Marinate Your Salad Protein In Dressing For Seamless Flavor

The star component of most leafy salads is the dressing. Whether it's bringing sweet brightness with a pomegranate dressing in a citrus and radicchio salad, or richness to a peppery roka salad with fig-balsamic dressing, dressings add a level of complex flavor and diversity to an otherwise often bland pairing of leaves and toppings.

If you're enjoying salad as a full meal, it'll often include a protein. Some salad proteins, however, like chicken or tofu, don't have a lot of flavor on their own. This blandness is often solved by marinading the protein, which can be a tedious extra step. However, Chef K, the Kardashians' private chef, has the perfect solution to this issue, one that is already right in front of you: Salad dressing. Not only does marinating your protein right in your dressing of choice save you the hassle of making your own marinade, but it also ensures that the protein's flavor will complement the salad's, just like the dressing already does.

Salad dressings are often made with a mixture of oil, vinegar or some sort of acid, and seasoning, to finish off a meal. Marinades similarly use these ingredients to provide tenderness and flavor to a protein prior to cooking. While oil and acid are elements of both, they are included for different reasons in each. In dressings, oil mainly adds flavor, but in marinades, its purpose is twofold: To moisten the marinated food and add flavor, providing a nice sear during cooking. While acid helps balance out the overall dish when used in a dressing, when used in a marinade, it breaks down the muscle proteins, tenderizing the meat.

While their purposes differ, as dressings elevate a dish's flavor after it has been prepared, and marinades help to tenderize and flavor the meat component before cooking, the similarities between them allow dressings to make for great marinades. Many dressings have additional ingredients, like yogurt or honey, but even these more complex dressings can serve as marinades. Take yogurt, for instance, which makes for a great salad addition, like in a Greek yogurt ranch dressing, and in quality marinades for tandoori chicken and other proteins. However, there are many more dressing options you might be surprised to see work with protein, from red meat to chicken.

Some important things to note before using your dressing as a marinade: Make sure to note the amount of acidity in your dressing marinade of choice, as high acidity will break down muscle proteins to mush if left unchecked for too long. Other than keeping your acidity to a minimum, the usual marinade times apply, meaning small pieces of meat and fish only need about 15 minutes, while smaller pieces of meat with bone, as well as vegetables and tofu, need between one and three hours, while medium pieces of meat need four to eight hours.

One dressing commonly used as a marinade is Italian, as its rich variety of herbs makes for a flavorful addition to any protein. An option that already works great with meat as a sauce is honey mustard, adding bold sweetness and flavor. Vinaigrettes like balsamic, apple cider, and sesame are all worthy candidates for protein marinades. Citrus-based vinaigrettes are always a good option too, as their zingy flavors brighten up even the blandest of proteins. Marinades and dressings come in all forms, including everything from yogurt to miso, so feel free to experiment with different dressings to find what combinations stand above the rest.