14 mistakes you should stop making if you want a delicious salad

People sometimes wrongly think that salads are simply a matter of throwing a bunch of raw vegetables together. And although you certainly don’t have to overcomplicate things (after all, we’re not making a croquembouche), there are certain mistakes people often make that result in a mediocre salad at best. And who wants a meh salad?!

So if you know what the pitfalls are, you can avoid them. And next time your salad won’t be dull and boring but absolutely delicious, because you won’t make the following mistakes:

Cutting the lettuce

You may have been scolded for this at the table when you were younger, but chances are there were simply some leaves that were too big on your plate. How do you make them smaller beforehand? Not by cutting them, because especially delicate leaves can bruise this way, leaving you with brown edges and spots. Tear the leaves instead; that way, you can follow their natural veins more easily.

Not drying the lettuce

Gross: those wet, limp lettuce leaves that also ruin your dressing. What you want are fresh, crisp, clean leaves, so after washing them, spin them a few times in your salad spinner, or gently dry them in a tea towel.

Not thinking beyond lettuce at all

A salad certainly doesn’t have to be based on delicate leafy greens such as lettuce. You can also start with roasted cauliflower, or broccoli chopped in the food processor. Or red cabbage, thoroughly massaged with olive oil and a little salt to soften its texture. Or how about a salad with cavolo nero, apple, nuts and pomegranate? Delicious!

The wrong size

The whole idea is that you can easily spear everything with your fork. So once again, not a whole lettuce leaf, and not a huge chunk of pickle either, but also definitely not those ultra-finely chopped onion scraps doomed to live at the bottom of the salad bowl forever.

Raw onion, period

Many people find it far too intense and overpowering. If you do like adding raw onion to your salad, consider placing the pieces in an ice bath for ten minutes and patting them thoroughly dry before tossing them in. Or sprinkle them lightly with salt and let them rest for ten minutes; this makes their sharpness considerably milder.

Adding the ‘wet’ ingredients too early

We don’t mean the dressing or vinaigrette, but vegetables with a high water content, such as cucumber and tomato. Especially if you want to prepare a salad in advance and take it with you (and then not in a jam jar, writes our Sabina), these are the components that will release a lot of moisture and make everything soggy. So add them shortly before serving.

Not cutting the cherry tomatoes

Of course, you chose them because you’re lazy and thought, ‘At least these can go in whole,’ but in practice, it happens all too often that your child bites one in half and the seeds spray everywhere. Or nearly chokes on it. Or you do. So just cut them in half for that salad.

Only making cold salads

Especially in autumn and winter, when heavy dishes like stamppot and stews are coming out of your ears, a salad can be a lifesaver. And it can be warm, too! You can roast wedges of pointed cabbage in the oven, then spoon a light vinaigrette between the leaves. Grilled romaine leaves are also delicious if you continue in the direction of a Caesar salad. And with roasted root vegetables as a base, you can hardly go wrong.

Using a bowl that’s too small

Nothing is more irritating than choosing a bowl or dish that’s too small and then watching everything disappear over the edge while tossing. Really use a large serving dish or mixing bowl, so all the ingredients can be mixed properly. It may seem strange, but most chefs also dress their salads in those very spacious stainless-steel bowls.

Buying ready-made dressing

Of course, it’s perfectly understandable if you’re not going to stand around making an elaborate dressing during your office lunch. And there are certainly ready-made dressings for sale that aren’t disgusting and packed with sugar. But if you have a few minutes at home, a classic vinaigrette is really that easy to make; just follow this recipe. Much tastier than the average bottled factory product. For example, try this carrot salad with orange and tahini dressing; it’s so flavorful.

Tasting the dressing on its own

Taste your dressing to see whether it’s well-seasoned, but don’t use only a teaspoon. You really want to know whether the balance works with the vegetables, so always taste it with a leaf or another piece of vegetable from the salad.

Applying the same dressing rule to every vegetable

Delicate leafy greens such as butter lettuce, but also arugula or lamb’s lettuce, should only be mixed with the dressing or vinaigrette shortly before serving. If you’re using sturdier vegetables such as shaved Brussels sprouts, cavolo nero or even kale, it’s better to make sure everything is coated with the dressing at least an hour in advance. This allows the flavors to soak in properly, while the salt and acid soften the vegetables.

Using too much or too little dressing

Build it up gradually; start with a generous tablespoon, toss everything in that large bowl and taste. Then add a little more if you see that not all the ingredients are covered with a thin layer of dressing. But stop in time, and prevent a little puddle from forming at the bottom.

Not using salt and pepper

Why can a restaurant salad surprise you by being so delicious? It may well be because hardly any savory dish leaves a professional kitchen without the chef sprinkling a pinch of salt and grinding some pepper over it at the very end. Simple but effective, so don’t forget this final step—even if you think the dressing alone should be enough.

And for a hilarious but also useful Twitter outburst about all the other things people do wrong with their salads, be sure to read this story, or as we call it: The Salad Wars.

Also read:

• How to make the one and only salade niçoise
• Recipe: warm potato salad by Julius Jaspers
• Recipe: fig and goat cheese salad with mint and dukkah