Cooking Lesson #717: How To Make Great Tasting Salads at Home

Zesty Grilled Chicken Salad

How you doin’? I really hate boring salads—you know the ones that have a little iceberg lettuce and a tomato slice with a bottled commercial dressing? We can do so much better than that.
 
The bestselling salad at my first restaurant was The Conglomeration. It was a large salad made with chopped iceberg, romaine, crisp bacon, chopped hard cooked egg, cucumber, shredded carrots, diced celery, chopped olives, red onion and chunks of soft white cheese. All of this was tossed with my secret Champagne vinaigrette—a masterpiece! The more “orts” (ingredients) the better. We even took care to serve it on a Hawaiian monkey pod, garlic rubbed salad plate.
 
When we found out this was the bestselling salad, I put our kitchen staff’s talents to invent and test new mixed salads. I declared our restaurant would never serve ho-hum salads. Even our Angel’s Fruit & Yogurt Salad was loaded with flavors and textures.
 
Our guests used to ask me, why can’t I make salads like this at home? You see,
restaurant salads are delicious because of the variety and freshness of the ingredients. Most people don’t keep a wide variety of fresh veggies on hand for fear they will spoil before consuming. So please trust me, there's more to making salads than heaping on a pile of deep-fried croutons and boatloads of cheese.
 
Here is what you can do from your very own kitchen to make the best salads ever:

• The ingredients can decide whether your salad turns out just okay or over the top. Restaurant-quality salads start with restaurant-quality ingredients. In most restaurants, cooks prepare and cut all the ingredients in advance (except don’t cut tomatoes too far in advance) and then keep them chilled. This does not compromise freshness. As a home cook, only shop for just a handful of fresh, in-season ingredients that you'll use right away; that actually gives you an edge over those in professional kitchens.
• Wait until the last minute to wash delicate ingredients like lettuce. The cold water refreshes the lettuce and keeps it nice and crisp. Make sure to spin or shake the lettuce dry; excess water on the surface will make the lettuce limp and dilute your dressing.
• In my restaurants, when an order for one of our entree salads came in, a prep cook first tossed all the ingredients in a chilled metal bowl twice the size of the salad. To finish the job, he would use his gloved hands to make sure that all of the ingredients were well-combined before transferring the salad to the serving plate and garnishing it. Use this method and you will never again have naked greens at the bottom of the bowl while all of the dressing stays on top.
• Many of us try to watch the amount of salt we use, but in salads it is important to  season every element with just a pinch of salt—even the lettuce. This results in every bite tasting full-flavored and fresh. Salt is a big difference between salads at home and salads in a restaurant. This doesn't mean you have to make your salads salty! Just hold back some salt when seasoning your dressing.
• Dressings are an all-important part of a successful salad. We all know that using bottled dressings is super easy and some are okay, but just okay. But homemade dressings can also be easy. A vinaigrette takes just a minute to prepare… pour all the ingredients into an empty jar and shake it until combined. It’s about 10 times fresher, better for you and more delicious than most store-bought dressings. Just shake together sherry vinegar, olive oil, pepper, salt, dried herbs and coarse whole grain mustard.
• While I love lot of orts in my salad, remember to balance colors, flavors and textures with a mix of cooked and raw ingredients, proteins, grains, veggies, fruits, herbs and a great homemade dressing. As you will see below, all of these components make the perfect entrée salad. Make sure you have something crisp like cucumber, something soft like goat cheese and something fatty like avocado. And be sure to incorporate different kinds of flavors—sweet, sour, savory and bitter—for a better than restaurant quality homemade salad.
• Finally, adding just a little thinly sliced-then-quartered lemon brightens up all the flavors in your masterpiece!

 
Ingredients 
4 ounces spring lettuce mix salad blend
4 tablespoons grilled chopped chicken breast
3 tablespoons grilled fresh corn
3 tablespoons low-sodium, canned black beans, drained
3 grape tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons red or yellow bell peppers, diced
1-1/2 tablespoons Mexican cheese blend
1 tablespoon hulled pepitas, toasted
2 ounces Spicy Cilantro-Avocado Dressing, (see recipe below)
3 thin slices of fresh lemon, quartered
... and whatever you want to add
 
Directions

1. Add the spring lettuce mix to a chilled salad bowl.
2. Starting at the 12 o’clock position, place the chicken at the top.
3. Then going around the bowl, evenly space the corn, black beans, tomatoes and peppers.
4. Top the salad and fixings in the bowl with the cheese, and pepitas.
5. When ready to serve either pour the dressing evenly over the salad greens or toss, if desired.

ChefSecret:  I sometimes use leftover chilled chicken meat or better yet warm fried chicken tenders in this salad.

                                      Zesty Avocado-Cilantro Dressing
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Cook time:  15 minutes
Total time:  20 minutes
Yield:  16 ounces+
 
Ingredients 
2 ounces toasted macadamia nuts
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon fresh, peeled garlic
1/2 teaspoon fresh, seeded and ribbed diced red jalapeño pepper
3/4 cup  fresh, peeled and pitted avocado
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
5 ounces cold water
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
 
Directions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then add the toasted macadamia nuts and boil them for 15 minutes, to soften. Rinse them under cool water to stop the cooking process and drain well.
2. Add all of the ingredients to a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth, adding more water 1 tablespoon at a time if needed to thin out the consistency.
3. Store in an airtight container. Cover, label, date, refrigerate. 

ChefSecrets:  Freshly-roasting the macadamia nuts adds another level of flavor to the salad dressing.

Quip of the Day: “Why is it called a Caesar Salad? ‘Cause Caesar ruled the romaines.”
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