A Cocktail Shaker Can Dress Your Salad For Success
If you're looking for a well-dressed salad with no chunks of dry lettuce, seeing your salad dressing on the side at a restaurant is a bad sign. But if you really want to take your greens and vegetables to the next level then you should turn your attention to the bar. A cocktail shaker may make a mean mojito, but it can also be used to properly dress your salad as well.
If you're using vinegar and oil as a base for your salad dressing, then you probably realize that the two ingredients don't exactly gel well together. Vinegar has water molecules that repel rather than attract the molecules in the oil. As such, the mixture needs a good shake for both liquids to emulsify and combine together.
A cocktail shaker would be the perfect way to mix up your dressing without worrying about making a mess. With a screw-on cap, you won't needlessly spill the oil and vinegar while attempting emulsification. Plus, it's very simple to add other ingredients into the mix as well to accommodate whatever salad dressing recipe you feel like trying.
Mixing up a salad
While you could use a cocktail shaker to just mix up your salad dressing, a less conventional approach would be using the cocktail shaker to shake up your salad itself. A tossed salad proves to be tastier than one that has had its dressing simply drizzled on. Doing so allows you to make sure that every inch of your salad has been touched by the dressing, leading to an even final product. There's nothing worse than getting a mouthful of dressing and then a piece of lettuce that's plain.
Conventional wisdom says that you should use your hands to properly distribute the dressing on your salad. However, this can be messy for many and may also be unhygienic as well. That's where the cocktail shaker comes in handy. If you have a large enough cocktail shaker, then you can add your salad and your dressing and properly mix it all up without any mess. You will need a relatively large shaker, so we recommend one with a 60-ounce capacity to properly shake things up. If done properly, you should have a well-mixed salad that can be easily poured into a bowl. For a more portable option, consider making a salad jar instead.