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Now that we're officially in the salad days, it's as good a time as any to take stock of your salad tools.
Have you got tongs? You need tongs.
And you need a whisk for your dressings. Got one? Good.
Now the bowl. You need a big mixing bowl.
No. Bigger.
You need a bowl that's almost laughably large: A bowl that's roughly 13 inches in diameter or more (these are usually the 8-quart bowls). It's a bowl that requires a commitment, not to mention storage. Though you can probably nest every other bowl you own inside of it.
Why do you need this bowl? Because it improves your salad game in two measurable ways:
The first thing you're going to do in this bowl is whisk your dressing, and with all that surface area, your dressing is going to come together in a snap. Then you're going to pile your greens, your cherry tomatoes, your sliced cucumber. You'll toss, and with no space restrictions your tongs will soar. Your cherry tomatoes will meet your greens will meet your cucumbers. And everything will get coated in a consistent, even slick of dressing.
Last weekend, at a dinner party, a friend passed me a bowl piled high with greens and vegetables. "Toss," he said. "The dressing is at the bottom of the bowl." What could I do? I took the tongs to the bowl and tossed as gingerly as I could. But, of course, lettuce spilled out onto the countertop almost immediately. I think you know what thoughts were going through my head at that moment. A big bowl would never do me like this.
I won't pretend that my staff is 100% with me here. Some make do with smaller bowls. But our Associate Food Editor Anna Stockwell at least threw me a bone. "In general, people try to mix things in bowls that are too small," she conceded. And to her point, the enormous mixing bowl I want you to buy is a bowl you'll use for many other uses: marinating chicken, for example. Or holding an epic amount of popcorn. Or curling up and sleeping in when your partner is mad at you and kicks you out of the bedroom.
And the other thing you can do with it: Serve from it. In many other circumstances I might suggest transferring a dish from a workhorse bowl to something a little more decorative. But in this case, I say slap that big bowl right on the dining room table.
People tend to forget a salad. Let them at least remember the bowl.
BUY IT: Crestware 8-Qt Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl, $18.46 on Amazon
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