Soggy salads? No thanks. We all know to go steady with the salad dressing. Yet a viral salad trick is showing viewers that it’s not just a question of greens-to-dressing ratio, but how we apply that sauce. We’ve been dressing salads wrong for years.
As @laurfoug explains, the trick is simple. Instead of dousing your leafy greens, pour the dressing around the edge. The secret is all in the strategy: dress the bowl, not the actual salad.
The methodology is a breeze. Don’t pour straight from the jar — that’s a recipe for an accidental avalanche — but use a spoon to scoop small amounts at a time.
Swirl the sauce around the outside of the salad, splashing a circle onto the bowl’s walls. Be patient: it may take a few scoops and swirls to get the perfect amount.
Once satisfied, though, you simply toss the leaves into the dressing. Lift and tilt the bowl as necessary.
Who knew salad construction was such a fine art? We’ve all faced sogginess or panic-tossed greens in a desperate attempt to overcome a clumpy coating. It turns out that the solution was sitting there all along: people, use your bowls.
The entire process takes 30 seconds or less, and there are a million reasons why this approach is effective. Applying dressing indirectly sounds counterproductive, doesn’t it? Yet this “circle of sauce” is the secret to achieving an even coating, providing ultimate control over flavor and texture.
Harsh ingredients like acidic lemon or vinegar are a slippery slope. One slip of the hand, and you’ve got an excessive amount and limp-looking lettuce. Makes sense, right? We use lemon juice to denature proteins and tenderize meat. Why wouldn’t it break down a few flimsy salad leaves?
The concern over properly dressed salad is echoed across the culinary industry. Jamie Oliver doesn’t utilize this trending hack (someone should probably let him know), but he does address the dangers of uneven coating in his simple green salad recipe. “Try not to be heavy-handed and don’t be tempted to overdress or the leaves will go limp,” he writes. With the “dressing the bowl” hack, you might even be a step ahead of Jamie.
Interestingly, the only possible saboteur here is your own organizational skills; it’s officially possible to be too organized. For those preparing salads ahead of time, listen up. There’s one caveat when “dressing the bowl” — don’t let the tossed salad sit there. Left to marinate in the sauce, you might find all your efforts unraveled: prolonged exposure is a textural nightmare. Yep, we’re talking wilted leaves.
If salads have taught us anything, it’s that there is never just one way to approach a task. Some big names have different versions of this good ol’ bowl trick. Have you seen Ina Garten’s hack of leaving the vinaigrette in the bowl before mixing? Garten’s solution here is to pour the dressing in first, place the leafy greens on top, and mix the two at the table. It avoids wilting and keeps salads fresh.
Next time you’re applying salad dressing, press pause. Who knew the trick to a better salad was the bowl itself?