It’s a perfect time for fresher meals. So, May being the National Salad Month, I have put together the world’s most famous salads and their dressings.
SALAD CAPRESE
Salad Caprese originated from Italy’s Isle of Capri in the 1950s. Traditionally served as an antipasto, it is also known as the Insalato Tricolore as it features the three colours of the Italian flag.
INGREDIENTS
Mozzarella: Thinly sliced
Tomatoes: Sliced round
Sweet basil leaves: To sprinkle
Salt: A little sprinkle
Olive oil: A drizzle
METHOD
Arrange the mozzarella and tomatoes on a dish and sprinkle the basil leaves.
Sprinkle the salt and drizzle the olive oil. That’s it.
COBB SALAD
The story goes that Cobb Salad was named after Robert Howard Cobb, owner of the Brown Derby Restaurant in Hollywood, where his chef invented it in 1937.
Tip: For authenticity, your greens should be iceberg and romaine lettuce, watercress and endive.
INGREDIENTS
Salads leaves chopped not fine, but in slightly bigger pieces
Tomatoes deseeded and cut into thin slices
Crispy bacon cut into pieces
Hard-boiled eggs
Avocado chopped into chunks
Chives chopped fine
Roquefort cheese or any other of your choice
Red wine vinaigrette
#Dressing
Red wine vinaigrette. Vinaigrette is a common dressing around the world. It is made by adding oil to vinegar or lemon juice. Traditionally, the recipe calls for 1 part vinegar and 3 parts oil mixed together into an emulsion. Here, I have used olive oil and red wine vinegar, but you can use any type of vinegar like white wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar and so on.
METHOD
Toss all the ingredients except the boiled eggs.
Pour red wine vinaigrette and mix well.
Decorate with halved boiled eggs.
OLIVIER SALAD
Olivier salad is a Russian salad with variable ingredients, but it is typically made with chopped vegetables, meat and mayonnaise. The key ingredients include diced potatoes, vegetables, eggs, chicken or ham. This salad is one of the most important appetizers at the New Year’s salad buffet in Russia. It was created in the 1860s by Lucien Olivier, a chef in the popular Moscow restaurant called L’Hermitage.
INGREDIENTS
Boiled diced potatoes
Boiled diced carrots
Blanched diced French beans (preferably all the same size)
Blanched peas
Grilled or roasted chicken, or sausages diced the same size as the potatoes
Boiled eggs cut in halves for decoration.
(I like to add some diced pineapple too. But that’s optional).
Crisp lettuce leaves to serve the salad on top of it.
#Dressing
Mayonnaise
Use as per requirement. Thin it down with a little cream. Add salt and pepper and a pinch of castor sugar.
METHOD
Put all the ingredients in a big bowl. Mix the mayonnaise.
On a serving plate arrange lettuce leaves. Put the salad on top.
Decorate with diced pineapples. Arrange eggs around the salad and serve chilled.
CEASAR SALAD
This salad was invented by Caesar Cardin, an Italian immigrant chef who worked both in Mexico and the US. His daughter claims that he invented this salad during the Fourth of July celebrations in 1924 at his eponymous restaurant.
INGREDIENTS
Romaine or iceberg lettuce leaves. They should be crisp and cut into slightly big pieces. (To make the iceberg lettuce crisp, put in cold water with ice cubes for some time and then remove and pat dry before use.)
Croutons (I dice bread into small cubes, sprinkle a little olive oil and then bake in the oven till brown and crisp)
Parmesan cheese ¼ cup grated
Sliced chicken grilled
Olives
Cherry tomatoes (optional)
Garlic: 5 cloves, minced
Dijon mustard: 2tsp
Worcestershire sauce: 1tsp
Salt: To taste
Pepper: To taste
Cream: To thin down the mayonnaise
#Dressing
Mayonnaise
Use as per requirement.
METHOD
Mix all the above ingredients well.
Vegetarians can omit the chicken.
If the mayonnaise for the dressing is too thick, thin it down with a little cream.
TABBOULEH
Edible herbs known as Qualb formed an essential part of the Arab diet in the Middle Ages. Dishes like Tabbouleh are a testament to their continued popularity in Middle Eastern cuisine even today. It originated from the mountains of Syria and Lebanon. The wheat variety salamouni cultivated in the Bequaa Valley region of Lebanon was considered (in the mid-19th century) as particularly well suited for making Tabbouleh. In Lebanon, the Lebanese National Tabbouleh Day is a yearly festival and, since 2001, it is celebrated on the first Saturday of the month of July.
INGREDIENTS
Bulgar (easily available in stores): 1 cup (soak in water for 30 minutes.)
Water: ¼ cup, warm
Parsley: 2 bunches very finely chopped (it should be totally dry before chopping)
Spring onions: 3 stalks, finely chopped
Mint leaves: 15, chopped fine
Onion: 1, chopped fine
Tomatoes: 2 big, chopped finely
#Dressing
Lemon juice: ¼ cup or to taste
Pomegranate molasses/juice: 2tbsp
Olive oil: ¼ cup
Salt: 1tsp
Pepper: ½tsp
Sumac: ½tsp
Mix the above ingredients well.
METHOD
In a bowl put all the ingredients with the bulgar.
Pour the dressing on the salad. Serve with lettuce leaves.
Check for seasoning.
I like to put a little salad on the lettuce leaf, fold it and have it.
SALAD NICOISE (nee-swaz)
This salad originated in the French city of Nice. It has been popular worldwide since the early 20th century.
INGREDIENTS
Iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce torn into pieces
Tuna (canned, preferably chunks): 250g
Potatoes (optional): boiled
Eggs: Boiled, halved
Cherry tomatoes: Halved
French beans: Blanched
Black olives
Cucumber
#Dressing
Olive oil: 6tbsp
Vinegar: 1½tbsp
Dijon mustard: 2tsp
Honey: 1½tsp
Sugar (optional): ½tsp powdered
Salt: To taste
Pepper: to taste
Cream: 2tbsp
Garlic: 2 cloves, minced
Herbs (parsley, mint and basil): Finely chopped
Mix all the above ingredients together and whisk well.
METHOD
Toss the above ingredients except for the eggs.
Pour the salad dressing and mix well.
Arrange the eggs on top and serve.
COUSCOUS SALAD
Couscous salad is a traditional North African dish, extremely popular in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Couscous is the official Moroccan national dish and Tunisia’s unofficial national dish. It is an extremely healthy salad in which you can add lots of vegetables like broccoli, red, green, yellow bell peppers, olives, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, etc. Vegetable combinations are totally your choice and, of course, the availability of some of them. There are actually no hard and fast rules for the combinatons except for some must-haves.
INGREDIENTS
One part couscous soaked in 1 part boiling water. Add 1tbsp olive oil. Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then fluff with a fork.
Cucumber: ½, diced small
Beans (optional): ½ cup cooked (any or a mix of red kidney beans, chickpeas, etc.)
Spring onions: ½ cup
Bell peppers (red, yellow and green): ½ cup
Parsley and Coriander leaves: ½ cup finely chopped mix
Broccoli: ½ cup, small florets blanched
Olive oil: To taste
Lemon juice: 2tbsp, or to taste
Cherry tomatoes halved: 6-7
Feta cheese: Broken into pieces for sprinkling on top
Salt: To taste
Pepper: To taste
METHOD
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Serve alongside a main course or as an appetizer.
WALDORF SALAD
Waldorf salad originated in the 1800s in Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York and is still being served, which is proof that it has stood the test of time. It was created by the hotel’s maitre Doscar Turkey. Famous guests right from the Pope to President Obama have stayed in the hotel and had this iconic salad. Every US president since Herbert Hoover has stayed in the Waldorf’s towers.
INGREDIENTS
Celery: 1 cup diced (two ribs of celery chopped in half. Then cut the thinner end of the celery straight across and dice into small pieces. Cut the wider end lengthwise into four pieces and then dice them.)
Grapes (red/green): 1 cup, cut into halves
Apples: 2 with core removed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
Parsley: 2tbsp
Salt: ½tsp
Walnuts: 1 cup, toasted in a pan and chopped roughly. Cool before using.
#Dressing
Mayonnaise: 3tbsp
Greek yoghurt: 3tbsp
Honey: 1tsp
Lemon juice: 1tbsp
METHOD
In a large bowl add apples, celery, grapes, walnuts, parsley and salt.
Then pour the dressing.
Gently mix everything together.
Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.
#For a non-vegetarian version
In a small bowl, combine ½tsp each of garlic powder, dried thyme, dried basil and dried oregano along with a little salt and pepper.
In a baking dish place 2 chicken breasts. Drizzle a little olive oil and rub it in the chicken with your hands. Then sprinkle the herbs on both sides and rub well.
Then bake the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. Let the chicken cool completely. Then slice and dice the chicken into bite-size pieces.
Mix with the salad. Chicken Waldorf salad is ready.
Note. Always taste the dressings before putting in the salad. Do not douse your salad with too much dressing. Use according to the quantity of the salad.
Durri Bhalla is a cookery expert and author of Indian Bohra Cuisine and Inner Truth To Good Health And Weight Loss. You can find her at @DurriBhallaKitchen on Instagram, Durri’s Kitchen on Facebook and Durri Bhalla on YouTube.