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A salad bar at home

In the mood for a salad? Toss in these easy-to-make dressings for a different experience

PHOTOS: S. SIVA SARAVANAN and T. SINGARAVELOU

COLOURFUL AND HEALTHY Dressings make all the difference

A salad is an anytime dish, gaining more importance in today's diet. It is very simple to make and can turn into an exciting snack provided you have knowledge about the dressings that contribute to its taste and flavour.

Salads are cold preparations of raw, cooked or blanched vegetables and can include other items such as fresh herbs, fruits, nuts, cooked eggs, pasta, rice, fish, meat and poultry. The essence of a salad is freshness. Use the best, freshest and most attractive ingredients so as to make it visually appealing. An assortment of greens can be converted into a more substantial salad by tossing in some meat, seafood, cheese, vegetables, cereals or nuts.

However good the basic ingredients are, salads are incomplete without the appropriate dressing. They are what lend zing to this vegetable-fruit combo. A dressing enhances the flavour, taste and appearance of the salad. However, use it moderately. It should not dominate the flavour of the salad.

Salad dressings are based on olive oil, salad oil or various creams and dairy products such as single, double or sour cream and yoghurt. The oil used should not have a very strong smell. These oils or creams are usually supplemented by an acid, normally vinegar or lemon juice. Besides providing a contrast in taste, the acids aid digestion.

Added seasonings and flavourings include sugar, honey, salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne, Tabasco, mustards, anchovies, capers, tinned gherkins, fresh herbs, sieved hard boiled eggs, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and soya.

Except for the basic salad dressing made with oil and vinegar, all other dressings should be used immediately as they will lose colour and flavour. A dressing with a cream and dairy product-base should be freshly made.

Here are the recipes for some common dressings

French: Three parts of oil with one part of vinegar, salt, pepper and mustard

American: Equal parts of oil and vinegar, salt, pepper and mustard

English: Two parts of vinegar and one part of oil, salt, pepper, mustard and sugar to cut down the sharpness

Vinaigrette: Two parts of oil, one part of vinegar, salt, pepper and mustard

Lemon: Same as vinaigrette dressing; but substitute vinegar with lemon juice

Acidulated Cream: Fresh cream acidulated with lemon juice, sugar, pepper and salt

Mayonnaise: Mayonnaise sauce thinned using lemon juice and/or vinegar

Ravigotte: Vinaigrette with chopped chives, chervil, tarragon, capers and parsley.

Gribiche: Mayonnaise dressing with chopped gherkins, capers, chervil, tarragon, parsley and strips of hard-boiled egg white.

Thousand Island: Mayonnaise with a little chilli sauce, chopped red pimento, chives and green peppers

Italian dressing: Four parts of oil, 1 part of vinegar, 25 gms of anchovies, crushed clove of garlic and 1 tbsp of chopped fresh tarragon, Mustard, salt

Roquefort: 220 ml of French salad dressing with 50 g of Roquefort cheese

Method

Measure out salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar and mix. Add oil. Move the bowl or plate briskly back and forth and whisk with fork till creamy. Store in a bottle. To make the process easier, put all the measured out ingredients in an empty bottle, close tightly and shake.

Tip

Replace half of the oil with vegetable stock for reducing the fat content in a dressing.

Dressing a salad

Pour the dressing over the salad. If you are using lettuce as garnish, twist the torn lettuce leaves over the dressing to ensure even coating. Arrange the dressed leaves on a plate. Gently turn the prepared ingredients to coat them with remaining dressing and place on the leaves.

Garnish with herbs, olives or fruits. Don't flood the salad with the dressing. It is recommended to dress the salad just before service to ensure crispness.

Use

Mayonnaise based dressings for meat, egg, poultry and fish salads

Oil and vinegar based dressings for vegetables

Cream based dressings for fruit salads.

For the Indian palate, the best dressing is curd-based. Beat curd with the pinch of cumin powder, salt, chaat masala and sugar. Add required curd dressing to the cooked or raw ingredients, mix and serve chilled.

Hot salad

Salads need not necessarily be cold. Many eateries today offer hot salads. Hot salads are dressed with oil-based dressing. Our very own sundal is a kind of hot salad. It is tempered and served.

Now, make a salad

Pick a cup of cold boiled rice, heat oil and add mustard seeds, fenugreek, dried chillies, asafoetida, turmeric powder, split urad dal, Bengal gram dal, curry leaves and lemon juice. Mix the dressing with the boiled rice taking care not to flood it with dressing. Sounds suspiciously like lemon rice? Well, that's a salad too, but made with rice. Introduce variety by adding boiled peas and cauliflower florets.

R. SINGARAVELAVAN

(The writer is Head of Department, Catering Science and Hotel Management, SNR Sons College.)

For soufflés and chaats

Kiran's Cuisine supplies homemade snacks, Indian sweets and egg-less desserts and soufflés and ready-to-serve lunch and dinner. Kiran Gupta also cooks Thai, Mexican, North Indian and Afghani cuisine and a variety of chaats and Bengali sandesh. She undertakes outdoor catering for parties and meetings.

Call her on 0422-2433525 and 93600-04684.

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