Why Restaurant Salads Are Better Than Yours

I have a book called Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and it has vastly improved my cooking because it helped me understand how these 4 things are incredibly important in food, not even aromatics included

I have the sudden urge to eat 5 salads simultaneously

I appreciate that my parents always made tasty salads, friends have called me weird for adding things i actually enjoy in salads (like fruits, nuts, eggs, legumes, cheese). But i grew up never seeing salad as diet food, just a way to eat crunchy veges (sometimes it was "unhealthy" to but who cares, balance is necessary and food should be tasty)
oh ps. - as a Caribbean person, add boiled or fried plantains in salads, or starfruit, or pineapple, coconut milk based dressing, OH and ROASTED SCOTCH BONNET PEPPERS if u like spicy stuff

My mom used to make salad like how you did in the tasteless example. I made a feta, cucumber, and tomato one from a recipe recently and no offense to her but it tasted much more cohesive

The problem w a good salad is that it requires TONS of ingredients, many of them fresh or bulk (eg canned; then I gotta figure out what to do w the rest)

I used to really dislike salads, and this is with the store-bought Italian dressings. I tried making one at home - wasn’t what I hoped. So I tried a different approach: oil, soy sauce (I used the coco aminos substitute tough), mirin, and some sugar. Marinated the cucumbers and carrots with it. Added grains. Added protein. Needless to say, I like salads now :) I just needed to find what worked for me

I've actually encountered this type of rubbish salad in restaurants more often than anywhere else.

We had leftover steak so I made a yummy steak salad with goat cheese & lemon vinaigrette. The goat cheese & lemon vinaigrette were an amazing combo.
My go to lemon vinaigrette:
1 lemon juiced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 grated garlic clove
1 tsp sugar or to taste
Pinch of salt
Black pepper and Aleppo pepper to taste
Minced herb such as parsley basil or tarragon. It’s great with no herbs to.
Third to a half cup light olive oil.
To mix I put everything into a jam jar. Put the lid on and shake until emulsified.
Salad:
Arugula spinach and green leaf lettuce. Mixing greens makes a much better salad.
Chopped veggies -I used carrot celery cucumber and red bell pepper
Quartered cherry tomato that I salt and pepper separately
Chopped banana peppers
Crumbled or cubed goat cheese
Leftover steak
This made a great lunch the next day. I put everything in a salad container except the dressing. I separate the seasoned tomato from the rest of the vegetables with a folded paper towel. This absorbs any liquid and I throw the towel away. The tomato are still good the next day.
Edit: You can exchange everything out to your own taste. Different juice or oil. Use vinegar instead of oil. Any veggies meat or cheese you like.

I mostly eat green leaf salads with olive oil and lemon as dressing, but my husband discovered something pretty amazing: besides the olive oil, if you add Chinese chilli oil, it becomes a bit spicy and it works surprisingly good (chili oil from a jar of Lao Gan Ma for example, but I've also bought just a bottle of chili oil too)
Also if you haven't tried Turkish/Arabic pomegranate molasses on your salad, you haven't lived.

i always felt like salads weren't filling enough, but once i started making sure i had carbs, fat, and protein in them i found that they were a lot more satiating. i also struggle with executive dysfunction, so i tend to build one thing at a time -- so on the first day of the week i might cook a bunch of chicken but use storebought salad dressing, then on the next day i use some leftover chicken but make homemade salad dressing for the rest of the week. so instead of getting overwhelmed with prepping every component at once, i stretch it out over a few days (and as a bonus, my salad is slightly different each day, which means that i don't get as bored). one i make a lot has chicken/black beans/spicy corn salsa/avocado and an herby dressing~
another hot executive dysfunction tip is that you can also prep lettuce in advance by breaking down the head of lettuce as soon as you buy it, washing it, and then storing it in an open bag lined with paper towels. having to wash lettuce is one of those things that i always feel like i just don't have the energy for when i'm doing it a serving at a time, lol, but doing it in advance helps a lot!

*Main Ingredients:*
Greens (vegetables), non-greens, protein, dressings.
Greens: Bell pepper, carrots (in winters), cucumber, peas and corn( if I have them), red beans, apples, tomatoes, salad leaves or spinach leaves, radishes, onion, cabbage, APPLE
Non-greens: nuts, dried fruit, legumes, etc (toasted / roasted)
Protein: meat, egg
Dressings
*--- Balance aromatics, oil, acids*
Aromatics: garlic, green onion, red chilli, ginger, and herbs (mint & coriander)
Acids: Vinegars, lemon juice, oil
Oil
*Dressings*
1. Yogurt, garlic, coriander, salt and pepper, lemon juice, olive oil (blend)
2. Olive oil, white vinegar, 1 tsp mustard, a bit of honey (whisk)
3. Sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, garlic (couple cloves), vinegar, salt (blend)
4. lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper and mustard powder (personal)
*How to ASSEMBLE everything*
1. Make a base with veggies.
2. Add your non-greens (add a mix of dried, crunchy, sweet, and tangy flavors)
3. Cook your protein / boil your egg (or scramble them)
4. Add the dressing and mix everything
5. Make it look nice with left-over toppings and dressings

The single biggest thing that made me enjoy my salads was chopping the leafy greens to around a square inch (2.5 cm). I only figured this out thanks to a salad shop where you can order the salad "chopped"... it makes such a difference.

I love a fresh salad, but it’s always so many steps and ingredients! I has this really delicious Quinoa bowl from a Gusto’s one time, and desperately wanted to recreate it because the restaurant was too far to get it again. It took me so long to make it, cooking the chicken, making the cilantro-like dressing, and a chipotle sauce to go on top, cooking the quinoa, chopping all those vegetables, my back and feet ached by the end of it. I had done it successfully, but thought it was way too much work for one salad for one person. I’d much rather just drive to get it again 😂😭

I feel like just cutting everything in uniform pieces, adding acidity, a sweet topping and something for texture really does the trick. I usally add honey roasted nut(any type) and often apples or craisins and honestly that works amazing just on shreded lettuce, cabbage, carrot and tomatoes. Sometimes I don't even add dressing.

Great explanation, will send to my friend who hates salads :)) myself I learned to make nice salads but for dressing I never use vinegar but a mix of lemon juice, olive oil and a bit of mustard (prefer Dijon). For green aromatics I love fresh coriander depending on type of salad of course

Hey! Really enjoying your recipes! Is there any way you could incorporate more Romanian recipes? I’m Romanian as well and people often ask me to cook them Romanian stuff but pretty much everything I can think of either takes forever to make (like sarmale or ciorba) or requires pretty specialised ingredients or cookware (like mici). Keep up the good work and congrats on your youtube channel!

My tip: make salad dressing with little bit of avocado, boiled egg yolk, yoghurt + spices, vinger or whatever you want. This creamy, fatty dressing will change salad game.

Thank you so so much! This motivated me to leave my house, buy some ingredients and do a salad myself. Even though I'm a horrible cook it turned out great! I used two kinds of lettuce, dried tomatoes, feta cheese and spring onion. For the dressing I used brine from dried tomatoes, some honey and lime juice. Now I'm eating it and I'm in love! Thank youuuu

You have me excited to do salads regularly again. I've been in a food rut forever

I just found you today and I have to say your content is amazing. You deserve WAY more attention
I'm also one of those people who doesn't like salad but you've definitely inspired me to try experimenting :)

I make a killer salad. I always have a container in my fridge with cucumbers, celery, tomatoes, red onion, jalapeños and pickles in a dressing of olive oil and different vinegars, a bit of salt and pepper (i guess everything slightly pickles because of the vinegars). I then use this as a topping/dressing on top of leafy greens and whatever else I want to add.
Like your tips, will try some of them - especially the aromatics part.

I've been a salad enjoyer for years now, however, as someone who feels his cooking skills are lacking in certain departments this video has been an amazing help!
I've taken notes and can't wait to try what I've learned from this video - thank you!

Best salad video I've ever watched! Thanks for breaking down everything in the salad-making process.

My chef salad that can be compared to what you have in fancy restaurants: a bit of stracciatella, rucola (do not use too much of it), ripe tomatoes (it can be cherry tomatoes but you may use other sweet ripe ones), 2-3 ripe strawberries and a pinch of cedar nuts. You may dress the salad with some sesame oil and with glaze with aceto balsamico. I absolutely adore it: fresh, light, and delicious.

My favourite combination is spring mix greens, cherry balsamic dressing, almond slices and craisins.
I also love thinly sliced radishes with a lemon tumeric dressing and slivers of red onions :3

Actually, in my country Indonesia, we have a lot of type of salad, like gado-gado, karedok, urap, asinan, rujak, etc

The best salad I've ever had was in a restaurant at the airport. It had lettuce, bacon, chicken, sauce, croutons and some parmesan and it was heaven. My tip is you don't have to go plain salad, don't make it too unhealthy but making it actually taste good is better than dropping salads all together

hey! even if its 2 months i tried the techniques and they helped me alot! my salads were so sad but now its so goood!!!! the salad i had made contained these ingredients:olives, bell pepper, almonds, lettus, corns(cooked),tomato, onions,cucumber and tofu(also they were salted lol) and this was the best salad i had made till now. Thanks kevin for so much information!!!!!!!!!!

My favourite home-made salad dressing is homemade hot honey (a couple rings of birdseye chili in a couple tablespoons of honey left overnight) and balsamic vinegar, with your favourite brand of extra virgin olive oil. Hot, sweet, tangy, and emulsifies well.
Also, if you have cauliflower stems - cut them into matchsticks like you would a carrot, and add that to your salad.

Just made the quinoa one and replaced it with couscous because I don’t have quinoa - absolutely delicious 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

What I do to improve a simple tomato/cucumber salad with simple ingredients, is I add boiled eggs for protein, croutons out of regular bread for crispiness, feta for saltiness and as a dressing I use home made mayo with a little bit of grounded garlic, but this one really can be substituted with sour cream or greek yoghurt if you want.

Experimented my first salad without a recipee and after a second try it turned out delicious! Corksrew pasta, baby romaine lettuce, some homemade pickled bell pepper (only a little), mixed roasted nuts, chicken breast, onion, and broccoli (stem included! you can eat that too just peel the stump) and brussel sprouts kinda stir fried (first steamed in sme water then fried on high heat with a little oil) plus ginger powder and chopped garlic at the end. With honey vineigrette as the dressing

I make a salad out of 1 onion ,2 tomatos with dill, parsley, basil and half a tea cup olive oil. That's it. No dressing needed, much faster to make and tastes amazing. Only downside is that it's entirely depndent on the quality of the tomatos.

Can’t wait to try them all!❤
Thank you for this video!

I used to work the salad station at a mid level / mid priced, sit down restaurant, and I can decisively say that unless you are paying a lot of money to eat at the restaurant and it's at the high price (like 20 dollars for an appetizer salad), then restaurant salads are nastier than home made salads by far

Fun fact: in czech language, lettuce and salad are the same exact word (salát)

When you mentioned the association between lettuce and the Romanian language I instantly pressed like.
All jokes aside, it's really good advice and I'm really bummed that a lot of people don't know this

And I just loooove these "tasteless" greens and "boring" veggies. I just use much more kinds of veggies than just cucumbers, tomatoes and bell peppers in my salads and dress them with herbs, citrus juice, vinegar of all kinds, different kinds of oil. And I avoid too bright a flavour in the dressing, I just want the dressng to emphasize the taste and flavour of the veggies and greens.
Tastes differ :)

My grandma has this infomercial gadget that she uses to turn things like cucumbers and zucchini into noodle like strings for salads. Needless to say, cucumber noodles in your salad is a really special experience. You probably could replicate this without the gadget with some good knife skills, or maybe even a simple peeler.

Walnut oil + lemon juice + salt = YUM
I genuinely enjoy salads so much i could eat them every single day and often do but i throw ALL kinds in them and really mix it up 😍

Hawaiian pizza is great. The sweetness goes really well with the saltiness of the pizza ;) (sweet and salty is the best combo ever, think salted caramel!) plus gives an extra layer of texture ;)

Thank you so much. This makes me much more motivated to eat more salad. I certainly need to. My eating has been atrocious.

I was prepared to argue, but I agree with everything pretty much all of this, You even used a rice cooker, even if it's basic one, that's still a plus. So many steps here, you clearly know what you're doing. Thubms up!

My problem with salads IS the dressings. I like salads fine as long as they're exciting, but I find most dressings store bought AND homemade gross

I love salads and i love making them. You can make so many different amazing combinations.

top tips: to remove pesticides from greens, use bicarb when rinsing also can add vinegar. remember to give a good couple of rinses after.
side note : salad spinners are great !

My favourite dressing option is honey-mustard. I can't stand eating really sour things (nothing more acidic then an orange or balsamic vinegar for me), so instead I chop a sweet orange or a tangerine or add redcurrants into the salad and it's juice becomes a part of the dressing, and I add honey, mustard and olive oil as other parts.

I’m always looking for a really good salad recipe that doesn’t have any dressing

I found my way to salads when I added more fruit to it because I liked that sweet touch here and there. Like banana, melon, grapes, nectarine etc. And learning how to cook your additional meat in a delicious way 🤣

Salad spinner is one of those things that feels like gadget, but it's actually mandatory kitchen equipment.
If I were to buy kitchen tools as new cook now, I would get mentioned salad spinner.
~28cm/11inch stainless steel saute pan, saute pan because high sides and large heated surface, its versatile. (never get small pans even if you cook just for yourself, it will often just bottleneck your cooking.)
~28/11 carbon steel or cast iron pan. Both are good, carbon steel is more versatile but it's bit more hassle, so as newbie, cast iron is probably better. (This is really good for woks and stuff because it retains a lot of heat and has non stick surface. And unlike actual non-stick you can use high heats and any utensil)
-stainless steel saucepan 1.8L.
~4L stainless steel pot (this is really good size for boiling pasta so that it doesn't boil over and isn't too big)
-This is where you need you make decision, will you get casserole, which is totally worth it but quite expensive, or another stainless steel pot 3-5L. For casserole, it's either ~4L or ~5L(I recommend 5L since this will last you forever and you might need bigger one to roast some big piece of meat or large amount of sauce at some point.)
-One chef's knife 18cm/7inch or more in blade length. Either get something like what pro's use, like vicotorinox classics, this bit cheaper and easy to sharpen with automatic sharpener. Or you can get nice mass produced Japanese one which looks really nice and works well, but you need to learn to use whetstones this is usually around $100.
-bread knife, again I just recommend Victorinox classic since it's just super functional, quality and trusted by pro's.
You don't really need other knives from my experience, unless you buy whole fish or meat like chicken.
-One peeler, Victorinox REX Peeler is really good.
-stainless steel box grater, it can do it all.
-stainless steel bowls, one big one, something like 7L and couple smaller ones like 4L and 2L
-Finally you really want something like Ninja kitchen system that can blend smoothies, and also do what food processors can do. You don't want to be buying separate blenders, food processors or whatever. And again, you don't want anything too small unless you are severely space restricted. Ninja ultimate system is actually relatively cheap when it comes to blenders and food processors.
This will allow you to do 99% of the jobs in kitchen. I didn't include stuff like kitchen utensils, just the basics where specific matter more. For carbon steel I recommend DeBuyer, for cast iron, Lodge is cheap and quality. Lodge also seems to make dutch ovens=casseroles which are really inexpensive, frankly I thought they were all really expensive. For stainless steel I'm just going to recommend one brand and model since there's so many that are good enough, Cuisinart chef's classic line. It's relatively inexpensive and from trustworthy brand.
Oh, and measures at the beginning are diameter of the pan.

One creative way for people to eat brassicas as salads (most find them boring as they are eaten either as is and they dont smell that pleasantly, cause they are boiled for long):
Boil sliced cabbage for 1-2 mins max
Broccoli cauliflower for 3-3,5 mins as long as you break the head into pieces.
Other veggies: sliced onions, cucumber, tomato, radish, potato, nettle, spinach, shredded carrot
Legumes: cooked lentils, green or string beans, green or dried fava beans.
Herbs: oregano, rosemary, fennel, parsley
Dressing: my standard olive oil-lemon-orange juice, chilli sauce, garlic
Baked peppers, yoghurt, baked garlic, lemon, salt.
Sundried tomato, olive paste, garlic, orange juice, shredded mozarella or feta chese.
If you want pickes, do add, but cut down on lemon and vinegar.
Eat your brassicas the right way.

I work as a cook, but I didn't learn to make good salads before I started. So for a while there were some pretty bad salads being served

damn this video taught me a lot. im not a salad person until i ate a chicken salad from a pizza place. it had all my fav veggies like bell peppers, corn, cucumbers and stuff but also added pineapple, chicken breast and some nuts? I was in heaven. the only salad i do for myself is a straight bellpepper-sweetcorn-feta cheese combo which is great but not as nutritios i guess.
so yeah, time to step up my game after this vid

My go to salad is any kind of lettuce (Lamb's lettuce is my favourite), feta, cucumber, red onions (!!!) Olive oil, salt and pepper. It just tastes soo good. I pair it with something different everytime (camembert, vegan cordon bleu, baguette,...)

A restaurant owner told me salads are meant to be eaten cold, once the salad warms up to room temperature, taste changes, texture changes, so restaurant’s always keep all the ingredients cold and serve it to you cold.

You have to try Ruska salata, Shopska salata and Snejanka. Best trio of salads ever

I never viewed salad as a food that can be delicious I just eat it because it’s healthy 😂

Personally with that triad you mentioned that’s what makes a salad a meal in itself. If you want a side salad, maybe focus on the acid as aromatics and oil should be covered in the cooking of your protein or carbs.

I have seen some of your videos and you seem to me like a 'on-the-budget' babish student version. I mean that in the best of intentions, because your videos help me give inspiration by using the same ingredients in other dishes. That way, I can plan ahead in the week that I buy groceries on a budget and make use of my damn experience in the professional kitchen xD

all the salads look so delicious! good ideas to try! only thing...please dont cut corn like that! u might have to wait to eat your salad after you return from the emergency room!

For another example to Romanian lettuce, in Turkish we call cucumbers as "salatalık" which means "for salad"

Amazing tips to add to my healthy lifestyle journey. Thank you 😊👍

I used to really hate salads. never ate them.
that was until I was in some camp, and salad was one of the only things that were available to eat.
now it's my favorite thing to eat in the morning

I guess you might don't like salads because of origins. I was always shocked in Romania that in restaurants salads are rarely served and if generally it's just cabbage

i love your videos dearly. I bet you'll be quite popular soon, solely because of your presentation, quality and knowledge on cooking. all the best 🎉🎉

11:17 "I got some cranberries here for a deeper, tartier sweetness." I dearly love when people learn English and make up words. That "tartier" makes perfect sense and I think it should be made a word! Seriously, I hope you know I am most definitely not laughing at you! Your English is sublime, and once in a while you make up a word, and it's one of the reasons I love this channel. (And that chickpea salad is on my "to-do" list for meals this week.)
Well-done, as always, @KWOOWK!

There is just a problem when it comes to avocados in my country
They’re tasteless and oily, heck even mom said avocados are better than that and was surprised it tasted like this, we never bought avocado ever again

"Enjoy the flavor of those flavorless greens" Had me laughing my soul out🤣🤣

Great Video, I love salads now although I dont make my dressing at home...
My favourite "dressing" is actually a combination of Sylter Dressing and Sweet Chili Sauce, which showcases that im disgusting AAAAND you dont have to stick to any rules when making salad

Thanks!!! Super helpful.
Watching while I am eating a not so good salad 🥗 lol 😝

Restaurants Salads are often very unhealthy. They use very high calories dressing, lots of it, and sometimes bacon and other high calorie ingredients. At home I do much of what's in this video but I keep my salad dressing low on the oil but enough oil to spread the dressing. My favorite healthy one is balsamic vinegar mixed with some a little olive oil (maybe 3 to 4 parts vinegar to one part oil). I might replace the olive oil with these jarred peppers in oil they sell in Chicago call giardiniera (it's origins are Italian giardiniera but they added hot peppers to the vegetable medley in oil). It's super healthy and tasty.

I still have nightmares about the salad spinner I felt like I had to use it for an hour every day as a child. Never understood why it would be better than paper towel :D

My mom makes an amazing feta, watermelon and (I forgot the other ingredients) and it tastes sooooo good
Oh right lettuce, seasoning

That “boring” salad still looks way better than mine.

Dude thank you so much for this you feed me with so many amazing foods

Tbh i prefer non protein plain vegetable salad i just counter the dullness with fresh bread/baguette with rich butter and use some salt and pepper. Red onion and tomato is a good taste base for them other veggies are just additives. Also chopping them in thin irregular pieces does change the texture.

I love salad. It's my favorite dish. But yes, my salads looks more to the ones at the ones of the video. It's something with man can play and experiment a lot

My mom making me a salad and my salads are always very different and whenever my mom asks me how I did it I say: Its the power of lemon and just good stuff.
Also my salad dressing has msg hehehe

Also: chopped salads are elite. All these tips plus finer chopped ingredients including greens is the best salad imo

You're presentation is as good as your salads, which are grest. Both are a little saucy and fun.😂

Craisins are EXCELLENT for boosting your salad experience

I think sometimes people don't feel like making them, cuz they're very time consuming and loads of ingredients. I used to feel that way, but I like being creative with them now..

No way, fancy salads are my specialty. I never order salads in restaurants because they can't measure up to what I make at home. They just need SO many ingredients to be good, not all that cost effective.

Hey love your videos but I'm kind of a salad expert and tomato 'juice' is just the best part of a salad, please don't try to remove it!

it's better to emulsify your vinaigrette properly that way it coats the leaves better

You must try tabouleh !! One of the best salads in the world 😍😋

I hate the no bagged greens advice. The box salad mix is fantastic for convenience - you don't need to buy different types of greens, wash them chop them, and the box is ready to go. It easily saves half an hour of cooking. If you live by yourself, buying the greens whole separately means you likely can't finish them all before they go bad.

i never thought restaurant salads were better than home made. It all came down to the oil or sauces you drizzle on. Keep your veggies fresh and you'll make salad bowls better than restuarants. Because they phone it in a lot.

I would add "salt" to your trio of acid, oil and aromatic. I always add fresh herbs (onions count too) But I don't find "restaurant salads" better than "yours" in the USA because they used bagged lettuce which is no better than raking up leaves from the yard. No flavor. Dull texture. I find a simple salad of any kind of lettuce, sweet onion, cucumber, sweet bell pepper and tomato is amazing with a sprinkling of salt and (aromatic) black pepper, great olive oil and some red wine vinegar or lemon. The salt and pepper are non-negotiable.

In Greece, homemade salads are usually better than restaurants’ salads

We also call letuce "salad"in hungary(Saláta)

I actually love that intro salad with olive oil, it's delicious.

Let's face it, the real problem is that even the 1% of us that would eat salads every day we don't have 6 hours to make it.

Hi! I don't know this specific quinoa brand, but quinoa needs a very good wash.Wash and drain with cold water, till the water comes out clear to eliminate bitterness.

The quality of your videos 🔥 Keep it up man!

That's a really good explanation ☺️❤️

My favorite is a spring mix of greens with a huge spoon of coleslaw.

I don't like salads, since they get far to acidic in my taste due to the vinegar. I don't seem to get the right ammount of vinegar, so I avoid them. But since you mentoned food inspired salads, I love burger salads. It's basically if you take away the bun of a burger and put it in a salad bowl. For the dressing you use mayonaise, ketchup and mustard. Yum.

I'd like to say 2 things:
1. The first salad wasn't bad. It just needed seasoning like salt, oil, and vinegar.
2. Draining water from tomatoes removes all the taste and delicious water that you can get from tomatoes being mixed with seasoning and other vegetables. This might work for some salads but not for every type of salad.

This channel is pure serotonin and I don't know why.