Making friends with salad: Miguel Maestre’s must have salad dressing

Whoever said you don't make friends with salad has never met Miguel. Salads often get a bad wrap for being boring and tasteless- but this couldn't be further from the truth. There are plenty of ways to incorporate fresher ingredients into your day- to- day meals, and with the addition of this salad dressing you'll be serving up salads all season long!

The weather is warming up, and that means we are reaching for the fresher, lighter meals to get us through the day. Salads are the perfect addition to any meal, the lunchbox and an essential for your spring entertaining. Best of all, they're easy and convenient.

With a few simple ingredients that you'll probably have at home already, and a little help from the Smith+Nobel by Miguel range, here's how to up your salad game at home.

Miguel's secret to a good salad dressing

According to Miguel, the perfect salad dressing is all about proportion. Having a balance of fats and acids in your dressing is what's going to make ingredients come to life and the flavours compliment one another.

To create a vinaigrette that will wow, remember- three parts oil, one part acid. What those oils and acids are is up to you, but this is the balance you need to aim for to get that perfect flavour combination.

If you were after some inspiration, acids like balsamic, vinegar, lemon juice and kimchi are great options. Oils such as virgin olive oil and avocado oil are also winners when it comes to salad dressings.

Adding the flavour

Once you've got your base downpat, it's time to create the wow factor - the flavour. Miguel's top pics are a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of mustard, creating a classic vinaigrette. Give it all a good shake and drizzle.

When you've mastered this combination, here are some other flavour combinations that will guarantee your salad is the talk of the dinner party.

• Sesame and soy - add soy sauce, sesame oil, lime juice, chilli flakes and honey and stir.
• Parsley and garlic - combine parsley, dijon mustard, sherry vinegar, garlic and olive oil.
• Sweet chilli - whisk sweet chilli sauce with lime zest and rice wine vinegar in a small bowl.
• Minty yoghurt - combine mint, cucumber, natural yoghurt, white wine vinegar and lemon.
• Tahini - mix together tahini, lemon juice, salt, pepper and water.

Make sure you have the right tools for the job

While it's important to have your mix of ingredients right, it's almost equally important to have the right tools for the job. The Smith+Nobell by Miguel range has been designed for the home chef, ensuring you can create and cook with ease.

To get you started with just about any cooking task there is, you'll need a sturdy chopping board. The Acacia chopping board is the perfect choice, and its extra thick and large surface area means it can handle just about anything.

For your salad dressing prep, don't look past a mortar and pestle. The proper preparation of your ingredients is the key to making the flavour pop and it's a key element to making your salad dressings stand out from the crowd.

To shake it like Miguel did, grab some glass canisters. Used for both the preparation and for any leftovers, these are a great addition to your kitchen and will definitely come in handy for pantry and fridge storage. Don't forget your ramekins to store your chopped ingredients in.

Feeling inspired? For more recipes from chefs like Miguel and Poh, head to The Hub. Or to shop the Smith & Nobel by Miguel range, click below.

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