Say Goodbye To Soggy Salads. This Tomato Prep Trick Keeps Those Greens Crisp

You judiciously dressed your salad at the last moment, but it's still turned into a soggy spectacle. We bet it's those tomatoes nestling among your butterhead and romaine leaves that are to blame. The abundance of juice released by a ripe tomato can turn a crisp and inviting salad into a limp and lifeless dish that has a sloppy mouthfeel. Fortunately, there's a prep trick that can eliminate this problem for good: Deseeding your love apples to get rid of that troublesome moisture.

The quickest way to deseed a tomato is to slice it straight down the middle to expose the center. Use a sharp knife to cut away the core before employing a spoon or melon baller to scoop out the visible seeds and the watery middle. Finally, chop the flesh into bite-sized pieces and scatter them over the other elements of your salad. Or, if you want your tomatoes to look a little fancier and take pride of place in a vibrant tomato-based salad, cut them into quarters before deseeding them. That way, you'll end up with pretty little wedges that will create a beefier salad with lots of textural bite.

Smaller tomatoes can be tricky to cut in half. In this case, the absolute best way to seed cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes is by giving them a squeeze over a bowl. While they might look messier, the craggy edges and squished sides will create a salad with a relaxed, homespun vibe.

The best salads combine different textures and flavors to lend them a satisfying quality and body. For example, crunchy shredded cabbage pairs well with the tangy softness of capers, while salty feta cheese is scrumptious against a kalamata olive backdrop. Peeling your tomatoes prior to deseeding them is a useful way to create a salad with a softer personality that's free from tough skin. Plus, the skinless flesh will better absorb dressings, resulting in a punchier bite, and have fewer flavonoids that can make them taste bitter. All you need to do is score the tops of your tomatoes in a cross shape and blanch them for a couple of minutes before plunging them in a bowl of ice water. You should find that the skin can be easily peeled off from the point where you've scored it.

As always, avoid dressing your salad until the last moment to guarantee that the leaves remain crisp and crunchy. Shrewd vegetable placement will prevent a sad, soggy salad, too. For example, place your dressing at the bottom of your dish and cover it in a layer of sturdy veggies or beans, such as garbanzo beans or bell peppers. Scatter your leaves over the hardy veggies so they're separate from the dressing and incorporate everything together, including the tomatoes, seconds before eating.