Making the Most of Salads

Tips to make your next salad spectacular.

A basic salad can be elevated from decent to decadent with just a little forethought and a few simple tips. To take yours to the next level, just consider the ingredients as you would in creating any culinary masterpiece. Think carefully about color, texture, body and, of course, flavor.

The Bolder the Better

Consider adding a variety of colors and shapes to your salad, such as mixed baby greens and brightly colored fruits and vegetables. You can create a striking salad just by pairing contrasting colors on one plate, like with Smithfield's Apricot-Dijon Pork Salad.

Getting the Feel of It

A salad may look good, but it's bound to be even better with a little textural distinction. That may mean adding curly frise lettuce to an otherwise flat leafed salad, or incorporating different ingredients such as Smithfield bacon, shaved parmesan curls, or even chow main noodles like Smithfield's Ginger Pork Salad.

Body Building

Another element of an exemplary salad is body. Creative cooks add crumbled cheese, sliced meats and even some hearty roasted vegetables like peppers, eggplant or onions to the design. The best salads are those that go beyond raw veggies as the only acceptable ingredients, like Smithfield's Pork Chop and Bacon Layered Salad.

Fancy Dress Optional

No matter what dressing you choose, the salad components should always be the stars of the show. The dressing should highlight the flavors of your ingredients, rather than hide them. Also try to combine complementary flavors on one plate. For instance, Smithfield's Peachtree Pork Salad incorporates pork tenderloin with the sweet mellow taste of peaches, spicy Dijon mustard, and tangy red onion.

A Simple Surprise

Nothing beats the element of surprise. Gather unique ingredients or choose unlikely cooking techniques to play on otherwise familiar combinations. Tired of your typical chicken Caesar salad? Prepare it with grilled pork like in Smithfield's Grilled Pork Caesar Salad instead. Also consider beans, lentils, potatoes and whole grains for your next concoction, rather than relying on your old stand-bys.

All is not lost. Ginger Pork Salad is the delicious outcome when lettuce, pork and ginger collide. It's a combination that was destined to be together.

Grilled pork glazed with a piquant apricot mixture makes a beautiful presentation atop a dinner salad sporting dried cherries, cheese and toasted pecans.

Are you tired of grilled chicken or fried chicken salad? Well, I'm going to shuffle it up a little bit.

Just when you think the cupboard is bare, and wonder "what's for dinner"-this main dish salad is the answer. Serve with hot French bread.

The perfect luncheon entree this attractive salad stars a lean pork tenderloin cut into chunks and the sweet mellow taste of peaches. A bed of buttery-soft salad greens and alfalfa sprouts complete the dish.