Salad is a dish typically based on vegetables and fruit. Salad may also include cheese, mushrooms, eggs, legumes, seafood, and meat. Ingredients are prepared by tossing with dressing, oftentimes an olive oil and vinegar blend. Vegetable dish is served raw or cooked. Salad can be a side dish, a main course, or a dessert. Vegetable dominance ensures that salad is a healthy meal.
Preparation
Salad is generally prepared by tossing diced raw and cooked ingredients with dressing. A vegetable meal can also be composed on a plate to create a visually effective image.
Salads vary in terms of complexity of preparation. Dinner salad, such as Chicken Caesar Salad, involves cooking steps similar to preparation of a regular meal. Meanwhile, on the other end of the scale of work involved are green salads some of which take minutes to prepare. Cooking utensils involved also vary with salad types.
Most salad meals are prepared with everyday cookware. Recommended kitchen equipment includes a mixer or a food processor for certain dressings and herbs, a double boiler for boiled dressing, and a food steamer for healthy boiled salad. Garden salads and many vegetable based salads are simply prepared dicing and tossing.
Salad Dressing
Salad dressing is a mixture used in combination with salad ingredients. Three major salad dressing types are vinaigrette, creamy texture dressings, and boiled dressings. The most widespread dressing is vinaigrette, which can be used for any salad. Other types of dressing are somewhat more specialized in application.
The following section details salad types and associated recipes.
Salad Types
