Why Restaurant Salads Are Better Than Yours

I used to HATE salads. Salads are commonly seen as a meal you have to eat, a meal in which you're sacrificing pleasure for the benefit of nutrients. Well, today I wanna explore ways to make our salads better, and why restaurant ones are so much better than homemade ones. And hopefully, by the end of this, you'll have all the necessary tools to create some killer salads.

FOLLOW ME LOVE U:

[depressionbomb]

I have a book called Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and it has vastly improved my cooking because it helped me understand how these 4 things are incredibly important in food, not even aromatics included

[bernardberari]

I have the sudden urge to eat 5 salads simultaneously

[seen]

I appreciate that my parents always made tasty salads, friends have called me weird for adding things i actually enjoy in salads (like fruits, nuts, eggs, legumes, cheese). But i grew up never seeing salad as diet food, just a way to eat crunchy veges (sometimes it was "unhealthy" to but who cares, balance is necessary and food should be tasty)

oh ps. - as a Caribbean person, add boiled or fried plantains in salads, or starfruit, or pineapple, coconut milk based dressing, OH and ROASTED SCOTCH BONNET PEPPERS if u like spicy stuff

[alabamaslammer]

My mom used to make salad like how you did in the tasteless example. I made a feta, cucumber, and tomato one from a recipe recently and no offense to her but it tasted much more cohesive

[millienexu]

The problem w a good salad is that it requires TONS of ingredients, many of them fresh or bulk (eg canned; then I gotta figure out what to do w the rest)

[jazmindavila]

I used to really dislike salads, and this is with the store-bought Italian dressings. I tried making one at home — wasn’t what I hoped. So I tried a different approach: oil, soy sauce (I used the coco aminos substitute tough), mirin, and some sugar. Marinated the cucumbers and carrots with it. Added grains. Added protein. Needless to say, I like salads now :) I just needed to find what worked for me

[cbayspam]

timestamps:
0:00 - totally delicious salad tutorial
0:52 - intro
1:57 - salad basics
4:24 - my number 1 salad secret
5:38 - my dressing formula
6:02 - garlic cilantro yogurt dressing
6:31 - honey mustard dressing
6:54 - sun-dried tomato dressing
8:11 - chicken taco salad
10:20 - quinoa salad
11:49 - mediterranean salad
13:31 - outro

[awwwkitteh]

I feel like just cutting everything in uniform pieces, adding acidity, a sweet topping and something for texture really does the trick. I usally add honey roasted nut(any type) and often apples or craisins and honestly that works amazing just on shreded lettuce, cabbage, carrot and tomatoes. Sometimes I don't even add dressing.

[bibeto]

I mostly eat green leaf salads with olive oil and lemon as dressing, but my husband discovered something pretty amazing: besides the olive oil, if you add Chinese chilli oil, it becomes a bit spicy and it works surprisingly good (chili oil from a jar of Lao Gan Ma for example, but I've also bought just a bottle of chili oil too)
Also if you haven't tried Turkish/Arabic pomegranate molasses on your salad, you haven't lived.

[starpiku]

I love a fresh salad, but it’s always so many steps and ingredients! I has this really delicious Quinoa bowl from a Gusto’s one time, and desperately wanted to recreate it because the restaurant was too far to get it again. It took me so long to make it, cooking the chicken, making the cilantro-like dressing, and a chipotle sauce to go on top, cooking the quinoa, chopping all those vegetables, my back and feet ached by the end of it. I had done it successfully, but thought it was way too much work for one salad for one person. I’d much rather just drive to get it again 😂😭

[morningqueens]

*Main Ingredients:*

Greens (vegetables), non-greens, protein, dressings.

Greens: Bell pepper, carrots (in winters), cucumber, peas and corn( if I have them), red beans, apples, tomatoes, salad leaves or spinach leaves, radishes, onion, cabbage, APPLE

Non-greens: nuts, dried fruit, legumes, etc (toasted / roasted)

Protein: meat, egg

Dressings

*--- Balance aromatics, oil, acids*

Aromatics: garlic, green onion, red chilli, ginger, and herbs (mint & coriander)

Acids: Vinegars, lemon juice, oil

Oil

*Dressings*

1. Yogurt, garlic, coriander, salt and pepper, lemon juice, olive oil (blend)

2. Olive oil, white vinegar, 1 tsp mustard, a bit of honey (whisk)

3. Sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, garlic (couple cloves), vinegar, salt (blend)

4. lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper and mustard powder (personal)

*How to ASSEMBLE everything*

1. Make a base with veggies.
2. Add your non-greens (add a mix of dried, crunchy, sweet, and tangy flavors)
3. Cook your protein / boil your egg (or scramble them)
4. Add the dressing and mix everything
5. Make it look nice with left-over toppings and dressings

[stints]

The single biggest thing that made me enjoy my salads was chopping the leafy greens to around a square inch (2.5 cm). I only figured this out thanks to a salad shop where you can order the salad "chopped"... it makes such a difference.

[kisutis]

Great explanation, will send to my friend who hates salads :)) myself I learned to make nice salads but for dressing I never use vinegar but a mix of lemon juice, olive oil and a bit of mustard (prefer Dijon). For green aromatics I love fresh coriander depending on type of salad of course

[the_cheese_cultist]

I used to really hate salads. never ate them.

that was until I was in some camp, and salad was one of the only things that were available to eat.

now it's my favorite thing to eat in the morning

[natonaa]

Thank you so so much! This motivated me to leave my house, buy some ingredients and do a salad myself. Even though I'm a horrible cook it turned out great! I used two kinds of lettuce, dried tomatoes, feta cheese and spring onion. For the dressing I used brine from dried tomatoes, some honey and lime juice. Now I'm eating it and I'm in love! Thank youuuu

[Girlyfish]

We had leftover steak so I made a yummy steak salad with goat cheese & lemon vinaigrette. The goat cheese & lemon vinaigrette were an amazing combo.

My go to lemon vinaigrette:
1 lemon juiced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 grated garlic clove
1 tsp sugar or to taste
Pinch of salt
Black pepper and Aleppo pepper to taste
Minced herb such as parsley basil or tarragon. It’s great with no herbs to.
Third to a half cup light olive oil.
To mix I put everything into a jam jar. Put the lid on and shake until emulsified.
Salad:
Arugula spinach and green leaf lettuce. Mixing greens makes a much better salad.
Chopped veggies -I used carrot celery cucumber and red bell pepper
Quartered cherry tomato that I salt and pepper separately
Chopped banana peppers
Crumbled or cubed goat cheese
Leftover steak
This made a great lunch the next day. I put everything in a salad container except the dressing. I separate the seasoned tomato from the rest of the vegetables with a folded paper towel. This absorbs any liquid and I throw the towel away. The tomato are still good the next day.
Edit: You can exchange everything out to your own taste. Different juice or oil. Use vinegar instead of oil. Any veggies meat or cheese you like.

[mystical_cupcake]

Best salad video I've ever watched! Thanks for breaking down everything in the salad-making process.

[supriyam]

My tip: make salad dressing with little bit of avocado, boiled egg yolk, yoghurt + spices, vinger or whatever you want. This creamy, fatty dressing will change salad game.

[fredwells]

I've actually encountered this type of rubbish salad in restaurants more often than anywhere else.

[rubiblue]

I just found you today and I have to say your content is amazing. You deserve WAY more attention
I'm also one of those people who doesn't like salad but you've definitely inspired me to try experimenting :)