How to build a perfect salad

Summer is salad, salad is summer, they are inseparable. Salads are the mainstay of my cooking from May to October, the oven-off season. I run fairly fast and loose with the definition: any vegetable, fruit or leaf, cooked or raw, once well dressed becomes a salad to me. So often an afterthought, a required side of green, but turn that on its head, and your salads will be the first thing to be finished first all summer. 

For a salad to make it to my table, it has to do a few things. Let’s start with the obvious: it should be bright and vegetable-packed. All good cooking comes down to making an ingredient taste more of itself, and nothing is more important in your salad. This is your opportunity to show off the sunny fruit and veg that’s at its juicy, plump and colourful peak.

A salad should be a balance between the five tastes we all know – salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami. I find it so useful to have these five guiding stars of favour in mind as I build a salad. A lot of the work will be done for you in the ingredients you choose; there is a good reason that bitter radicchio is often paired with sweet squash or peppery rocket paired with umami-rich parmesan and sweet and acidic balsamic.

A salad must also bring interesting texture, that might come from a leaf or a vegetable (the humble iceberg brings unrivalled texture) or perhaps it’s some added crunch, like the crouton in a caesar, or the richness from cheese, or a creamy dressing. (I often need to remind myself that texture is not just about crunch.)

I give some thought to how I cut ingredients; each piece should be able to fit in your mouth without having to bite it first. Each forkful should get you a bit of everything. Of course, most often it’s a killer dressing which makes a salad.

Some of the most memorable reactions to my food have been from salads – no one is expecting the salad to be the best thing on the table, but it’s such joy when it is. 

THE SALAD FORMULA

Pick one or two elements from each list for a balanced salad, whatever sort you are making. 

SALAD GOLDEN RULES

• Start with good produce: there is nothing to hide behind in a salad 

• Season all elements of your salad with salt – your dressing and your naked leaves or vegetables. Each element should be seasoned so it can sing

• Think about texture: crunch, crackle, creaminess, these might be there inherently in your fruit of veg

• Think about temperature: an ice-cold salad on a hot day is unmatched  – I sometimes serve my salads on ice

• Herbs will almost always make a salad better

• Learn to make a dressing you love by heart: a good dressing will do most of the work for you. This one is my trusted go-to

• Use a salad leaf or piece of veg to test your dressing. The dressing will be mellowed by the water in the veg, so this is the best way to check for balance

• Dress to impress: a cold or leafy salad is best dressed at the very last minute; cooked ingredients are best dressed while warm and then allowed to cool to room temperature

• Use your hands to dress your salad, delicately turning the leaves or vegetables over until each piece is perfectly and evenly covered.