I've never made nor eaten a layered salad, though they do look good. All the photos show the beautiful salads packed into clear bowls and filled to the brim. And then the recipes say, "Toss before serving."

My culinary skills must be weak, because if I tried to toss a salad in an already-full bowl, much of the ingredients would spill onto the counter!

Is there a magic trick to tossing these salads? Or should the cook not fill the salad bowl quite so high? Or does the cook secretly pour the ingredients into another (larger) bowl, toss them with abandon, and then transfer them back to the original bowl before anyone catches on?

It kind of depends...is this one of those layered salads with greens, cheese, peas, bacon, egg, onion, etc.? I think the idea with those is to allow you to make them ahead and still keep the ingredients from wilting. The dressing is either spread on top or held aside until right before mixing. In this case, I would use a bowl that's large enough with room left over for tossing. Or, you could just toss the salad in a larger bowl. I'd keep the dressing separate until right before tossing. On the other hand, some people do serve this type of salad layered instead of tossed. It's pretty but, personally, I think it's a little harder to serve. Guests really have to dig down to get everything they want.

There are also "composed" salads that consist of ingredients set attractively on a plate/platter. The ingredients are grouped/arranged together making serving easy.

Thank you, Champagne. Yes, I was thinking of the first kind you mentioned. And, though most photos show these kinds of salads filling up the bowl nearly to the brim -- and then topped with a creamy white dressing -- if I make one I think I'll leave enough headspace to be able to actually toss it!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

I love layered salads and here is my version. which uses tongs (such as OXO) to serve, rather than tossing. That way guests can get a bit of everything without disturbing the layers too much. Whenever I take this to a potluck there are never any leftovers!

Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato Layered Salad

1 head crisp iceberg lettuce, cored and broken into fairly large chunks

1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced white onion
1 can sliced water chestnuts, rinsed well and drained
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped (Roma's have less liquid than regular tomatoes, which is desirable here)
1 pound bacon, diced, fried crisp and drained well

2 cups Best Foods mayonnaise (YUP, that much!)
2 tablespoons superfine sugar

4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (or grated cheese of your choice, such as cheddar)

In the order given, carefully layer the first 7 ingredients (through bacon) in a clear, straight-sided glass bowl. Combine mayonnaise and superfine sugar. Gently spread mayo mixture over the top of the salad, trying not to disturb bacon. Top with the crumbled blue cheese. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Marlene

I'll bet the wider the diameter of the clear glass bowl, the easier it is to take contents out.

MsMarm,

I think here, you're right, wider means easier to dish up, however, if you make the bowl too wide, there's not enough mayonnaise cover and seal the entire top of the salad, which is what you want. The mayo needs to seal completely. I tried a 9X13" pyrex pan once for this salad, and there wasn't near enough mayo for a good seal and the layers didn't look as cool, since they were thinner than in the glass bowl. That being said, I think you could make a layered salad in ANY container and it would be great!

Oh, and I goofed on my recipe, if you're using Roma tomatoes (they have less water and more meat and won't make the salad too wet), use 4-6 Roma tomatoes, not 2, as I wrote in the recipe. . Sorry about that! When I used beefsteaks from my garden, I use 2 tomatoes.

The one thing I will not resort to, is making this salad with bottled Ranch Dressing on the top! ... blechhh... LOL.

You guys got me so excited, I am making a layered salad right now to serve tomorrow night for the LSU Alabama football championship game! I don't have any blue cheese on hand, so I am using Cheddar, but it will work just fine.

Marlene

I do make it in a 9 x 13 if I am serving people I know have had it before (like annual potlucks, that type of thing) because it is so easy to serve w/tongs that way.

It depends on the ingredients. I like layered pasta salads (tortellini etc.). Sometimes I'll toss the cooked cooled pasta with a vinaigrette dressing first, then layer the ingredients. If it's a creamy dressing, I'll top the salad with the dressing.

Here's one example:

http://www.toptastes.com/features/july03/layered.htm