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Season Your Salad, Not Just the Dressing

Even though most salad dressing and vinaigrette recipes contain a measured amount of salt, most professional cooks like to season the salad itself as well. Here's why.

Even though all salad dressing and vinaigrette recipes, including our Make-Ahead Vinaigrette (see related content), contain a measured amount of salt, most professional cooks like to season the salad itself as well. It’s a good idea for two reasons: First, it allows you to adjust the seasoning as needed; we generally dress salad greens and then toss in add-ins (radishes, carrots, etc.), so you can season based on how little or much you add. Second, it creates appealing distinct bites of salt throughout. For that reason, we prefer kosher and flaked salts, such as Maldon. Add-ins like fruits and nuts particularly benefit from the contrast of salty bites. So the next time you are serving a salad, add salt just after dressing it to get the seasoning just right.

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