The Salad

1. 1

   Put 4 salad plates in the freezer to chill. Assemble all the ingredients as well as a garlic press, a big salad bowl, and a strainer for the lemon juice.

2. 2

   Wash the greens extremely well; check them over for any brown or old-looking edges. Using a salad spinner, spin the greens bone dry, then blot with towels; no moisture should cling. At least 75 percent of salad mediocrity comes from mot-quite-fresh greens that are not quite washed and then never completely dried.

3. 3

   Pour the oil into a large salad bowl. About 1 teaspoon per person should do the trick. Adjust, more or less, to your liking... Restaurants usually use a Tablespoon per person.

4. 4

   Put the garlic through the garlic press into the olive oil. Into the bowl, put the well rinsed, bone dry salad greens. Toss the greens, gently but with vigor, until each leaf glistens with olive oil. The oil seals in the greens' moisture and flavor, so that the ingredients will not immediately penetrate the leaves and for a few moments the greens will exist in a sublime state: Lightly coated, yet crisp.

5. 5

   Sprinkle the glistening greens with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt, several hearty grinds of pepper, the juice of half of the lemon squeeze through the strainer to catch the seeds (if it is particularly large or juicy lemon, don't squeeze out every drop) , and a small shake of Pickapeppa or Worcestershire sauce. Toss the greens a couple of times and taste. You may well need the juice of the other lemon half, a dash more salt, or an extra grind of pepper. Come on, add it, hurry up, time's a wasting!

6. 6

   Quickly get your salad plates from the freezer, divide the salad among plates, and immediately serve.

* Per serving · 4 servings · Values may vary.