Why Cookbook Author Hetty Lui McKinnon Thinks Salad Is the Secret to Better Dinner Parties

A few years ago, cookbook author Hetty Lui McKinnon was looking for a way to host friends more regularly. “I thought, 'What food could I make ahead so I could really be present at the table?'” she says. “The answer, of course, was salad.” Her new book, Linger, chronicles the monthly salad parties she began throwing at her Brooklyn home, with more than 100 celebration-worthy salad recipes. We talked with her about her salad-forward approach to hosting, the house rules she grew up with, and the first thing she always asks guests when they step into her home.

Hetty Lui McKinnon's House Rules

Ease and care suffuse McKinnon's approach to hosting—starting with the salads she loves to serve guests. "When you put a really good salad together for a party, people are so appreciative—they feel nurtured by it,” she says.

Q: If you were to hang a list of rules in your home, what would they be?

No shoes in the house!  While it’s okay to walk into our home with shoes, they usually come off immediately inside. I think a huge part of this rule is because shoes represent the outside world, and there’s something about taking them off that helps us relax. Removing shoes is like an exhale.

Q: What’s the one thing that makes your house feel like home?

Home is where the people I love are. I could be anywhere in the world, as long as I have my husband and children with me. They are my home.

Q: What house rules did you grow up with?

My mother was very strict, especially when it came to mealtimes. We always had to help set the table for dinner. Dinner was always a Cantonese banquet, a bowl of rice with several savory dishes in the middle of the table. It didn’t really matter how much of the savory dishes we ate; we always had to finish every grain of rice. 

Q: What are your hosting must-dos?

Clean the bathroom and light a candle in there—especially because the guest bathroom is the one my kids use! Make sure there’s hand soap and a fresh towel. To be honest, making sure the bathroom is clean is really my only ‘must.’ I try to keep hosting low-key and have guests arrive to a home that looks as close to how it usually looks. Keeping things low-pressure and easy means I will not stress about hosting. 

Q: What's your household mantra?

Have you eaten yet? I am always looking to feed people, so people who enter my orbit know that they will be well fed. 

Q: When you’re hosting or entertaining, do you want the kitchen to yourself or are you okay with guests coming in to help out?

When it comes to prepping a meal, I don’t like kitchen helpers! So, I usually have the food completely ready before guests arrive. I don't mind guests helping to clean up, though. There is something very communal and convivial about cleaning up together after a big meal. 

Q: Whose cooking style do you most admire?

In terms of cooking style, the person I most admire is my mother. Her commitment to feeding her family, the generous way in which she cooks, and her giddy, almost childlike excitement in cooking a meal for her family have always been a huge influence on the way I approach cooking for my own family. 

Rapid-Fire Questions with Hetty Liu McKinnon

Q: Clean as you cook or all at the end?

My husband cleans the kitchen! Every day, even if he works late, he finishes his day by cleaning up my kitchen mess. I’m so grateful for it.

Q: Coffee or tea?

Coffee. I wake up thinking about my first coffee of the day.

Q: Fruit desserts or chocolate?

Fruit. I love fruit and eat it all day. 

Q: Sweet or savory?

Savory, no competition. I do not have a sweet tooth.

Q: Spicy or mild?

Spicy, and spicier!

Q: Eating at home, or going out to eat?

I love both, but if I had to choose one, eating at home! I love the coziness of a home-cooked meal.