Good: Salad Days

I'm a terrible cook, but I make great salads. Everyone says so.

I am ready and willing to share my secrets, because if more people make good salads, I won't have to. Here they are:

1. New lettuce. Some people think that one can grocery shop only once per week. This is not true unless one has a garden with in-season stuff, which is not true for most people most of the time. Old dead lettuce is not worth chewing. Accept this, and never buy more than two days' worth at a time.

2. Fresh sweet basil. I'm surprised more people don't use it. If you don't grow it, try to find a good cheap source. Asian groceries and stores with loose herbs where you can buy as little as you want by weight are good. If your market only supplies the overpriced little plastic boxes, harass the produce manager until he or she switches to a more acceptable format. It doesn't take much; two or three medium leaves per serving will suffice.

3. Chop, chop, chop. Non-bite-size lettuce is annoying. Use a cutting board and knife. 1/4" x 1" max for lettuce, smaller for more flavorful ingredients.

4. Add stuff. Tasty stuff. Two or three other vegetables, maybe, for a variety of flavors and nutrients, and perhaps a little bit of cheese, nuts, or bacon. The possibilities are way numerous.

5. Shredded carrots are the devil's vegetable. They stick all over everything in little bits like a tissue in the washing machine. They cannot be picked up with a fork. They bug me. Is there any good reason to shred rather than chop?

6. Dressing. Maybe I should be a snob and insist that homemade dressing is the only way to go, but I don't care. I say, pick something you like that isn't full of high fructose corn syrup or other nastiness, and save yourself the trouble.

Those are all the tips I know.