Salads 101: Everything You Need to Know
2011 © copyright Savory Simple, all rights reserved
This summer I’ve become a salad fanatic. Believe it or not, I was terrible at making salads before I went to culinary school. It was my shameful secret. I knew about the different tastes (sweet/salty/bitter/sour) but I didn’t realize that paying attention to such a simple cooking principle would have such a dramatic effect on my final product. I also didn’t realize the importance of adding texture and color or that the trick to making salads truly filling was to add protein and healthy fat.
I’m going to break everything into categories to describe how I make salads. Even the picky eaters in my family enjoy my salads, so I think you will too! Pick and choose from this list, but try to add something from as many categories as possible to create a good balance.
Bitter:
- I’m starting with bitter because I almost always use bitter greens. Salads taste so much better to me when I use baby arugula, watercress or radicchio (arugula is my favorite and a staple in my kitchen). You can also mix greens to soften the bitterness, for example using a combination of baby spinach and radicchio. Lettuce just doesn’t cut it for me these days!
- Radishes (a great addition if you use a milder green)
Sweet:
- Any fresh or dried fruit that appeals to you. I almost never make a salad without some kind of fruit. My recent favorites have included mango slices, cherries, or red seedless grapes, sliced in half.
- Tomatoes. I prefer smaller tomatoes cut in half.
- Beets. They’re your friend. If you’re unfamiliar with how to prepare beets or are short on time, Trader Joe’s sells wonderful steamed, peeled beets. There’s no shame in buying prepared ingredients, especially if it helps you eat healthy!
- My standard dressing is balsamic reduction. It’s delicious, and a little goes a long way. What I really love about balsamic is that you don’t need to use olive oil with it. I’d rather get my salad fat from nuts and cheese. They add more flavor. I’ve included instructions on how to reduce balsamic vinegar at the bottom of this post.
Salty:
- Always add a sprinkle of salt to your salads. I prefer adding coarse salts like kosher. You can also use a fun salt, such as Hawaiian Black Lava Salt
or any other finishing salt. It adds color and crunch.
Sour:
This is probably the least important category as far as salads go, in my opinion. But here are some options that will definitely add more delicious flavor:
- Grapefruit wedges
- Cranberries (fresh)
- Lemon juice
Protein:
Do not skip the protein if this is a main meal! Fiber from the fruits and vegetables will help fill you up, but protein (and healthy fat) will really hold you over until the next meal.
- Hard-boiled eggs. Get an Egg Slicer
and spread out thin slices of egg on the salad.
- Toasted nuts. Another absolute essential for me. Right now I’m really into toasted slivered almonds. But I also love using walnuts, pine nuts, pistachios… really anything will work. Buy them raw and toast them in the oven at 350 until they’re golden brown and smell delicious. Keep an eye on them because they can burn quickly. Nuts also provide healthy fat and crunch.
- Bacon
- Chicken
- Quinoa. A friend of mine mentioned that she adds cooked quinoa directly to her salads and I thought it was a brilliant idea! It mixes in with everything else and adds so much nutritional value. I keep it on hand in the fridge.
- Barley. Adds a pleasant texture. Prepare it with stock instead of water for added flavor.
Fat:
- Avocado
- Cheese. Goat or Roquefort are my favorites. Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino Romano are also great and add saltiness. OK, these might not be the healthiest fats but a little goes a long way! And get the good stuff, nothing “pre-crumbled.” It will stay in your fridge for a long time so it’s worth the investment.
- Toasted nuts (see above)
Crunchy:
- Celery
- Broccoli
- Toasted nuts (see above)
- Coarse salt (see above)
Additional tips:
- Make your salad visually appealing. Add as many colors as possible.
- Keep salad fixings prepped in your fridge and pantry. I have everything ready to go so I can make a delicious salad in no time. Toasted nuts will stay in the pantry for weeks in an airtight container. Keep hard-boiled eggs, bacon and chicken cooked and ready to go in the fridge.
- If you don’t want to use balsamic reduction, there are so many great recipes online for salad dressings. Olive oil and lemon juice make a great combination. My other standby is mixing champagne vinegar with Heinz Salad Cream
or mayo. The only bottle brand of dressing I enjoy is Amy’s Organic.
- Drizzling the balsamic reduction looks much more appealing than tossing it like a standard dressing. Make a restaurant quality salad!
- Have fresh herbs? Try adding them!
- Scallions and shallots are great for adding a mild onion flavor. Use sparingly.
- When I make a salad, I just throw in whatever I have on hand that looks delicious and follows the basic guidelines above. Need a bit of inspiration to get started? Here are a few simple salad combinations:
- Radicchio & baby spinach, hard-boiled eggs, bacon, Roquefort cheese, avocado, tomato
- Arugula, baby beets, mango, avocado, goat cheese, toasted almonds
- Arugula, chicken, grapes, celery, scallions, toasted walnuts (this would be good with my champagne vinegar & salad cream dressing mentioned above)
There are endless possibilities. So tell me, what do you like to add to your salads?
Balsamic Reduction:
Reduced balsamic vinegar is one of my kitchen essentials. I use it in salads, over roasted vegetables, on strawberries, on cheese… it’s just delicious, inexpensive and versatile. I keep it in a squeeze bottle in my kitchen (this is also how I keep my olive and canola oils). Balsamic reduction does not need to be refrigerated.
And it’s so easy to make! I recommend reducing an entire bottle at once, since it has a long shelf life. Use a sturdy saucepan and bring the vinegar up to a simmer (you may want to open a window, the smell can be intense). Reduce the vinegar until it reaches a syrup consistency. A good indicator is when the liquid has reduced to 1/3 its original volume Allow the liquid to cool and then store it in a squeeze bottle (you can find them online
Beautiful photograph!
My favourite salad is a herb salad picked fresh from the garden.
Have a happy weekend.
:-) Mandy
Sounds delicious! Thanks for stopping by!
Yes, and YES. I need a salad, like now.
It’s always a good time for salad!
Thanks for such a lovely and comprehensive salad post! The only addition I would suggest is seeds. I keep a variety of seeds on hand (pumpkin, sunflower, multi colored sesame, flax, poppy) and add them to salads. I also have a gomasio grinder, and make my own at home. I’ve also taken to toasting flax seeds along with the sesame seeds and sea salt.
Back when I HATED cooking, the only thing I enjoyed doing in the kitchen was making salads. They are still one of my favorite things to prepare. Love them! Especially in the summer.
A fabulous idea! I debated mentioning seeds but since I don’t typically use them in salads I decided against it. I should really start experimenting more. I recently found whole roasted flax seeds at Whole Foods and have been adding them to yogurt in the morning. Deliciousness!
Your blog is visually so inspiring – and that’s what it is all about! Well Done!
Thank you so much!
Salad is my favorite food. Usually I just have grilled chicken on roman/iceberg mix with ranch dressing, but I might try some of these :) and your’re a good photographer…
Thank you! I loved perusing your blog, great content!
Great tips!
nice photo! beautifully styled, well composed and well lit!
I live with a salad-loving vegetarian. So this was quite helpful.
I’m glad you enjoyed reading!
I only just realised that the one salad that I like eating comes from a place that sprinkles toasted slivered almonds and pinenuts and also chopped apples and cranberries, and the next thing I know I am reading your post and it’s got these two ingredients, plus a bunch of others, that would make a great salad ! Thanks for the salad tips !!
My pleasure! Fruits, nuts and cheese make the salad.
Fantastic job of breaking it down with different categories. I use same concept when working out a stir fry dinner. Color, texture, flavor, variety. So glad you mentioned about protein. So many think ‘healthy’ means no protein, that’s insane. You need protein for energy, nutrients to feed your body. I love making salads from stuff I find, it’s a challenge to make it interesting.
Just found your blog and I love it. Your pictures are amazing and I love your recipes! This is such a great post on the different categories. Thank you for sharing; I’m excited to follow your blog!
Love your blog! Thanks for liking my post :)
that’s such a great post! I don’t make bad salads I think, but this is going to make them a LOT better! darn and just when summer’s ended!
What a lovely blog you have! Nice photos and great tips on making salads. Thank you for liking my post on Garden Vegetable Soup for Winter Meals. Appreciate you stopping by otherwise I may not have found you!
I’m so bad at making “fancy” salads. Usually they end up just being a bunch of whatever I have all thrown together. Need to get better on that one! Maybe a good goal for next summer when all the fresh stuff is coming back into season… I’ll have to remember these tips.
Great post. Specifically in East Asian cuisine, one of the key things about salad dressings is getting the balance right between sweet, sour, salty and hot. About.com has some good recipes that talk about how to adjust the balance (look for Thai Green Mango Salad). I have posted a recipe on my blog as well. Please check it out. It talks about a small subset of what you have written above.
http://foodydoody.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/green-mango-salad-a-great-healthy-option-for-summer/
I agree, goat cheese is the BEST protein to sprinkle on a salad! We also love to squeeze Meyer lemons, freeze the juice in cubes and use them one at a time in salad dressings:) Nice blog, will stop back!
This is great — I love salads but always seem to make them boring. This is nice and helpful!
Liked the way you explained each aspect of the salad… And the picture is fantastic!
You have fantastic organizational skill. I instinctively add things from (almost) every category when making a salad. I usually start with a mix of baby arugula and baby spinach, then add thinly sliced pear, a little avocado, walnuts, and some dried cranberry. Sometimes I throw in some halved grape tomatoes or grated carrots. Then I drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette. That’s my stand-by salad and I think I’ve hit every category. Pretty cool.
YUM. Awesome post! I feel the need to replicate the salad in the picture. What all is in it? I think I see arugula, mango, avocado, walnuts…?
What a gorgeous photo! Salads are such a staple of my family’s holidays. My mom makes a gorgeous pear, goat cheese, and prosciutto salad with arugula and walnuts. Great guidelines above. Thank you!
Sweet salads are my favorite! And great tips- agreed, always great to add some fresh herbs :) Thank you for entering the Beso Win an Iconic Trench Giveaway! Good luck – xoxo.
I loooove making Salads and this post is really comprehensive! My favorite is the combo of sweet potato/craisins/walnuts/and feta cheese.
In Israel one of their most loved salads/snacks is Watermelon topped with Feta Cheese.
By the Way, the Salad in the picture also looks delicious!
Some great salad tips there and the pictured salad looks truly scrumptious. I think my favourite simple salad is spinach, walnut and shavings of parmesan with a simple olive oil and balsamic dressing and plenty of seasoning (salad definitely needs salt). Other faves include avocado, cucumber, asparagus, spring onion, fresh peas and fave beans with an olive oil and lemon dressing and farro grains with tomato, rocket and feta.
Here in Italy it’s quite usual to have a selection of side dishes at room temperature such as sauteed chard with garlic, oil and balsamic or slivers of grilled zucchini with garlic, oil, mint and vinegar or even, large salad tomatoes, which have been marinated in oil, vinegar and seasoning. Simple, but delicious.
I love this post! Such good information. I also love salads, but always struggle to know what goes well together.
Thanks for sharing!
What a great post! Love fresh salads, specially with fruit. The one in the picture looks delicious. Thanks for the tips!
I love massive salads for lunch. I’ll have to start experimenting with fall/wintery salads, soon all that lovely summer produce will be gone! Beautiful picture!
Maybe this can inspire me to salads this summer!
I loved this post!! Thank you for breaking down all the components of a salad so beautifully. There aren’t many salads in Indian cooking, and I’m always trying to make myself eat more greens with tempting toppings. Your write up is going to be my go-to guide!
Love this guide to salads.
My biggest shortcoming is that I rarely add protein, beyond a sprinkle of Parmesan or feta cheese. I need to remember that lentils, garbanzos, etc. can be great protein sources for salads and quinoa is also a healthy addition.
I haven’t purchased salad dressing in at least 10 years. Mostly use olive oil and vinegar. I eat a lot of nuts most days, so I don’t usually add nuts to salads.
What a wonderful post and a great resource! I really love to make salads and try different flavor combinations.
I don’t make salads because mine don’t taste as good as anybody else’s. I like to add chopped apples to my salads for sweetness. I also like pine nuts although they are so expensive. I am going to print out this post and put it on the refrigerator. It’s one of the best and most helpful articles I have read online. Thank you for the lesson! Also, thank you for visiting my website. I am going to put a link on my blogroll to your website. I really like it!
Love,
Softa123
Yum, I want to eat that salad! I love that picture!
Love this mix-and-match list for creating unique salads! Such a great idea. I love your pic too…do you always use natural light or an artificial source? I can never get my light right with the lights in my house :(
I almost always use a light setup unless I’m shooting in the kitchen by the window. I get very poor natural light in this apartment, unfortunately.
Your photos are great and these are some amazing tips for making salads! I can’t wait to try it!
Thank you for stopping by my blog so that I can discover yours
I loved your salad 101..great tips
and by the way..your photography is stunning
Now why haven’t I ever put salt in my salads? Great tip – thanks!
My go to salad = rocket + baby tomatoes + pine nuts + dried raisins/cranberries
What would I add to a salad? Well first up it would have to be locally smoked + peppered salmon steaks and boiled eggs, a perfect combination
and re the lettuce, if you grow your own or can get get great fresh lettuces from a local market, give them a go again. I’ve re-converted myself to them, there are so many wonderful varieties out there that have real flavour and taste, different textures, colours and crunch :)
This is a great informative post. I am going to add bitter something to my salads this week and see how it is received. I’m also going to reduce a bottle of balsomi.
I feed 10-14 people each dinner. Salad tends to become a simple small cut cucumber/tomatoe with S.O.A.P. (Salt-Oil-Acid-Pepper) dressing that my daughter can throw together in a few minutes. But you have inspired me to try some new entree ideas thanks!
These are great tips :) Thank you for breaking everything down. I’ve really been getting into salad making recently and this is going to help greatly!
Yum…balsamic reduction great idea! Thanks for sharing!
This is awesome. Really, really great post. This reminds me of a thing that I saw with Suzanne Goin when her cookbook came out a few years back and she was demoing salads on some cooking show!
Oh my goodness, thanks for all these wonderful ideas! I only know one salad and that’s my chicken spinach salad with a balsamic vinaigrette, so clearly I needed the ideas! Thanks for sharing :)
This is great! I have been eating pies for my 50th Birthday Jubilee, but my wife wants to eat “salads” for hers. (And after eating 50 pies, I will obviously need to join her!)
I just sent her this link to get her started.
Thanks again.
Great ideas, salad is one of those things that is deceptive in its lack of a recipe, you would think this makes it easy, but it still requires structure and key elements. My salads are about to get a whole lot more interesting, starting with fancy pants salts! Thanks
YUM! I love salads and honestly eat them every single night, but I tend to get in a rut when it comes to what goes into them… thanks for offering some new ideas!! (I’m totally going to roast some walnuts right now… )
Thanks for the great tips. I’ve been murdering salads on the regular since I started P90X (just completed this past weekend!) but after a while it became the same ol’, same ol’. This post has kick-started my imagination again. Great blog!
Heinz Salad Cream! I am not alone =) Love that stuff. Love a good salad!! The more fruits and nuts the better.
I love this! Great salad recipe go-to sheet and helps to make something to suit whatever your mood :-)
Thanks for the tips! The balsamic reduction sounds tasty. I’ll have to try that out!
I really love your pics and your post…keep it up:)
That is a very beautifully presented salad. I just love the colours. I make a mango, avocado and pecan nut salad every Christmas (we serve salads with out hot turkey and ham here in Oz because it’s usually a very hot time of year).
wow, your picture made me click through! This salad looks devine. I have an obsession with avocado; adding mango and walnuts to it made me seriously sad that I don’t have the ingredients right this second.
This is awesome! I love balsamic vinegar on salads and a warm balsamic reduction sounds perfect for winter salads with roasted vegetables. Thanks for the helpful tips!