In years past, the word salad conjured up visions of tasteless iceberg lettuce drowned in gallons of store-bought Thousand Island dressing, topped with a few tomato wedges for colour. No more! While it may seem time-saving to use purchased croutons, bagged lettuce and bottled dressing, the few minutes required to prepare home-made salads are well worth it.

In addition to the ability to decide on the amount of fat and sugar in your recipe, you get to eat salads prepared without preservatives. Most salad add-ins can be whipped up in large batches and frozen for future use.With the availability of fresh, checked herbs and lettuce there is no reason to skimp on taste. Bottled salad dressings are often manufactured with dried herbs and vegetables, and they contain chemical thickeners and flavour enhancers. Basil and parsley lose 90 per cent of their flavour when they are dried. There is no need for flavour boosters when you use fresh herbs.

When you use whole romaine hearts for your salad, the leaves need to be washed and well dried. Thoroughly drying greens ensures that your salad will not turn limp and soggy within minutes of being dressed. A salad spinner is the most efficient method for drying lettuce. In our opinion, home-made croutons really make the salad sing. You can prepare a large amount in advance and keep them in the freezer to be used as needed. Also, they are a fantastic bal tashchis (prevention of waste).

3 cups bread cubes (challah, white bread or rye bread or a combination)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Stir together oil and garlic in a small bowl. To save on washing, you can also do this right in the measuring cup that you’ve used to measure the oil. Place bread cubes in a zippered storage bag. Pour the oil and garlic mixture into the bag and zip it closed. Toss the bag around to thoroughly coat the bread cubes. Pour the cubes into a 9×13-in. pan and bake 15 minutes, stirring croutons once about halfway through baking. Cool and add to your salad.

This recipe can be doubled or tripled and stored unbaked in the freezer. When you’re in the mood for salad, remove a few handfuls from the freezer and bake as directed. You can also substitute your favourite spices for the garlic.

Toasting nuts: Many salads include toasted nuts for both flavour and crunch. Toasting and sugaring your own beats store-bought, glazed nuts any day of the week. To toast pine nuts, sesame seeds or sliced almonds, simply place them on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan and bake in a 350-degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until nuts become fragrant. Watch them carefully; they go from done to burnt very quickly. To glaze whole or slivered almonds try the following:

6 tbsp. sugar
2 cups slivered almonds

Prepare a Silpat non-stick mat or a sheet of parchment on your countertop. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Place the sugar and the almonds in the hot skillet and stir. Lower the heat to medium and continue stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved and almonds are well coated.  Pour the coated nuts onto the Silpat or parchment and spread them out, breaking up any large chunks. The nuts will be extremely hot so use caution and a long-handled wooden spoon or spatula. Allow the nuts to cool and store them airtight until needed.

Now we get to the salad itself. The recipes here are basics ones on which you can build or which you can change to suit your family’s taste. Try substituting chicken for the cheese in our Caesar Salad. You might also like to switch the strawberries to canned mandarins or mango chunks in our Romaine Salad. Unlike baking, salad recipes are not an exact science; rather, we like to think of them as creative works of art.

1 cup mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp. vinegar
2 tbsp. water
1 tsp. mustard or 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
4-5 anchovies
Salad
3 romaine hearts, washed and dried well
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced in rings
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups home-made garlic croutons

In the bowl of a food processor blend together all the dressing ingredients until anchovies are no longer visible. An immersion or hand blender also works well, but be sure to use a deep bowl to keep splashes to a minimum.

Cut or tear romaine leaves into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl. If you are using a wooden bowl, rub a piece of cut garlic across the surface of the bowl before adding the salad components. Add the tomatoes, cutting any large ones in half. Add the red onion slices and the cheese. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Add the croutons just before serving.

Dressing
3 tbsp. lime juice
4 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
6 tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
Salad
2 romaine hearts, washed and dried well
1 pint strawberries, hulled and washed well
2 avocados cut into 1/2-in. chunks
1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds

Using a wire whisk, mix dressing ingredients until well combined. Cut or tear the romaine into bite-sized pieces. Quarter strawberries and add to lettuce. Add avocado chunks. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Sprinkle sunflower seeds on top and serve.