Fed up with bland, unimaginative salads? Turning to overpriced salad bars for a burst of flavor? We feel your pain. But, guess what? Professional chefs assure us that crafting a restaurant-worthy salad is way simpler than what most of us believe. You don't need premium ingredients, special equipment, or abundant time, to create a salad that makes your tastebuds dance.

Award-winning chefs share with us seven foolproof tactics that they use to enhance their salads. "A top-notch salad calls for a homemade dressing," advises Nando Chang, the F&W Best New Chef honoree for 2023, who emphasizes using quality, fresh ingredients - like superior extra-virgin olive oil, vinegar, and fresh lemon zest - and always aiming for flavor balance. Jamie Bissonnette, who won the same award in 2011, encourages preparing the dressing beforehand, so it won't be a rushed affair amid vegetable prep. He offers a great tip: "taste it on a lettuce" to adjust the seasoning before tossing it into your salad.

Several chefs, including 2023 F&W Best New Chef Isabel Coss, enjoy incorporating ingredients that are traditionally cooked, in their raw or charred form, to their salads. Finely chopped or shredded, these ingredients add a delightful crunch and freshness to the salad. Coss shares an example: raw chayote, which she serves with Asian pears and a flavorful sunflower seed dressing.

Other chefs swear by the addition of fresh herbs for a quick and easy salad upgrade. "I always toss soft herbs with my salad greens or veggies," says 2022 F&W Best New Best Chef Calvin Eng, who likes using parsley, dill, cilantro, or mint, either singly or in combination.

But remember, a salad is not just about the dressing or the greens. It's equally about seasoning. "The salad itself should be well-seasoned, not just the dressing," advises Eng. When he prepares a salad, he seasons it with salt, sugar, MSG, and pepper post-dressing and then tastes it. "Additional seasoning is always an option," states Bissonnette. This small step, often overlooked, helps complement and heighten other flavors.

To prevent salad-fatigue from setting in, consider experimenting with ingredients. Chef Carlo Lamagna, 2021's Best New Chef honoree, urges salad lovers to look at a global pantry for flavor inspiration, lauding Southeast Asian ingredients like fish sauce or fermented fish paste.

Similarly, it's not entirely about flavor: texture plays its role too. Chef Michael Gulotta, who won the Best New Chef award in 2016, loves to incorporate chewy dried fruit, crunchy nuts, seeds, and homemade croutons into his salads. Lamagna, on the other hand, likes to introduce texture variety through using multiple cooking techniques.

Lastly but importantly, remember to dress every bit of the salad. As 2017 F&W Best New Chef honoree Diego Galicia puts it, there's nothing worse than eating a salad with clumped dressing. For the perfect, even dressing, 2011's Best New Chef winner Carlo Mirarchi suggests a generously sized stainless steel mixing bowl that allows easy gentle mixing by hand. And for tougher greens, like kale? Use your hands to massage the leaves with the dressing, making them easier to chew.