The Writer's E-Zine Home

Writers' Village University - F2K: Free Fiction Writing Course - ePress-online
Writers' Village University Membership Information
 

Catherine's Kitchen

Catherine Manning

Salads, mundane or not, I don't think so!

Having just got over my second fight with dengue, maybe it was milder this time as I've been trying to eat healthier and have been eating more salads! Last time I was out for seven weeks, this time thankfully only two weeks and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy if I had one!

When I was growing up salads were boring, consisting of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumber maybe tarted up a bit, but nonetheless boring and only local lettuce, which my turtles won't eat now. Then there was the normal chicken or potato salads doused with mayonnaise. Not altogether interesting.

However, today the sky's the limit and salads are made from any and everything; the variety is endless and nutritionally good. It makes you want to devour a salad. Everything can be included: the tenderest of greens, roots, lean meats and poultry, seafood, grains, pastas, beans, fruit are among the raw materials. One of the virtues of a salad is that it can be made quickly and need not be fussed over.

The ancient Greeks knew that salad was healthy; they held it to be the food of the gods. In Shakespearean England, so-called fountains of youth, assembled from the first tender herbs and lettuces of spring, were eagerly consumed as antidotes to the grim winter diet. The great French gastronome Brillat-Savarin summed it up nicely: "Salad refreshes without weakening and comforts without irritating," he wrote in 1825, "and it makes us younger."

Whether truly rejuvenating or not, salads are, with their endless choice of ingredients, bountiful sources of minerals, vitamins and other nutrients. And when carefully dressed, they will be low in fat and thus in calories.

Most lettuces are between 90 and 95 per cent water and salads made with grain and dried beans or pasta are loaded with complex carbohydrates, the main source of energy for the body, and protein.

Dried beans offer a generous supply of fibre and protein; but for all their protein to be utilized by the body they still need to be coupled with other foods that offer complimentary proteins. Many of these are the very ingredients of successful modern salads: wheat, rice, meat and dairy products to list a few.

A salad can be a most varied of dishes and need never be the same from one day to the next. With a great selection of lettuce and other exotic ingredients on the market, it may be a simple bowl of lettuce with a light vinaigrette or a more complex composition of meats, vegetables, grains or fruit that might serve as a meal. The ingredients can either be raw or cooked, or a mixture of the two, and it can be served chilled, at room temperature, or even warm.

Cooks today have been more selective in balancing ingredients and flavours, bearing in mind the salad's place in the meal as first course, main course or side dish.

Potatoes are ideal for making a more robust salad and may be mixed with celery, onion, ham or chicken, and various herbs, such as chive and parsley. Even sweet corn or pineapple chunks maybe be added for a sweet flavour. The dressing may be varied using a mixture of natural yogurt and mayonnaise or virtually anything that you fancy, maybe a little curry powder added for extra flavour.

Pasta salads are open to innovation and pasta may be combined with seafood, olives, onion, red pepper and served with a garlicky French dressing, designed for pasta lovers.

Goat cheese rolled in chopped mixed herbs, maybe combined with a variety of melon balls, papaya, cucumber, grapes, cherry tomatoes, radishes and fresh spinach leaves and sprinkled with a little salad oil and fresh orange juice, offers a refreshing salad with contrasting flavours and textures.

An odd but actually very refreshing side salad is sliced strawberries and cucumber served with a dressing of low fat yogurt combined with chopped mint and a touch of strawberry syrup, seasoned with salt and pepper.

The choices and combinations are endless. However we do it or however we eat it, salads are here to stay.

 

Melon Ball Salad 100 gr. (4 oz.) soft goat cheese 4 Tbs. freshly chopped herbs (basil, parsley, chervil) 225 gr (8oz.) each of two kinds of melon: cantaloupe, honeydew or other. Cucumber, peeled 1 large pawpaw (payaya) 100 gr (4 oz). black grapes Juice of 1 orange 8 cherry tomatoes 4 small red radishes Fresh spinach or vine leaves (or Romaine lettuce if preferred) Freshly ground black pepper 4 Tbs. salad oil Roll goat cheese into balls and coat with fresh herbs. Using a melon baller, scoop the melons, cucumber and pawpaw into balls. Add the grapes. Sprinkle the melon balls lightly with the orange juice and black pepper. Hull the tomatoes and roll the cucumber balls in salad oil. Line serving dish with spinach or lettuce leaves and arrange fruit, vegetable and cheese balls on top. Sprinkle with a little oil and orange juice just before serving. This may be made into a sweeter salad by replacing the radishes, cucumber and tomatoes with balls of apple and pear and mix the orange juice with a little passion fruit pulp for a more tangy taste. A favourite coleslaw whenever I make it: Cashew Coleslaw 250 g/8oz. firm white cabbage shredded (I mix red and white for colour) 3 celery sticks, sliced 3 red skinned sweet apples, cored and sliced thinly 4 spring onions, sliced 50 g/2 oz. cashews toasted (I also use pecans, toasted) 2 Tbs. chopped parsley 150 ml (1/4 pt) mayonnaise (make your own or use your favourite) 2 Tbs. natural yogurt. Salt and pepper to taste. Place all ingredients in a bowl, mix mayo and yogurt together, pour over salad and toss well. Chill. Serves 6-8.

Bon Appetit
Cath