How to Mix Green Salads

Romaine lettuce is commonly used for green salads.

Green salads are served all over the world in restaurants, diners and home kitchens before or after the main course of a meal. Though the ingredients you use may vary based on you or your family's personal preferences, mixing a green salad is pretty much the same no matter what ingredients you use. While you can store a green salad for up to four hours in the refrigerator before serving it, adding dry ingredients right before serving, your salad will taste freshest if you serve it immediately after mixing.

Things You'll Need

• Knife (optional)
• Lettuce
• Large mixing bowl
• Salad ingredients (will vary based on preference)
• Bowls
• Small mixing bowl
• Wooden spoons
• Croutons (optional)
• Nuts (optional)
• Tongs (optional)
• Large serving bowl or individual serving bowls

Instructions

1. Chop or tear large pieces of washed lettuce if you are using a type with larger leaves like romaine, green leaf, red leaf or iceberg. If you are using smaller, bite-size types like arugula or baby greens, do not chop the lettuce. Place the lettuce in the bottom of a large mixing bowl.

2. Wash and cut your other vegetables to their desired size, reserving them in individual bowls until it is time to add them to the salad. Doing this will help keep watery items like tomatoes from soaking the lettuce, altering the texture and flavor of the finished salad.

3. Mix your salad dressing in a small mixing bowl immediately before tossing the salad if you are making your own. If you are using bottled dressing, remove it from the refrigerator and allow the amount you want to use to warm to room temperature in a small bowl before use.

4. Add the chopped vegetables to the salad immediately before serving. Drizzle the top of the salad with salad dressing, lightly stirring the ingredients with a wooden spoon.

5. Add dry ingredients like croutons, chopped nuts or cheese. Thoroughly mix the salad with two wooden spoons or tongs to coat the ingredients with dressing. Transfer the salad to a large serving bowl or individual serving bowls and serve immediately.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are using tomatoes in your salad, remove the seeds and center portion, which will dilute your dressing and overpower certain salads. Removing the center piece of the tomatoes will also help to keep the texture more consistent from bite to bite.

• Examples of common green salad ingredients include tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, minced onion, radishes and avocado slices.

Resources

• FoodNetwork.com: Salad