• Recipes
  • Equipment Reviews
  • Taste Tests
  • How to Cook
  • Videos

24-Hour Picnic Salad

From

August/September 2007

24-Hour Picnic Salad

We liked the idea of a salad recipe that could be assembled in advance, where all the ingredients are layered and covered with a thick dressing, put in the fridge for a night and simply tossed and served the next day. But early recipe attempts produced overdressed salads with soggy vegetables—until we found a formula that worked. We tried other lettuces, but iceberg retained the most crunch after sitting with the dressing for a day. Salting the layers of lettuce pulled moisture out—we used the water to thin our dressing to the prefect consistency. Crunchy vegetables like celery, bell peppers, and cucumbers stayed crisp in the salad overnight, but soft ingredients like mushrooms and spinach wilted into mush.

Serves 12

Frank's is our favorite brand of hot sauce. If using a hotter brand, such as tabasco, reduce the amount to 1 tablespoon.

Ingredients

The recipe you requested is for
Members Only.

Start Your 14-Day Free Trial Membership

Every Recipe. Every Rating. Every Video from
Every Magazine & Every Episode!
  • 8 years of Cook’s Country Foolproof Recipes
  • Complete Cook’s Country TV Video Library
  • 2,900+ Equipment Ratings and Ingredient Taste Tests
  • Step-by-Step Technique Photos
  • Save Favorites, Create Menus, Print Shopping Lists
How we use your e-mail address
Christopher Kimball, Founder and Publisher

Dear Home Cook,

If I were new to CooksCountry.com, I might think, "It's easy to get free recipes on the Internet. What makes your recipes different?" Well, unlike recipes from blogs, message boards, and other recipe sites, our recipes are exhaustively tested by our team of full-time test cooks until they offer consistently great results. That means fried chicken with a crunchy coating and moist meat, a low-fat recipe makeover for macaroni and cheese that’s as creamy and cheesy as the full-fat version, and fork-tender slow cooker pot roast.

We're obsessive in our quest to find and foolproof the best of American home cooking, from fuss-free weeknight dinners, to updated, simplified versions of regional specialties, to slow cooker and make ahead meals. CooksCountry.com is the only place you can find every foolproof recipe published in Cook’s Country magazine since 2005, plus objective ratings and test results from both Cook’s Country and Cook’s Illustrated for cookware and supermarket ingredients.

Let me make a simple, no-nonsense offer. Try out our website FREE for a 14-Day, No-Hassle Trial Offer. I’m pretty confident that CooksCountry.com will quickly become an invaluable resource for everything from a quick Tuesday supper to your next get-together with family and friends.

Thanks for your consideration,

Christopher Kimball

Christopher Kimball
Founder and Publisher

How we use your e-mail address
Related Content
© 2013 America’s Test Kitchen. All rights reserved.