Chef Bobby Flay's Tip For Dressing A Salad Is A Game Changer

There's an awful lot of cooking advice, purported hacks, and genuine food preparation shortcuts out there. But few have actually prompted a pause for consideration the way celebrity chef Bobby Flay's salad dressing method has. Flay, the multi-restaurant owner and repeat Food Network host, has, in fact, managed to change the way we'll dress our salads forever. Or at least until the next shiny hack comes along. Flay's lettuce patch-breaking method? Dress the bowl.

Speaking with Bon Appétit in an erstwhile interview, his salad prep starts out standard enough: by seasoning the greens and other vegetables with salt and pepper. (And if you are not yet seasoning your salad components, please begin doing so to boost the flavors of the ingredients.) It's when dressing the leafy greens that things start to get interesting.

"Never pour the vinaigrette right on the greens — that destroys them," Flay says. "Pour the dressing around the sides of the bowl, and then, using your hands, gently push the greens into the dressing to coat them." Essentially, dress the bowl to dress your salad. And, although pushing the greens yourself is certainly an artisanal approach, a gentle swirl around the bowl aided by physics should do nicely, too, so long as it's large enough to prevent spillage.

Not only does Bobby Flay's tip keep you from using too much dressing to taste, it keeps the stuff from weighing down your dainty baby spinach, arugula, or Little Gem lettuce. "You want the greens glistening, not limp," Flay says. "Once the leaves are dressed to your liking, gently transfer them to a plate."

Of course, you can continue to level up that salad with a chilled dish. Pop your bowl in the refrigerator for a few minutes before serving, as is done by plenty of upscale eateries. Restaurant salads also just taste better because of extras like homemade dressing (rather than bottled) that you're now going to add to your bowl (not your ingredients). For a perfectly dressed salad, the bowl you prepare it in should also be metal, by the way, for the maximum slickness required to best distribute said dressing. Pair your newly enlightened dish with a nice bit of fish (just, erm, maybe not cod, Bobby Flay's least favorite fish to order) for a full, celebrity chef-inspired dinner.