On Dressing Salad

how I approach it + some vinaigrettes

A couple of weeks ago I talked about salad and offered two charts, one for lettuce-based salads (Caesars + chopped salads) and another for non-lettuce salads (potato salad, cucumber + avocado, and on).

two salad charts!

And today I wanted to zoom in and focus on dressing salads. Because what is a salad without dressing? Just a sad pile of lettuce (or non-lettuce because, let’s say it all together, salads don’t have to only be lettuce). Dressing makes a salad come alive. Dressing gives salad character. Can you tell I really feel passionately about salad dressing? I also feel passionate about how we dress salads, which I think of as related to salad dressing itself, but more than that — the act of dressing salad. Not just the noun, but also the verb. Have I had too much coffee this morning? It’s possible. I digress.

Okay, let’s talk salad dressings. There’s a whole world of them, from the simplest pour of olive oil and squeeze of lemon directly on your salad, no whisking or measuring involved, to the most complex, the blended kinds with multiple ingredients (green goddess, Caesar, etc.). There’s a place for all of these in the world of salad. But the one I make all of the time? Depend on the most? That would be a vinaigrette. Made of pantry staples — the most basic is oil, vinegar, salt — and easy to riff on, a vinaigrette can be so many things and MAKES SUCH A DIFFERENCE. A piece of lettuce on its on is a refreshing thing, sure, but a piece of lettuce dipped in vinaigrette is lettuce transformed, the dressing and the dressed the perfect companions.

So about that riffing. Below you’ll see by using the same formula — one part something acidic to two-to-three parts fat, plus some seasoning — a vinaigrette can go in numerous directions.

A few notes:

• In terms of combining everything, you can put everything into a bowl and whisk it all together. You can first whisk everything except for the fat and then slowly whisk the fat in to emulsify the dressing. But can also just whisk it all and not worry about having a non-emulsified mixture. It’s fine!

• You can make a vinaigrette in a blender or a jar with an immersion blender and have a super emulsified, creamy dressing.

• You can put everything in a jar and shake it like Tom Cruise in Cocktail.

• A little raw garlic is delicious in dressings. I like to grate in a clove using my Microplane to make it more like a garlic paste. You can also crush your garlic with your knife, sprinkle some salt on it, and then use the side of your knife to mash the two together which makes a perfect garlic paste that dissolves.

• If using some minced shallot or onion or any allium in your dressing, it’s nice to let those sit and marinate in the acid for about 10 minutes before adding everything else. This sorta pickles + tames them.

• When tasting your dressing for seasoning, remember that the dressing is a condiment, not the main event. So just like you want ketchup or mustard or hot sauce to taste strong to accompany whatever you put those on, you want salad dressing to really taste assertive. I like to take a piece of whatever I’m dressing (lettuce, a cucumber, whatever) and dip it into the dressing before deciding if I’m good to go.

Now, in terms of actually dressing salads, I have some thoughts (surprise!).

• If you’re making a salad that is just one thing plus dressing (let’s say butter lettuce + a vinaigrette, as pictured in the bottom right of the photos above ^), you can mix your dressing in the bottom of your bowl, pile your one thing on top, and let that sit on your counter for an hour or two before mixing it all together. This allows you to have your salad prepped ahead of time (great for entertaining!) and less to cleanup.

• Salads with lots of toppings are great served on a platter rather than in a deep bowl (see the Caesar in the top left of the photos above ^). This gives you more surface area and prevents all of the toppings from ending up in the bottom of the bowl.

• When dressing a salad that has lots of stuff going on (like all of the salads pictured above next to the simply dressed butter lettuce), I don’t advise just mixing everything together — this is how we end up with all of the toppings winding up at the bottom of the bowl. Layering is your friend!

  • If you’re doing a salad on a platter, like the Caesar with croutons and chickpeas pictured above or the salad with corn + tomatoes + avocado pictured right next to it, I like to first dress the greens with about half of the dressing, then put your toppings on top and drizzle more dressing over everything.

  • If you’re doing a salad with lots of stuff going on in a bowl, dress half your lettuce with a little dressing, then do a layer of your add-ins, then repeat that. This gives everyone a chance to get a bit of everything. I think of this like putting hot fudge or sprinkles in between and on top your ice cream — this way you get your toppings all the way through.

• When dressing salads, especially lettuce, I think the best tool for the job is clean hands. It’s much easier to make sure everything is coated if you use your hands rather than tongs or a spoon. You’re also able to be a bit gentler. Plus, it’s fun to get in there.

Okay, I think that’s probably enough salad thoughts for one day. I’m not teaching this weekend (I’m going on a queer ski trip! fun!) so no class news to share today, but I recently posted all of my March classes so head to juliaturshen.com/classes to see all of those! xo, Julia