Main ingredients | Pieces of vegetables, fruits, eggs, or grains mixed with a sauce. |
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Variations | Many |
A salad is a dish consisting of mixed ingredients, frequently vegetables. They are typically served chilled or at room temperature, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a variety of flavors, are used to make a salad.
Garden salads use a base of leafy greens such as lettuce, arugula or rocket, kale or spinach; they are common enough that the word salad alone often refers specifically to garden salads. Other types include bean salad, tuna salad, bread salad (such as fattoush, panzanella), vegetable salads without leafy greens (such as Greek salad, potato salad, coleslaw), rice-, pasta- and noodle-based salads, fruit salads and desserts.
Salads may be served at any point during a meal:
When a sauce is used to flavor a salad, it is generally called a dressing; most salad dressings are based on either a mixture of oil and vinegar or a creamy dairy base.
The word "salad" comes to English from the French salade of the same meaning, itself an abbreviated form of the earlier Vulgar Latin herba salata (salted herb), from the Latin salata (salted), from sal (salt). In English, the word first appears as "salad" or "sallet" in the 14th century. Salt is associated with salad because vegetables were seasoned with brine (a solution of salt in water) or salty oil-and-vinegar dressings during Roman times. [1] The phrase "salad days", meaning a "time of youthful inexperience" (based on the notion of "green"), is first recorded by Shakespeare in 1606, [1] while the use of salad bar, referring to a buffet-style serving of salad ingredients, first appeared in American English in 1937. [2]
The Romans and ancient Greeks ate mixed greens with dressing, a type of mixed salad. [3] [4] Salads, including layered and dressed salads, have been popular in Europe since the Greek and Roman imperial expansions. In his 1699 book, Acetaria: A Discourse on Sallets, [5] John Evelyn attempted with little success to encourage his fellow Britons to eat fresh salad greens. [6] Mary, Queen of Scots, ate boiled celery root over greens covered with creamy mustard dressing, truffles, chervil, and slices of hard-boiled eggs. [1]
Oil used on salads can be found in the 17th-century colony of New Netherland (later called New York, New Jersey and Delaware). A list of common items arriving on ships and their designated prices when appraising cargo included "a can of salad oil at 1.10 florins" and "an anker of wine vinegar at 16 florins". [7] In a 1665 letter to the Director of New Netherland from the Island of Curaçao there is a request to send greens: "I request most amicably that your honors be pleased to send me seed of every sort, such as cabbage, carrots, lettuce, parsley, etc. for none can be acquired here and I know that your honor has plenty,...". [8]
Salads may be sold in supermarkets, at restaurants and at fast food chains. In the United States, restaurants may have a salad bar with salad-making ingredients, which the customers will use to put together their salad. [9] Salad restaurants were earning more than $300 million in 2014. [10] At-home salad consumption in the 2010s was rising but moving away from fresh-chopped lettuce and toward bagged greens and salad kits, with bag sales expected to reach $7 billion per year. [11]
A salad can be a composed salad (with the ingredients specifically arranged on the serving dish) or a tossed salad (with the ingredients placed in a bowl and mixed, often with salad dressing). An antipasto plate, the first dish of a formal Italian meal, is similar to a composed salad, and has vegetables, cheese, and meat.[ citation needed ]
A green salad, or green leaf salad, another name for garden salad, is most often composed of leafy vegetables such as lettuce varieties, spinach, or rocket (arugula). If non-greens make up a large portion of the salad it may instead be called a vegetable salad. Common raw vegetables (in the culinary sense) used in a salad include cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, radishes, mushrooms, avocado, olives, artichoke hearts, heart of palm, watercress, parsley, garden beets, and green beans. Nuts, berries, seeds, lentils, and flowers are less common components. Hard-boiled eggs, bacon, shrimp, and cheeses may be used as garnishes, but large amounts of animal-based foods would be more likely in a dinner salad.[ citation needed ]
A wedge salad is a green salad made from a head of lettuce (often iceberg), halved or quartered, with other ingredients on top. [12]
Bound salads are assembled with thick sauces such as mayonnaise. One portion of a bound salad will hold its shape when placed on a plate with a scoop. Examples of bound salad include tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad, coleslaw, and potato salad. Some bound salads are used as sandwich fillings. Some pasta salads, e.g. macaroni salad, are bound salads. They are popular at picnics, potlucks and barbecues.[ citation needed ]
Main course salads (known as dinner salads [13] or as entrée salads in the United States) may contain small pieces of poultry, seafood, or steak. Caesar salad, chef salad, Cobb salad, Chinese chicken salad, Michigan salad, and Pittsburgh salad are dinner salads.
A wide variety of cheeses are used in dinner salads, including Roquefort blue cheese (traditional for a Cobb salad), and Swiss, Cheddar, Jack, and Provolone (for chef and Cobb salads).[ citation needed ]
Fruit salads are made of fruit (in the culinary sense), which may be fresh or canned. Examples include fruit cocktail. [13]
Dessert salads rarely include leafy greens and are often sweet. Common variants are made with gelatin or whipped cream; e.g. jello salad, pistachio salad, and ambrosia. Other forms of dessert salads include regional dishes such as Midwestern America's ambrosia-like glorified rice and cookie salad, which contains crumbled cookies as an ingredient. [13]
Albanian cuisine is a representative of the cuisine of the Mediterranean. It is also an example of the Mediterranean diet based on the importance of olive oil, fruits, vegetables and fish. The cooking traditions of the Albanian people are diverse in consequence of the environmental factors that are more importantly suitable for the cultivation of nearly every kind of herbs, vegetables and fruits. Olive oil is the most ancient and commonly used vegetable fat in Albanian cooking, produced since antiquity throughout the country particularly along the coasts.
Egg salad is a dish consisting of chopped hard-boiled or scrambled eggs, mustard, and mayonnaise, and vegetables often including other ingredients such as celery.
Coleslaw or cole slaw, also known simply as slaw, is a side dish consisting primarily of finely shredded raw cabbage with a salad dressing or condiment, commonly either vinaigrette or mayonnaise. This dish originated in the Netherlands in the 18th century. Coleslaw prepared with vinaigrette may benefit from the long lifespan granted by pickling.
Greek salad or horiatiki salad is a salad in Greek cuisine generally made with pieces of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, feta cheese, and olives and dressed with salt, Greek oregano, lemon juice and olive oil. Common additions include green bell pepper or caper berries. Greek salad is often imagined as a farmer's breakfast or lunch, as its ingredients resemble those that a Greek farmer might have on hand.
Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine is the typical and traditional fare of the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, pot herbs, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad greens.
Cypriot cuisine is the cuisine of the island of Cyprus.
Jello salad is an American salad made with flavored gelatin, fruit, and sometimes grated carrots or other vegetables. Other ingredients may include cottage cheese, cream cheese, marshmallows, nuts, or pretzels. Jello salads were popular in the early 20th century and are now considered retro.
Chicken salad is any salad with chicken as a main ingredient. Other common ingredients include mayonnaise, hard-boiled egg, celery, onion, pepper, pickles and a variety of mustards.
Caprese salad is an Italian salad, made of sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and sweet basil, seasoned with salt, and olive oil. It is usually arranged on a plate in restaurant practice. Like pizza Margherita, it features the colours of the Italian flag: green, white, and red. In Italy, it is usually served as an antipasto (starter), not a contorno, and it may be eaten any time of day. The caprese salad is one form of a caprese dish; it may also be served as a caprese pizza, pasta, or sandwich.
Chinese chicken salad is a salad including chopped chicken and Chinese culinary ingredients that is common in parts of the United States. Though many variations exist, common features of Chinese chicken salads include lettuce, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, chicken, deep-fried wonton skins or rice vermicelli and nuts. A basic vinaigrette for the salad includes ingredients like vegetable oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar. Optional seasonings include dry hot mustard, sesame seeds, coriander and raw ginger or pickled ginger. In restaurants, Chinese chicken salad may be more embellished and offered as an American-style entree salad, similar to Caesar, Chef, and Cobb salads.
Belizean cuisine is an amalgamation of all ethnicities in the nation of Belize and their respectively wide variety of foods. Breakfast often consists of sides of bread, flour tortillas, or fry jacks that are often homemade and eaten with various cheeses. All are often accompanied with refried beans, cheeses, and various forms of eggs, etc. Inclusive is also cereal along with milk, coffee, or tea.
Italian meal structure is typical of the European Mediterranean region and differs from that of Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe, although it still often consists of breakfast (colazione), lunch (pranzo), and supper (cena). However, breakfast itself is often skipped or is lighter than that of non-Mediterranean Europe. Late-morning and mid-afternoon snacks, called merenda, are also often eaten.
Olivier salad is a traditional salad dish of Russian cuisine. Its creation is generally attributed to Lucien Olivier.
Acquacotta is a hot broth-based bread soup in Italian cuisine that was originally a peasant food. Its preparation and consumption dates back to ancient history, and it originated in the coastal area known as the Maremma, in southern Tuscany and northern Lazio. The dish was invented in part as a means to make hardened, stale bread edible. In contemporary times, ingredients can vary, and additional ingredients are sometimes used. Variations of the dish include acquacotta con funghi and acquacotta con peperoni.