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Living on salads

Salads can be powerhouses of nutrients depending on the ingredients

crunchy Variety of salad dressing

Can you live on salads alone? “Salad derives its name from the Latin word “salare”(to salt),” says Praba Iyer, an expert chef and cookery teacher, “as salt is the most important ingredient in salad dressing. It is a cou rse of a whole meal made up of raw leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach and arugula tossed with cooked or raw vegetables, fruits, cheeses and nuts and mixed in with a dressing of oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Salads can be powerhouses of nutrients depending on the ingredients. Walnuts, pumpkin seeds, hard boiled egg and cooked beans (garbanzo, pinto, kidney and black beans) increase the protein and omega3 fatty acids.”

Salad has a proud history. It’s “herba salta” or “salted herbs,” obviously because dressings contain lots of salt. Salad gained its status during the Greek and Roman civilisations and was thought of as necessary nourishment. Romans grew salad leaves, and ate them minced. Emperor Dominican served the dish as a starter, not at the end of the meal as done earlier. Conquering Romans introduced lettuce to Britain. Leonardo da Vinci was the first artist to depict salad in his paintings. In Leda (1504), a child, standing next to the goddess of fertility, poses with a bouquet of lettuce. Today, the word goes beyond a bowl of health. ‘Salad Days’ means carefree days of youth, a phrase Shakespeare used in “Antony and Cleopatra.”

Lack of imagination alone will limit the varieties you can toss up as a salad. Mix apples, celery, walnuts, lemon juice and mayonnaise, you have the Waldorf salad. Mix soaked and drained moong dal with green chillies, lemon juice and dhania leaves, you get your pro/vit as tasty “kosmili”. It’s olive oil and mustard paste in one part of the world, curd and cucumber in another. Salad as total sustenance? Possible. See that some protein and carbs are included and give desserts a clear by-pass. And learn when to push the plate away.

GEETA PADMANABHAN

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