The Easy Way To Fix An Overdressed Salad

Composing the perfectly delicious fresh salad seems easy enough. Mix a blend of lettuces in a large bowl and add sliced vegetables. Then, sprinkle in some shredded cheese before lightly pouring dressing on top to all be mixed together. But, just as you tilt the bottle over the bowl, disaster strikes! Instead of a drizzle of dressing, it's a deluge and now the lettuce, vegetables, and cheese have a thick coating of dressing. Other times, you may not even realize you overdressed a salad until you put the first forkful into your mouth, and instead of lettuce and vegetables that have been lightly touched by salad dressing, your taste buds are overwhelmed by the taste of the dressing. The good news is there is an easy fix.

To determine if a salad has too much dressing on it before it's eaten, try mixing the salad with your hands instead of tongs. By using your hands, you are better able to determine how thick the coating of dressing is and if more is needed, per Food52. Ideally, the salad shouldn't be saturated with dressing. There also shouldn't be a pool of dressing at the bowl's bottom. Food52 encourages starting with 1/3 of the recipe's recommended amount of dressing and to taste the salad as you mix so you can incorporate more as needed. 

If you still find yourself with an overdressed salad, there is an easy way to restore balance.

To bring back the crunch in a salad after it has gotten soggy from too much dressing, grab the bag of greens and add some more to achieve the right ratio of lettuce to dressing, per HuffPost. Try mixing the salad together in a bigger bowl, according to Allrecipes; this will provide more space for incorporating the dressing into the salad. The extra space will help with more equal distribution of the dressing. 

Another way to avoid the overly dressed salad all together is to coat the bowl with the dressing that the salad ingredients will be mixed in to get a more even, light distribution of dressing instead of pouring it on top of the mixed salad. Additionally, selecting the right salad dressing for the type of lettuce in the salad can also help to avoid soggy leaves or can help you determine how much dressing you need for the lettuce. For delicate lettuce leaves, such as spring greens, a vinaigrette is best, per The Cookful. Lettuces that have heavier leaves like endive pair well with thicker dressing such as blue cheese.

Rest assured that should that salad dressing pour a little too quickly, there is no need to toss out the salad. With a few more greens and a little more mixing, you can still enjoy the crunch of lettuce and vegetables between your teeth.