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Olive Oil in SaladsLettuce Salads Use only tender leaves. Lettuce should stand at least a half hour in cold water to become crisp. It should then be shaken, free from all water and placed on the ice until serving time, the dressing being applied only just before sending to the table or at the table.
Lettuce in itself makes a beautiful and refreshing salad and combines well with everything. Combinations of lettuce and tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers, lettuce and hard-boiled egg, lettuce and potato, lettuce with cold cubed meats, shrimp, crab-meat or of lobster, with asparagus tips, with string beans, with green peas, with cold beets, with cauliflower; in fact, with practically any cold meat, fish or vegetable that can be served as a salad. Not only does lettuce combine well with all the foregoing, but it serves well with all forms of salad dressings - Mayonnaise - French Dressing, Russian Dressing, Roquefort Dressing and Italian Dressing, recipes for all of which are given above.
Arrange sliced or quartered hard-boiled eggs on lettuce, sprinkle with minced onion and parsley, and serve with French dressing or mayonnaise. The onion may be omitted. Tomato Salads To remove skins from tomatoes-Remove the skin with a sharp knife; the
skins can be removed fom the tomatoes easily without scalding, which destroys
their freshness and crispness. Tomatoes should not be sliced, cubed nor
cupped intil immediately before serving. The smooth, uniform, firm tomato,
well ripened, is preferable for all forms of salads. Tomato and Lettuce Salad The tomatoes should be sliced or quartered and served on crisp lettuce
leaves. Dressing should not be put on until immediately before serving.
Serve with French Dressing, (A pleasing variation of the usual lettuce and tomato salad may be made
by cutting the lettuce almost but not quite as fine as slaw, and adding
a little very finely chopped onion.) Chicken Salad Chicken salad properly prepared is of the white meat only of a full-grown fowl roasted or boiled until perfectly tender. The use of the white meat only, however, is a concession to the appearance of the salad, as the dark meat has as much if not more value in flavor and richness. Veal is sometimes substituted for the chicken meat and frequently used as a filler where sufficient chicken is not available. Cut cold cooked chicken into dice. Wash and scrape the tender stalks
of celery; cut them into small pieces and dry them well. Use two parts
of chicken to one part of cut celery. Prepare a mixture of one part of
vinegar and three parts of Olive Oil and pour over the chicken one hour
before the salad is to be served. Keep the chicken in a cool place until
just before serving, when thoroughly mix with the cut celery. Pour off
any of the oil and vinegar that remains unabsorbed after the celery and
chicken have been thoroughly mixed. Then add a little mayonnaise and mix
A wide field is open to individual taste in the matter of garnishment. Hard-boiled eggs either chopped separately or sliced, sliced pickle, stoned olives, capers, celery tops; arrange any or all of these in as fanciful a design as desired. For a little touch of color, tomato, pimento or strips of beet may be used. If celery is unavailable, shredded lettuce may be used in its place and the flavor secured by the use of a little celery seed.
The potatoes should be boiled with the skins on and the skins should not be removed until they are cold. Do not steam or they will be mealy. Combinations or variations of potato salad are comparatively limited. They are generally sliced or cut into cubes and served on lettuce leaves with French dressing and a garnishment of hard-boiled egg. A mixture of beets and potato or of chopped celery and potato may be served with mayonnaise. Another combination is of sliced or of cubed potato with raw cabbage in slaw form served with either mayonnaise dressing or French dressing. Or this same combination may be made of the cabbage in slaw form with mashed potatoes. The addition of chopped parsley to any form of potato salad lends a touch of flavor and of color. The use of sliced onion or onion juice is almost essential to a good potato salad. Celery seed also helps the flavor.
A delicious fruit salad is made of equal parts of orange, banana and pineapple with a few nuts added; serve with French dressing on crisp lettuce leaves. Another simple but very delightful fruit salad is made by
Arrange peeled and sliced apples on crisp cress or lettuce leaves, and
serve with French dressing made with lemon
Peel, core and slice apples and arrange on lettuce, two or three slices in each group. Fill the cavities with chopped salted nuts mixed with stiff mayonnaise and put a spoonful of mayonnaise on top of each.
Arrange thinly-sliced oranges on cress or lettuce, sprinkle with chopped nuts and serve with French dressing made with lemon juice, or with mayonnaise made without mustard.
Peel ripe peaches, remove the stones, and fill the cavities with chopped blanched almonds mixed with mayonnaise made without mustard and whitened with whipped cream. Serve on lettuce and pass mayonnaise with it. Pineapple Salad Mix shredded pineapple with finely-cut celery and broken English walnuts. Serve on lettuce with mayonnaise made without mustard and whitened with whipped cream.
Mix grapefruit pulp with broken English walnuts, hickory nuts, or pecans.
Mix with mayonnaise made without mustard, fill the grapefruit shells,
and serve on lettuce.
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