We were lucky to grow up surrounded by great cooks in our family and neighbors and friends. Our mom Maria was one such great cook. One of the many things she was known for were her salads because honestly, she made the best salads! And while we thought it was all about her dressing, we realized that it also had to do with these key guidelines that mom would follow:

• Use fresh, local produce when possible.
• Use fresh herbs (this really adds flavor). We’re particularly fond of fresh dill and parsley in a Mediterranean style salad.
• Make your own dressing and use a good quality oil. Making a dressing can be as simple as oil and vinegar or fresh lemon juice and some seasoning, or a basic vinaigrette.
• Season the actual salad, don’t just rely on the dressing for flavor. We like to use salt, pepper, dried oregano, granulated garlic and granulated onion.
• Cut your produce into bite size uniform pieces. This ensures even, well coated bites and it looks pretty too.
• And finally toss the salad with the dressing and let it sit for a couple of minutes to soak in the flavor.

Our mom always did this. As my sister and I got older and started cooking, when we would make a salad, we would generally serve the dressing on the side so that we wouldn’t dress a whole salad that may not be consumed. We quickly realized that mom was right. Dress the salad, mix well, let it sit for a bit then serve. If you’re concerned with soggy, leftover salad; just portion it out.