Tossed Green Salad

What is simpler or more summery than a fresh green salad? The very sound of the word evokes visions of crisp green lettuce leaves, carefully washed and dried leaf by leaf, liberally bathed with fruity olive oil and flavoured with a touch of wine vinegar, a hint of garlic and a dusting of salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

There are two secrets to perfect salad-making: the preparation of the salad itself and the preparation of the dressing. Salad greens must be thoroughly washed and dried and preferably chilled before being mixed with the dressing. No water should be allowed to drip from the greens into the dressing. If you do not own a salad basket, an easy way to dry well-washed salad greens is to pile them loosely in the centre of a clean tea towel and pat the leaves dry. Then gather up the edges and corners of the towel; shake out any remaining moisture over the sink and chill in the refrigerator until crisp.