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5 ways to harness your salad making potential

There are not many foods as versatile and limitless as a salad, where sweet, tart, spicy and aromatic flavours often exist in perfect balance all on the one plate. To help you sharpen your salad making skills and find that balance of flavour, here are some ways to make your salad extra special.

Choose a vegetable to be the star of the salad

The best salads don’t have to be complicated. Focusing on a core ingredient to base your salad around is a great way to turn an everyday vegetable into something extraordinary. Take this simple cauliflower salad for example, which uses anchovies, garlic and chilli to bring out the flavour of the cauliflower. 

Or this salad, where roasted red capsicum holds its own against the flavours of fresh herbs, garlic and lemon. As with all salads it’s important to choose seasonal ingredients when you can for optimum taste and freshness.

Think about colour

When it comes to salads that look as good as they taste, take a note out of Japanese cooking traditions, which use bright and appealing colours to make their food look balanced and interesting.

Colour is the key ingredient in this Italian Panzanella salad that I made recently

Match the flavours to your personality 

Salad making can be an art form in itself so throw in a bit of your unique flair into the salad bowl. Are you an adventurous person with a fiery edge? Add some fresh chilli to the salad or try this Asian-style dressing, packed with bold flavours. Do you love travelling to new places? Think about the tastes that really blew your mind and use them in your salad ! At least then you’ll have an interesting story to tell at the dinner table as you dig in to the meal.

Dress to impress

To make a salad really stand out it’s important to spend some time on the dressing. Great dressings with the right balance take time to be perfected, so start here with Love My Salad’s 5 dressings to know by heart or slightly alter these classic dressings to suit the salad and your taste.

Experiment with fresh herbs

This is a trick I recently discovered to bring life into a bowl of leafy greens. Each herb has its own unique flavour and aroma so mix and match herbs with your salad until you find the perfect combination. Just a few basil leaves added to a garden salad, some torn apart coriander in an asian salad or adding finely chopped dill to the dressing can make all the difference. 

What's your ultimate salad making tip?