Ina Garten's Clever Dressing Trick For A Salad That's Never Soggy

Ina Garten is the queen of elevated cuisine. The celebrity chef is known for her "Barefoot Contessa" cooking show on Food Network, where she often shares tips and has coined catchy phrases such as, "How easy is that?" and, "Store-bought is fine." But both quotes were a testament to her tips and tricks for the easiest dishes possible, and when it comes to preparing salad, Garten has the best technique for ensuring you keep the leaves as crisp as you can. Add that tasty salad dressing to the bottom of the bowl, and don't toss it until you're about to serve it.

If you have the time, it certainly doesn't hurt to prepare the salad in advance then add the dressing right before serving. But if you're tight on time and won't be able to go back and add the dressing, Garten has the solution: make the salad dressing the first thing to go into the bowl; then, only the leaves directly touching it might wilt, but the others will stay nice and fresh. Plus, once you toss those slightly wilted leaves in with all the others before serving, you won't even notice them.

Nobody likes a soggy salad, but sometimes, the prep work that goes into pulling off a dinner party means you have no choice but to add the dressing to the dish in advance. Next time, though, try adding the dressing first. This way, it stays pooled at the bottom of the bowl, which allows the dressing's flavors to marry as it sits.

For an extra layer of protection, you can add some hearty ingredients between the dressing and the lettuce leaves that won't be so affected by the dressing's moisture. If you're using tomatoes or red onion in the salad, these would make a great barrier. Garten doesn't add the extra layer and instead just allows some of the leaves to touch the dressing, but if you were truly worried about a soggy salad, it's not a bad idea. The lettuce shouldn't sit out for too long, though, because it starts to wilt and brown quickly. But you can also pop the whole salad in the refrigerator while it sits, too, to keep the leaves crisp and dry — just let it come to room temperature for a few minutes before tossing just in case the vinaigrette had time to solidify in the refrigerator.