match your dressing to the leaves
Strongly flavoured, bitter leaves like radicchio and rocket (arugula) demand intense dressings. I also find a little sweetness is good to balance the bitterness, so caramelised red wine vinegar or balsamic are ideal.
Milder flavoured leaves are fine with more delicate dressings. A salad of fresh herbs or simple leaves would be best with a simple white wine vinegar or lemon juice vinaigrette.
Likewise, I vary the amount of dressing depending on the type of leaves with less dressing for more delicate leaves.
fresh is best
Most dressings taste best when freshly made. Although, a week or so in the fridge won’t be the end of the world. If you do make dressing and store it, just remember to let it warm up a little before you use it so the flavour is more pronounced.
mix in the bottom of the bowl
Occasionally I make up a jam jar of salad dressing and keep it in the fridge but mostly I’m a made-to-order gal. I generally mix my dressing in the base of whatever bowl I’m planning to toss it in.
season the acid part first
Add salt to the vinegar or lemon juice and stir so it dissolves. The salt will then mix more evenly within the dressing. This means your salad will be more evenly seasoned. Although some times it is nice to sprinkle sea salt flakes over the salad at the end so you get little bursts of saltiness.
taste!
There are so many variables in salad dressing that I find the most important step is tasting and adjusting as required.
Add a little more oil if it tastes too acidic and sharp. Or add a bit more vinegar / lemon juice if it tastes bland and oily. It takes a bit of practice but just trust your judgement and you’ll get there.
It’s also important to think about the seasoning. If the flavours taste flat, a little more salt or some soy sauce can help. If it tastes too salty, it might be a good idea to reduce the intensity with some more oil and vinegar.
Remember, the dressing will be diluted on the leaves so it needs to taste quite punchy on its own. It can help to dip a leaf in the dressing when you’re tasting so you get the whole experience.
toss
To be honest, I mostly use one spoon and a clean hand to toss the leaves in the dressing. Sometimes, if I don’t feel like getting my hands dirty, I use two forks or two spoons . On other days it’s a two hands affair. All methods work well. You want to toss enough to get an even coating on the leaves without damaging them.
If you’re nervous about getting the ratio of dressing to leaves right, add the leaves gradually to the dressing in the bowl then toss and add more leaves until you are happy.
For salad disasters where there is too much dressing, just scoop the leaves out and place in a clean bowl, leaving the excess dressing in the old bowl. And toss again to rub some of the dressing off the leaves onto the sides of the clean bowl.
back to: 5 Minute Salads Overview.
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