Great Gadgets
Perfect salads start with a good spin.
When vegetables are crisp and garden-fresh, you don’t want them swimming in a watery salad. But that’s bound to happen if you toss the veggies with damp salad greens.
Draining the greens in a colander or blotting them dry on paper towels helps, but to make your salad the best it can be, you might want to invest in a salad spinner.
These handy gadgets use centrifugal force to remove water from freshly washed greens and herbs. You simply place the greens lightly in the basket, which fits inside an outer bowl, cover with the lid and pull the cord to start the spinning motion. (Some models have handles or knobs.) The inner basket spins the water off into the outer bowl.
You’ll eliminate excess water in your salads…plus, the salad dressing won’t slide off the damp greens and wind up in the bottom of the bowl. In fact, you’ll likely get more flavor with less salad dressing. Just a tablespoon of an oil-and-vinegar dressing might be all you need for 2 cups of greens.
To prepare Honey-Dijon Chicken Salad, Our Test Kitchen used the 8-inch Easy Spin Salad Spinner. It’s a cinch to operate and comes with a recessed stop/brake button and a flat, snug-fit lid perfect for stackable storage.
To purchase this salad spinner, visit www.ShopTasteofHome.com.
This delightful main-dish salad has an easy sauce/dressing that lends a sweet-tangy flavor to the mix. “You can add or take away vegetables to suit your taste,” notes Janelle Hensley of Harrisonburg, Virginia.