A Salad Afternoon

I just read a great essay on the history of the salad in Saveur (in my opinion, the best of the food magazines) . It seems the French sort of began the trend but served them after the main course. For me, Iceberg lettuce, a can of shrimp, a teaspoon of lemon juice and Best Foods Mayonnaise, is a favorite salad. Or, Iceberg lettuce, a can of tuna, grated cheddar cheese and Best Food Mayonnaise another favorite. OK, one more – Iceberg lettuce, julienned salami, julienned Provolone cheese, chopped hardboiled egg and a very tangy homemade Italian dressing I make. I know that Iceberg lettuce has been referred to as “the polyester of vegetables” but I was raised with it and love its hearty crunchiness. Some of the other greens just seem wimpy. If they are done well, though, I always like a green salad of any type.

For a personal salad memory, my husband turned me onto mixing dressings – try French and Blue Cheese sometime. Lately I’ve been keeping a plastic tub in the refrigerator with things like Mandarin oranges, black olives, black beans, hard-boiled eggs, dried cranberries, cheese of some sort, Feta cheese and other goodies ready to add to the greens. Whipping up a salad is easy and, Yum City! Eating out, one of my favorite salads is from the Red Robin Restaurant, Barbeque Chicken Salad – Iceberg lettuce with strips of barbequed chicken, black beans, avocado slices, tomatoes, with Ranch dressing and garlic toast on the side.

Growing up never once, that I remember, did I have a salad as a main dish. And, other than a can of shrimp sometimes added to Iceberg lettuce (with Best Foods Mayonnaise, of course) no piece of fish or meat every touched the lettuce unless the main dish pork chop somehow sidled over to the salad on the plate.

According to the history of the salad article, they really didn’t take off in America until after the middle of the last century. Some fancy restaurants had them regularly, but middle class dinner tables didn’t sport them much. Olive oil was sold only in small amounts in pharmacies for medicinal purposes and softening skin. A “history of the avocado” article in Saveur said that an avocado, in 1920’s America, would have been the equivalent to $9.00 in today’s money. Maybe it was things like that that held up salad’s popularity.

Currently my plastic salad tub is stocked salami, Provolone slices, Feta, Cheddar and a couple hardboiled eggs. With black beans, olives and dried cranberries in the cupboard I'm ready to go. Maybe one day I’ll branch out beyond good ole Iceberg. A while back I had a lobster salad with some chopped cabbage mixed into the salad greens along with the most intriguing salad accoutrement I’ve had in a while - candied pecans – now there’s something I’ve got to remember to add to my salad tub!

My Favorite Tangy Italian Dressing
(This is supurb for a Chop Salad mixture of salami, provolone and chopped egg)

1 cup vegetable oil
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
3 pressed Garlic cloves
½ teas. dried oregano
¼ teas. dried basil
¼ teas onion powder
¼ teas salt