Why Serving Salad on a Baking Sheet Is Infinitely Better than a Bowl
There’s really no limit to what you can put in a salad, or how big you want to go with it.
When making salads in the summer — especially for a lot of people, like my family, my friends, or some folks I just met playing volleyball at the beach — my secret weapon for serving great salads is actually something that spends more time in the oven than on the table.
Why You Should Serve Salad on a Baking Sheet
Instead of using a large bowl, try assembling and serving salads on a (far superior) baking sheet. When you assemble a salad on a baking sheet, you’re able to distribute toppings evenly across a wide bed of lettuce. That way, every bite has a delicious ratio of lettuce to toppings, ensuring the perfect alchemy of contrast and flavor that salads are famous for. Plus, salad stays crisp and fresh when it’s spread across a shallow, even layer rather than heaped in a giant pile — no soggy croutons here!
Tossing together a salad built on a baking sheet is a low-lift operation: A gentle toss is all you need to bring everything together. This way, delicate ingredients like avocado, or even wonton strips or tortilla strips, don’t get crushed.
Whether it’s just a salad for yourself, or for a special occasion, we eat with our eyes first. Carry a salad on a baking sheet to the table and it’s sure to make for a stunning presentation — and you can even serve it from two sides of the table.