CHAPTER FOURthe water. Gently swirl the greens in the water for a few
seconds. Using your hands, with fi ngers slightly apart, let
the majority of water drain from the greens before placing
them into a salad spinner. Once spun dry, place the greens
on trays lined with paper towels. Placing a single layer of
greens on each tray, rather than piling them up, will give
you easy visual reference for hero selection while building
the hero. Cover the tray with damp paper towels, wringing
them out fi rst so they won’t be too heavy. Repeat this
process for all of the salad greens. Refrigerate the trays of
hero greens until you are ready to build them into the hero
salad. If the paper towels covering the salad greens dry out,
you will need to mist them with water to keep them moist
until you’re ready to use the greens.
Other produce items used in salads should be cleaned
and placed on trays. Produce for photography does not
require washing unless it appears dirty. Even then, most
debris can be wiped away with a moist paper towel. If
you are building the hero on the same day as your mar-
keting trip, produce other than greens can be kept at
room temperature. Wait to cut any produce items until
just before you are ready to build the salad.
Be sure the knives you are planning to use are sharp before
cutting produce. Most produce has skin that is tougher
than the interior. If your knife isn’t sharp, as you make a
cut through the skin of the produce, the skin will tear,