How To Use A Bagged Salad

A salad is fresh and uncomplicated. It is usually raw and uncooked. It is unassuming and it just tastes right. When you fork into a salad that includes crisp, fresh greens, you are not only pleasing your taste buds, you are doing something good for yourself.

But while salads are not difficult to make in the first place, supermarket produce departments have made preparing them even easier. Bags of washed and dried lettuce leaves of every imaginable variety beckon even the most time challenged salad maker. Gone are the days when a head of iceberg lettuce lay neglected and then rotted in the refrigerator drawer. You can now use a bag of greens as a taking off point for salads and this give more time to be creative with the other ingredients in the bowl. When time is short, pre-shredded, pre-washed greens will get the creative juices going with fast results.

That miraculous word salad is so encompassing, it can mean a meal or the perfect side dish. Will tonight’s salad be a side dish of greens topped with strawberries, blue cheese, and walnuts? Or spinach tossed with mandarin oranges? Or a sweet and sour salad of broccoli, onion, and bacon? Or could tonight’s salad be a quick coleslaw with dressing?

If you are looking for a salad for tonight’s company, there is nothing like a layered one. You can layer all the ingredients in a large bowl well in advance and let the salad wait in the refrigerator until your guests arrive.

If you are looking to make that salad a main dish, top a bag of spinach with fresh peach slices, pecans, and hot popcorn chicken pieces baked straight from the freezer. Then there is the quick to make chicken salad with ramen noodles.

Maybe tonight’s salad does not include a lot of greens, but instead is based on pasta or grains. Toss penne pasta with spinach, tomatoes, and feta cheese, or with tuna and beans. Slice some crusty bread to serve along side and dinner will be on the table in no time.

Sides and starters and main dishes made with greens, grains, and pasta are easy and fast. Enjoy making a salad that only takes a few minutes and a little imagination.

Putting together an interesting salad isn’t difficult, but you need the right balance of ingredients.

Begin with the greens of your choice: spring mix, watercress, romaine, or spinach. And make sure to add fresh herbs for added flavor. Toss them in the salad bowl, also. And remember that too much of the same green isn’t as interesting as a little of several greens.

Next, add something sweet: carrots, pear slices, chopped tomatoes, apple slices, strawberries, halved grapes, dried cranberries, roasted red peppers, or raisins.

Then, add something crunchy: toasted pine nuts, sliced almonds, pecan halves, walnuts, or croutons. Now for something tangy, like crumbled feta or blue cheese. And last, you need something to dress the salad with. Greens taste better with oil and vinegar based dressings.

Once dressed, green salads need to be eaten pronto. If it looks like you have made too much salad for the crowd, serve undressed portions as needed and dress individually. Store the undressed leftover salad under plastic wrap. It will keep for at least a day in the refrigerator.