I asked 5 chefs how to make perfect salad – here's what they said

When I was in a culinary school, my instructors often tell our class that the real lamus test of the chef's competence is to make perfect eggs on order. But I have a theory that if someone builds a salad, it can be much more informative. For starters, salads give you the opportunity to experiment and expression: two people, whether excellent chefs or novice chefs, will not make the classic salad exactly the same way. And when it comes to salad making, if you really enjoy it, it offers the opportunity to present taste and balance, knife skills, eyeball seasoning and dressing, and all -encompassing culinary creativity.

Fortunately, it's not hard to be in salads-it just takes a little know-how. I have collected the techniques we have shared over the years with our readers and the National Chefs Council to bring some simple, action tips that result in better, tastier salads. Take a look.

Think of the Great Picture

We all know that good foods almost always start with good ingredients, but the saying is twice if the ingredients are predominantly raw. The first step towards making a great salad is to find the best possible products – Crisp, not conquered greens; mature, seasonal fruit; And shiny crisp vegetables. Sometimes this means The blanching of vegetables (and even freezing) for prolonged freshness; In other cases, it is worth replacing that dough medium winter tomatoes and chalk avocado for some Brassicas, radish and potato instead.

But quality is just half of the battle – he wants to think of balance. “In our test kitchen, I like to make salads using the four corners of the taste (sweet, salty, bitter, sour),” says Michael Stebner, former executive chef of Sweetgreen. One or more of these flavors can come from the dressing, but each selected ingredient must do something to improve the mixture. Do you have many rich, creamy avocados in your salad? You probably want a shiny and acidic foil, such as a spicy citrus nail or even grapefruit slices, and something that provides a slightly contrasting crunch, whether radish, toasted eyes or crutons. Similarly, “If a fruit is placed in a salad, it must be balanced with some fat, usually in the form of cheese,” says Stuart Brioza, chef and San Francisco owner State bird provisions“This is a great excuse for using bitter Radicchios and dandelion greens,” he added. In other words, you want to look for additional flavors and textures that come together in harmony.

Try the new greens

If the salad leaves come from a pre -packaged mixture, it is time to expand the horizon. “Mixed greens look good, but in fact, there are not much flavors and not holding the salad,” says Stebner. “The green and red leaf salad must be on the radar of several people,” he added. “Usually people buy this type of salad for hamburgers, but it's perfect for the salad.” Stebner Go-TOs include strong greens like collards, Swiss Chard, broccoli leaves and Bok Choy.

Nick Balla and Cortney Burns, Former Cooks of San Francisco TartinI agree – there are big fans of hard leaves and especially The enormous realm of Asian greenslike choy and mustard. In fact, how to prepare them? “We often give a poach or salt salad,” says Balla and Burns. “This will definitely transform the ingredient, but it can be amazing.

Even the finer greens can reach heat – Burns loves to grill the salad and chicory, heated with cold accompaniment. If you feel skeptical just try these grilled Roman heart in a bitter writer in dress– Cut on a hot grid, charred and smoky, crisp-tender texture, which offset the juicy grape tomato and sharp pepper radish layer.

In the meantime, if you are a gardener, you have more green positions than you find, ”says Brioza. “One of my favorite salad green is pea greens, trees, beets, Swiss malls and so on,” he explains. Unlike their tougher adult relatives, these beginner leaves are delicious, gentle and ready to eat like a light grape.

In all cases, if you are planning to serve the greens crisp and raw, you need to maximize their freshness. “I really like washing my greens very well,” says Cesare Casella, author of the cookbook Feeding the heart– “Ideally wash and dry the ingredients, then cool them until they are cooled. This will help them give them extra crunch.”

Use more herbs!

First, I started incorporating fresh herbs into my salads when I found an extremely lush herbal garden and definitely believed that they were one of the most undervalued salad components. I am far away: “If you have a little fresh mint or parsley or polish, it's such a nice layer of taste,” says Brioza. Balla and Burns also recommend that highly flavored herbs such as sage, mint, marjoram and chives like the main salad green – I support this movement with a whole heart.

Can start with lighter applications such as This summer raw corn salad with shiso and basilor to dive into an aromatic Thai steak salad, with high coriander, mint, chives and basil. But my personal favorite is that I made the very first herbal salad: A strong basil, lemon thyme, mint, parsley and coriander buzzA handful of pepper fried salad is excellent, sour grape tomatoes, chopped olives and chopped mozzarella.

Dress wisely

Fresh, seasonal ingredients can be a heel of a great salad, but if there is one thing that can break or break, then this is dressing. If you are a bowl of sad, drowned leaves or indestructible kale, here are a few rules of thumb to help things.

• HARDY Dressing for Hard Greens: “You want to adjust the hardness of dressing to the hardness of the salad greens,” says Brioza. “Fine greens – the goods, the baby spinach, the mâche and so on – can easily be flooded or have cumbersome knitting devices. They want to look for lighter coverings and add enough to provide a gossamer slip on the leaves.” But he adds, “As the dressing becomes thicker, you should have objects you dress,” think of Romaines and icebergs, and with harder greens like kale.
• Emulsion, emulsion, emulsion: Of course, you can sift the olive oil and vinegar into a pile of green and call it a salad. But don't be surprised if you make a bunch of oily leaves floating in a vinegar pool a few minutes later. Kenji can catch the emulsified vineyards here (And here too), but the long story is added to a short emulsifier, also known as the surfactant, to its grapes in a stable mixture. The result, says, is a bandage in which “all the oil and The vinegar sticks tightly to the leaves and gives a balanced taste in each snack. “Mustard is the most common salad -moving surfactant, but you can also use a mayonnaise or honey pack to bring your grapes together.
• Buy a pressed bottle: As for the best method for emulsification? Use a restaurant style cheese bottle To combine, shake and store the bandages in a cheap, practical dish.
• Take it slowly: The last thing you want to do is flood your carefully made salad with too much dress. “You want the dressing to lubricate the salad, but too much dresses kill the smell and crunchiness of good ingredients,” says Casella. Stebner agrees, noting, “We tend to go beyond vision at home.” Instead of looking, the chefs you talked to suggest to gradually add dressing, throw and taste the salad along the road. “I love the season as I go,” Brioza added. This includes the “vineyard, the salad in the bowl and then probably finished again”.
• Drop it by hand: Set aside the salad servers – it will be much easier to even coat the ingredients even if you only get a slightly dirty hand. Just make sure to use a large bowl for this step – you want at least three times the volume of the salad to throw it evenly without ruining the greens. And try to be gentle on this note, otherwise you will risk bruising or finer leaves.
• Marinating hard, waxy greens in the oil: Once when actually will Your leaves are to sit in straight oil, when you try a harder green than kale. The leaves that cover the leaves are actually grabbed them with oil-soluble-chosen oil and let them marinate a little, resulting in much weaker, elastic greens. Try it bright and satisfactorily Kale caesar Shake things with garlic crutons and parmesan cheese Fried potatoes, marinated mushrooms and kales spring salador try it out This hearty vegan edition with Tofu, Avocado, Grapefruit and KaleOr
• Account for moisture: Another key tip? “Consider the moisture level of the ingredients you use,” says Casella. “If you have a lot of tomatoes, they add their own moisture to the bowl.” This is a challenge we encountered in other salads such as A recipe for Daniel Tabbouleh– An opportunity? Salt the wet ingredients and put them in the filter to lower the excess liquid and concentrate their taste – it works well, from tomato to cucumber to parsley. It is better that the same liquid can eventually be incorporated into the bandage if you are so prone.
• Think outside the box: Just because most of the vine acids are a combination of acid and oil, it does not mean that you have to follow the same formula every time. Give a recording of creamy milk or mayonnaise-based salad casting (of course with stronger leaves!) Or Try mixing in less common ingredients such as Tahini, daskor even puree vegetables. In any case, however, do a favor and miss the bottled bandages – home preparation not only guarantees better taste, but is often cheaper.

Consider your timeline

Before you start the salad dressing, stop and look at the clock. Will you eat your salad in the next five minutes? If not, adjust your dress to the side and hold the salad in the refrigerator until it is ready for meals. Too many leafy salads are located prematurely applied and warm temperatures.

Of course, chopped and marinated salads are another ball game. “Non-melt salads are often beneficial when dressed several hours forward,” added Balla and Burns. If you are looking for travel-friendly salads that will hold well in the refrigerator (or lower bag), skip the leaves and go to chopped vegetables, mixed beans or particles and the heavier ingredients not only be dressed, but will also be better over time. Have A complete collection of recipes for departure.

April 2016