Diet And Salad Vegetarian Guide To

Salad Preparation

If you dine out frequently at restaurants take the time to notice how professional salad makers use of the ingredients in the following areas. If salad is to be the mainstay of your vegetarian diet, these pointers will help you be more creative and adventurous to create a more appetizing salad. Follow these diet and salad vegetarian guide to tips to help you with your salad preparation.

(1) The attractive appearance of the salad
(2) The appetizing flavor
(3) The pleasing texture
(4) The temperature (whether well chilled)
(5) The ease with which they may be eaten

Attractive Appearance: Contributing to the appear­ance is the vigor and freshness of the ingredients, espe­cially the salad greens. The exceptions to this are found in wilted-lettuce salad and other wilted-greens salads, which are purposely made so.
Color Contrast and Color Harmony are assets to the attractive appearance. Consider the symphony in salad the scarlet of tomato, the pale green of cucumber, the pale pink of lobster or shrimp, the brilliance of oranges, the white and yellow of egg, the golden orange of carrots, the sparkling black of ripe olives, the vividness of peppers, the dull creamy white of cheese.
Of the myriad of color combinations which are pos­sible, the salad maker avoids the discord of orange car­rots and red tomatoes, of pink salmon and red tomatoes.

Appetizing Flavor: By the balancing of bland and highly flavored ingredients, an appetizing flavor is ob­tained. Cream or cottage cheese needs the accent of chopped chives. Bland pears are improved by a dressingThis is highly seasoned with condiments. Head lettuce is eaten with more relish by the majority of people if its has been dressed with a colorful and "snappy" dressing.

Pleasing Texture: To obtain a pleasing texture use a mixture; granular raw apple with slippery, juicy orange or slippery-smooth canned pears. Any intelligent salad maker knows squashy marshmallows (which don't belong in salads anyway) are as much at home with crunchy cabbage as chiffon velvet is with burlap!

Well-chilled: Salads should never be lukewarm when served.

Easy to Eat: It is correct to use a knife and fork to cut a salad but, even so a proficient salad maker breaks the stiff midribs of lettuce leaves before putting a salad together.
Fringes of lettuce extend or slide over the edge of plates which are too small. Use generous-sized plates.
A stuffed tomato is more easily eaten if a thin slice has been taken from its base so that the tomato stands more firmly.
Long shreds of a stiff, unyielding vegetable like cabbage are difficult to manage neatly, especially when they arecoated with dressing.
When salad ingredients have not been well drained, the resulting pool of liquid which gathers at the bottom of the salad dilutes the dressing and in addition makes the salad leaves drippy.
Consider perkiness, freshness, color, and texture when assembling foods for salads. Keep them cold. Make them easy to eat and you are entitled to the letters M.S.M. after your name — Master Salad Maker.