I love eating salad. Love it. I do not love making salad. Do not love it.
When it's summer I feel guilted into buying fresh red leaf lettuce and washing and drying it myself. Pain. Do not love it. So in the winter I give myself a break by buying the baby greens in a clamshell. Love it!
This is step one in making a simple salad easier. Just buy the damn clamshell of lettuce the odd time. I buy the organic, but whatever ... you don't have to.
But the real trick to making a simple salad realllyyyyy simple is the humble potato peeler. Yes. The potato peeler. Because the other pain in the ass about making a salad is slicing, dicing and chopping up other stuff to put in it. Because a bowl of lettuce is not a salad. It's a bowl of lettuce.
So I always have a few salad ingredients in the fridge to make making a salad every night easy. And like I said before, what truly makes it easy is the potato peeler.
Why?
No more slicing, dicing and micing. (whatever ... it rhymes) .
Grab your carrot (unpeeled) and slice it right into your bowl. The potato peeler gives perfect, even, slices of carrot. Maybe not such a shock, but a good technique not a lot of people use.
More shocking I suspect, is how well this works with an onion. I love red onion in my salad, but not big, crunchy hunks of onion the size of a Crayola crayon. I like petite, thinly, evenly sliced onion, the likes of which is almost impossible to achieve with a knife. A potato peeler will shave off beautiful thin slices of onion.
Throw in some feta cheese ...
... and a handful of toasted pumpkin seeds.
See? It's making a simple salad made simpler. I'm quite a wordsmith.
This particular salad is not a thing of beauty, but I don't eat things of beauty everyyyy night so there's no sense pretending I do. It tastes good and doesn't create a stye in my eye at the thought of making it. That's what matters.
The potato peeler works great for just about anything you're going to throw in a salad. Cucumber, fennel, apples ... you name it. So ditch the chopping block and knife and embrace the dirty old potato peeler with elastic bands on the end. You'll never go back. (except when carving a turkey ... at this point I cannot recommend a potato peeler for that ... but I haven't finished my experiments yet)
Elaine
This is such a great tip. I actually love making salads, and even more so since I discovered salad spinners. Seriously, it's one of the best kitchen accessories I've ever purchased. Makes washing and drying a breeze!
Karen
Elaine - I love salad spinners! Wish they didn't take up so much room! ~ karen
susan
Got rid of mine a few years ago - much more fun to wash the greens, and put them in an old pillowcase. Then I go outside and spin them around like a windmill. Might look like I am a crazy lady, but with a small kitchen, I need all the room I can get (so no room for a spinner anymore). And besides, the neighbors already know I am a little off..... LOL
sara
Looks delicious! I love anything that makes eating veggies easier. :)
mothership
OMG! my son discovered/shared this technique with me when he was 6 (yes SIX).... on carrots... he calls em "shaved carrots"... don't remember if he thought this up on his own or learned at school.. (he is slightly (charter school) Waldorf educated)
but I never thought to transfer this to onions/etc!
wooohoooo!!!! viva la frite peeler! (ok... yeah.... so I am not french...)
breanna
Awesome tip!! I've shared your post here: http://dollarstoremom.com/2012/02/pinterest-picks-27/
Thank you!
Karen
Thank you ma'am! I love the twine thing and Kate's DIY drying rack! Good choices. :) ~ karen
Gayla T
I would have picked you as a mandolein kind of a girl. I'm pretty thrifty but after years of cutting up boring stuff, I buy the choppy stuff off the salad bar at my grocery. It's rediculously expensive but I don't buy much. The girls have that inherited genetic thing of hating green stuff so I am only making salad for myself. I also get all the stuff ready and in a big tupperware bowl when I bring it home from the store so it's ready when I want salad. I make it a lot more that way instead of deciding it's too much trouble just to make a salad for myself. I'll remember your idea though cause I do hate to stand and chop up stuff. Thanks Karen
kelliblue
"I love eating salad. Love it. I do not love making salad. Do not love it."
DO NOT WANT!
oh how I hear you, and feel you, on that one. :-P Eating good. Making bad.
Add a spoonful of (yes) canned beans, you'll get extra yumminess and great texture with the crunchy veggies...
Mary Jane
Way better salad technology than that a--hole, Vince sold me a few years ago. You know the one I'm talking about...please don't let me get started again.
marilyn
wow do people live under rocks or what? great idea karen i have used a peeler to make long pieces of carrot and cukes for salad but never carrot coins. will have to try it. you should really do a post on how simple it is to make salad dressings. cannot believe how many people buy salad dressing when it is dead easy to make it and tastes so much better and is better for you.xo
Liz
Marilyn, I would LOVE some salad dressing recipes! I don't really care for any of the store bought ones but the only really good recipe I have is for caesar. Wouldn't mind a little variety.
Shauna
This sounds delicious, but I must have tomato in my salad. I'm thinking I'm going to have to break out the knife for that one?
Kelly
I use a cheese grater when I make salads. The stand up four-sided kind. This works really well for me.
Barbie
Never thought of the peeler for onions...brilliant!
PS: I know what you mean about finding the perfect peeler too! I accidently threw my old old old one away...it was previously owned by my husbands grandfather! I cried. It was old and rickety but amazing.
Marie
Looks like a Kuhn Rikon peeler and they are the best. When my mom's arthritis in her hands was so bad she couldn't grip a peeler, I gave her one of these. You don't even need to grip it, you can just put one finger through the hole in the handle and glide the peeler over your vegetable. Works beautifully. I never thought of using it in salad prep but now I can't wait to try it! Thank you for another wonderful idea.
Korrine Johnson
the whole thing is just genius, but i am most excited about the onions. i love THIN slices of onion in my salad but cannot get them thin enough with a knife. you are my hero (as usual)!
Christine
My sentiments exactly! I love this blog for the little things that change my life.
Trysha
I use either a mandolin or my food processor. One big chop, slice, mince day...lots of Tupperware full in the fridge for grab and throw together salads. So easy even my husband can do it. :)
Chrissy
Karen, is there a reason you do not peel your carrots? Or do you scrub them instead?
Karen
Chrissy - It's just plain easier not to peel them, plus that's where all the nutrients are in most vegetables as I'm sure you know. If they're dirty, I scrub them, if not, I just start chop/peeling. I'm a bit of a rebel that way. ~ karen
Lynn
....true to all of that!
:)
Tovah
I'm one of the few people who loves to chop, slice, dice, etc. It's like my zen moment in the kitchen when I can just chop away with a big old knife.
That being said, I am soooooooooooo using the peeler trick for the next time I make side salads with dinner. The usage on the onion is what sold me.
Lisa
Ok, I'll ask the question. What the hell is lettuce in a clam shell?
Karen
Lisa - It's in the cooler section of the produce section. In with the bagged lettuce there's also clear plastic "clam shell" containers of pre washed lettuce. Romaine, spring mix, baby greens, etc. etc. You open the "clam shell" pull out as much lettuce as you want, close it back up and it stays fresh for close to a week. ~ karen!
Pat
This is the way my husband always makes salads, when it is his turn. I agree with the nuisance of lettuce washing in winter. Large clamshells of organic do the trick, especially when you are throwing together bagged lunches for work. However, he never thought of using the peeler to shred the cheese. My work colleagues are always impressed with my salad when he makes it.
angela
I have one of those slap and chop things from Oxo that I use when I make salads. I am like you, I love salads but HATE making them!!
Lynn
Girl, you DESERVE a new peeler for goodness sake!
And I deserve a new can opener for that matter - mine does not look like the dog chewed it but it works like crap so looks can be deceiving.... :)
Karen
Lynn - I will *never* give up my peeler. I bought about 10 of them about 12 years ago and FINALLY found one I liked. ~ karen!