Zyliss puts a new spin on salad

When I was little, I "helped" in my grandmother's kitchen. One of my favorite jobs was always spinning the salad. I could crank that handle with the best of them, even if I was notorious for refusing to eat the lettuce that came out dry. Grandma's salad spinner has gone off to that kitchen in the sky--perhaps helped along by some five-year-old's enthusiastic spins, but Zyliss has one heck of a replacement.

The Smart Touch Salad Spinner is an award-winning salad cleaner--it picked up the 2008 Red Dot Award for International Design Excellence. Rather than using a handle to spin your lettuce dry, the Smart Touch uses a pumping action. You simply push down on a large button on the top of the lid, and the salad whirls around. It's a bit easier for those of us who don't get quite as enthusiastic about spinning salad as small children do. There is even a nonslip rubber base to keep the Smart Touch on the counter.

The flat lid makes the Smart Touch easier to store than salad spinners with cranks. The bowl also doubles as a serving piece, minimizing the number of dishes you'll have to clean up later. The Smart Touch is less than $25--a good price to be able to say that at least part of our kitchen is award-winning.