The Sal-gorithm: an algorithm for making delicious salads

A few months ago, I decided I needed to solve the problem of often enjoying salad restaurants but being uninspired by the salads I made myself. The Sal-gorithm has worked out very well and simplified lunch decisions when I don't want to make a separate big thing to have as leftovers, as well as help me handle the influx of greens at the beginning of the summer farm share. Some examples of the output in this album.

The way it works is I pick a few items from each of the different categories in constructing grocery lists for the salad, which provides enough variety from week to week. This chart is printed out and on my fridge.

Other tips:

• If my chosen green is something like kale, then I'll mix it all together, but if there are more delicate items, I might keep those separate and construct right before eating.
• I have a large stainless steel bowl and set of tongs for tossing the salad with dressing, which is then decanted into the white shallow bowl-like plate. I learned this from a local salad restaurant, because while it's an extra bowl to wash, it gives you enough room to mix everything together but eating from a separate, smaller bowl/plate feels luxurious, rather than just eating from a giant mixing bowl.
• Some more tips on constructing salad on Serious Eats.