A step back in time reveals that the word “salad” comes from the Latin word sal, which means salt. Initially salads were made from edible plants and herbs, seasoned moderately with salt. Today, salt has been replaced with dressings too numerous to list. Simple ingredients of herbs and plants have grown to include vegetables, meat, cheese and fruit.
Although traditionally served between the entrée and the dessert, salad in recent years has been known to arrive to the table at various points during the meal, even becoming the “meal” itself on some occasions.
Most hosts and hostesses would agree that, in a pinch, serving the salad as the first course is invaluable when stomachs begin to growl in anticipation of an entrée that has decided to cook a bit slower than planned. There are also some who prefer to serve a fruit salad in place of sweet desserts after a heavy meal.
Wherever there placed, there's no doubt that salads have arrived on the scene and are here to stay. Salads are no longer served solely to the calorie conscious. They have become an integral part of all diets.
Assembling The Ingredients
The challenges and possibilities inspired by an empty salad bowl are limitless, however, producing a quality salad requires some knowledge of the basic ingredients used. A basic tossed salad's ingredients include the greens, croûtons, and most importantly, the dressing.
Selecting the greens is the first step to making a salad. The most popular salad greens used today are lettuce, particularly iceberg, bib and romaine, and fresh spinach. Salad greens should be washed thoroughly, dried and then stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to eight hours, or until crisp. Once ready they should be torn into pieces with the exception of iceberg lettuce, which can be sliced or shredded if you prefer. Before mixing other ingredients with the greens toss them first with two or three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Adding flavour to your crispy greens is tricky business sometimes. Salad dressings should enhance the flavour of your salad and not drown the greens, causing them to lose their crispness. Using the finest and freshest ingredients available is essential when preparing salad dressings from scratch. A good quality extra virgin olive oil is preferred but vegetable oil can be used as well. In addition to cider and red wine vinegars, which are most often used in salad dressing preparations, you could use other flavoured vinegars such as balsamic, raspberry or rice as well.
Blending fresh herbs, spices or other seasoning ingredients such as parsley, coriander, chives, dill, onion, garlic, salt, fresh ground pepper, ginger, sun-dried tomatoes, bacon, anchovies, poppy seeds or lemon juice with 1 cup oil, ⅓ cup vinegar and ¼ cup water is the final step to making a great dressing. As is always the case when adding seasonings to enhance flavour be careful not to over season your dressing.
Adding texture to the salad is easily accomplished with the addition of seasoned croutons, a variety of which are available in grocery stores. If time is not an obstacle, you can create your own croutons from a loaf of white, garlic, sourdough or other seasoned homemade bread. To do so, remove the crust and cut bread into half-inch cubes. Place cubes onto a cookie sheet in a 325° oven on the middle rack for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the cubes frequently until golden brown.
A Perfectly Tossed Salad
Now that you know what it takes to make a great tossed salad why not give it a try? A good first recipe for experiencing first hand how simple it is to toss leafy greens, croutons and a dressing into a perfect side dish or main entrée salad is Chef Caesar Cardini's “Caesar Salad. Most versions of this salad call for anchovies; however, the original, first created in 1920, did not.
Caesar Salad
Ingredients
- 1 head of Romaine lettuce
- 2 large cloves garlic
- Salt
- 7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Freshly grounded black pepper
- 2 cups unseasoned croûtons
- 2 eggs, optional
- Juice a 1 lemon
- 5 drops Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Method
Wash dry and tear the Romaine lettuce into small pieces. Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate until crisp.
- Mince and mash the garlic cloves with salt. Add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and mash some more. Place garlic, salt and olive oil mixture into medium frying pan and heat over medium heat. When hot, toss in croutons to coat with oil. Drain croutons.
- Meanwhile, pierce the rounded end of the eggs with a pin and add to a pot of boiling water. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from water and set aside.
- To finish the salad, drizzle remaining olive oil over the Romaine lettuce and toss to coat the leaves. Sprinkle salt and freshly grounded black pepper over salad greens and toss. Add lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and the eggs to salad, tossing to blend. Add croûtons and grated Parmesan cheese before tossing one last time. Serve salad immediately, as a salad prepared too far in advance may arrive to the table looking limp and wilted.
