To become a salad

A salad is not (as I grew up believing) cucumbers, tomato and lettuce in a bowl.

Those are components that could make up a salad. To become a salad the components need to be transformed.

A salad is dressed by tossing it. Mixing the components with a dressing that balances the whole experience.

Best done with the components clean and dry. In this way, the parts come together as a whole.