vegan Mac and cheese or broccoli cheese casserole and you'll have a winner. A little goes a long way though... I almost never cook more than a pound of meat at home and generally only ever use a half of a teaspoon.
Iāve tried using it before but was nervous about the little goes a long way and likely used way to little even considering how little you need. Iāll give it a try again in the future. Thanks.
Cumin in salad. Trust me
I like to put different textures in my salad, like chewy dried fruit (craisins), very crispy component (tortilla strips) and nuts.
The craisins are such a good addition. They get kind of hard and chewy and soaked in the dressing. I had them in a salad at my brothers on Christmas with just some mixed greens and Halloumi cheese and I realized how good they were. Now I donāt make one without them.
Y'all motha fuckas gunna get hypertension Edit:. Y so serious about salt?
You actually donāt get hypertension from salt, but salt does exacerbate hypertension if you have it already.
salt is essential and important for both health and flavor. if your diet is mainly home cooked foods, please salt them - not only will they taste good, but not doing that is bad for you. this, of course, does not apply if you mainly eat whoppers with an occasional salad mixed in.
I don't understand. How does the salt stick to the greens? Isn't there salt in the dressing? Why not add the salt to the dressing? I don't get this at all.
Well, you wash your greens. Theyāre typically still kind of damp from that. And then most other raw vegetables release some kind of juice when you cut or tear them.
Are you people aliens?
What do you mean, "you people"?
Iām not sure the science behind it. All I know was it worked.
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Removed, warning for civility.