What makes salad soggy

Tossing the greens with vinegar first provides a barrier that blocks the oil, keeping it from penetrating the cuticle. The emulsified vinaigrette works the best at keeping the salad crisp because in this state the vinegar surrounds droplets of oil, keeping them trapped and preventing contact with the greens.

Tossing a salad with a fully emulsified vinaigrette bottom is the only way to ensure that greens keep their crisp texture. Next, gently layer on your salad greens--spinach, chopped romaine, arugula, whatever. What's important here is that the greens are placed towards the top of the tower, without all of those heavier, heartier components stacked below weighing them down. When your delicate greens aren't singled out and protected, wilt happens.

This might seem like a rather anticlimactic layer, but I swear, it's important. This acts a moisture barrier for the top and final layer.

And in the spirit of efficiency, you can also use this as your lunch napkin. A layer of parchment or wax paper would also work for the purposes of creating this protective layer but less so on the lunch napkin front. If you're hyper-concerned about this layer's well-being, you can place them in a small plastic zip-top baggy before packing them, but I have not found that to be necessary.

My crunch is always still crunchy by lunchtime. And when it's time for lunch, all that's left to do is remove the paper layer, dumping your crunch into the container or holding it to place on top whatever you prefer , reseal the lid, give everything a good shake, shake, shake to mix it all up, and you're ready to enjoy a not-sucky salad.

The shaking action will take care of the rest. Save Pin FB More. There is nothing worse than getting ready to enjoy a lovely, crisp salad only to find that your salad leaves are now wilted, or even worse, slimy. For pre-packaged salad, choose the freshest bags. Crushed or bruised leaves will spoil much faster, and they can cause other salad leaves to spoil, too.

However, if the leaves look damp in the package, give them a whirl in the salad spinner when you get home. Otherwise, you can gently pat the salad dry with paper towels, but be careful not to crush or bruise the leaves. Salad hates that. We hate that. It's that simple. Dress half your salad with half your dressing the night before, and pack the other half of the salad and the dressing for lunch. Bam: undressed greens. Bam: dressing.