How do I make a salad that is actually good?

A dull salad is almost never a bad ingredient. It is undressed, unseasoned, and made entirely of things with the same texture.

What you'll need

• A salad spinner, or a clean tea towel
• Good olive oil and a sharp vinegar or lemon
• A large bowl — bigger than seems necessary

Step by step

1. Dry the leaves thoroughly.A spinner, or shake them in a tea towel. Dressing cannot stick to wet leaves — it slides off and pools in the bottom, which is why the salad tastes of nothing and the bowl tastes of vinegar.
2. Season the leaves with salt.The step almost everyone skips. Unsalted leaves taste of water. A pinch tossed through makes more difference than any ingredient you could add.
3. Get the dressing ratio right.Roughly three parts oil to one part acid, adjusted to taste. Too much acid is harsh; too little and it tastes flat and oily.
4. Emulsify it properly.A jar shaken hard, or whisked with a little mustard, which holds it together. A split dressing coats unevenly and separates in the bowl.
5. Dress at the last possible moment.Salt and acid draw water out of leaves and collapse them. Dressed five minutes early, a delicate salad is already wilting.
6. Use a bowl far larger than you need.You cannot toss properly in a full bowl, so half the leaves stay undressed. Toss in a big bowl and transfer to the serving one.
7. Use your hands to toss.Gentler and more thorough than tongs, which bruise leaves. Lift from the bottom rather than stirring.
8. Build in texture contrast.Something crunchy — toasted nuts, seeds, croutons, crisp shallots. This is what separates a salad worth eating from a bowl of leaves, and it is the most commonly missing element.
9. Add something rich.Cheese, avocado, egg, bacon, olives, tahini. Fat carries flavour and gives the salad enough substance to be satisfying.
10. Add something sharp or sweet.Pickled onion, capers, roasted grapes, apple, pomegranate. A contrasting note stops it tasting like one flat thing.
11. Vary the leaves.Mix a soft leaf with something bitter and something crunchy — little gem with rocket, or spinach with radicchio. A bag of one leaf is inherently monotonous.
12. Cut ingredients so they can be eaten together.Everything should fit on a fork at once. Large chunks mean each mouthful is one ingredient rather than a combination.
13. Salt tomatoes separately first.Ten minutes with a little salt before they go in. It draws out water and concentrates them, and it is the difference between a good tomato and a watery one.
14. Warm elements make it a meal.Roasted vegetables, warm grains, a fried egg, griddled halloumi. Warm against cold is one of the most effective contrasts there is.
15. Taste and adjust before serving.Take one dressed leaf and eat it. If it needs salt, acid or oil, now is when you can still fix it.

Tips

• Dry leaves and a pinch of salt. Those two do more than any ingredient you could add.
• Something crunchy is the most commonly missing element in a disappointing salad.
• Dress it at the table, not in the kitchen. Even a few minutes wilts delicate leaves.

Common mistakes

• Dressing wet leaves — Dressing cannot adhere to water. It slides off and collects at the bottom of the bowl, so the leaves taste of nothing and the last forkful is all vinegar.
• Adding more vegetables to make it more interesting — More things of the same texture do not add contrast. A salad becomes interesting through crunch, richness and acidity, not through variety of vegetable.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask