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A salad is a dish consisting of mixed ingredients, frequently vegetables. They are typically served chilled or at
room temperature Colloquially, "room temperature" is a range of air temperatures that most people prefer for indoor settings. It feels comfortable to a person when they are wearing typical indoor clothing. Human comfort can extend beyond this range depending on ...
, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a variety of flavors, are used to make a salad. Garden salads use a base of leafy greens such as lettuce, arugula or rocket,
kale Kale (), or leaf cabbage, belongs to a group of cabbage (''Brassica oleracea'') cultivars grown for their edible leaves, although some are used as ornamentals. Kale plants have green or purple leaves, and the central leaves do not form a head ...
or
spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either f ...
; they are common enough that the word ''salad'' alone often refers specifically to garden salads. Other types include bean salad, tuna salad, bread salad (such as fattoush, panzanella), vegetable salads without leafy greens (such as Greek salad, potato salad, coleslaw), rice-, pasta- and noodle-based salads, fruit salads and desserts. Salads may be served at any point during a meal: * Appetizer salads – light, smaller-portion salads served as the first course of the meal * Side salads – to accompany the main course as a side dish; examples include potato salad and coleslaw *
Main course A main course is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée ("entry") course. Typically, the main course is the meal that is the heaviest, heartiest, and most intricate or substantial o ...
salads – usually containing a portion of one or more high-protein foods, such as eggs,
legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...
s, or
cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
*
Dessert salads Dessert salads are dishes made with jellos (jellies), whipped toppings, fruits, vegetables, mayonnaise, and various other ingredients. These salads are served at some buffet and cafeterias, and are also served at potlucks and parties. They can ...
– sweet salads containing fruit,
gelatin Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...
, sweeteners or whipped cream When a sauce is used to flavor a salad, it is generally called a dressing; most salad dressings are based on either a mixture of oil and vinegar or a creamy dairy base.


Etymology

The word "salad" comes to English from the
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
''salade'' of the same meaning, itself an abbreviated form of the earlier
Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve ...
''herba salata'' (salted herb), from the Latin ''salata'' (salted), from ''sal'' (salt). In English, the word first appears as "salad" or "sallet" in the 14th century. Salt is associated with salad because vegetables were seasoned with
brine Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
(a solution of salt in water) or salty oil-and-vinegar dressings during Roman times. The phrase " salad days", meaning a "time of youthful inexperience" (based on the notion of "green"), is first recorded by Shakespeare in 1606, while the use of salad bar, referring to a buffet-style serving of salad ingredients, first appeared in
American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...
in 1937.


History

The Romans and ancient Greeks ate mixed greens with dressing, a type of mixed salad. Salads, including layered and dressed salads, have been popular in Europe since the Greek and Roman imperial expansions. In his 1699 book, ''Acetaria: A Discourse on Sallets'', John Evelyn attempted with little success to encourage his fellow Britons to eat fresh salad greens. Mary, Queen of Scots, ate boiled celery root over greens covered with creamy mustard dressing, truffles, chervil, and slices of hard-boiled eggs. Oil used on salads can be found in the 17th-century colony of New Netherland (later called New York, New Jersey and Delaware). A list of common items arriving on ships and their designated prices when appraising cargo included "a can of salad oil at 1.10 florins" and "an anker of wine vinegar at 16 florins". In a 1665 letter to the Director of New Netherland from the Island of Curaçao there is a request to send greens: "I request most amicably that your honors be pleased to send me seed of every sort, such as cabbage, carrots, lettuce, parsley, etc. for none can be acquired here and I know that your honor has plenty,...". Salads may be sold in
supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
s, at
restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
s and at
fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...
chains. In the United States, restaurants may have a salad bar with salad-making ingredients, which the customers will use to put together their salad. Salad restaurants were earning more than $300 million in 2014. At-home salad consumption in the 2010s was rising but moving away from fresh-chopped lettuce and toward bagged greens and salad kits, with bag sales expected to reach $7 billion per year.


Types

A salad can be a composed salad (with the ingredients specifically arranged on the serving dish) or a tossed salad (with the ingredients placed in a bowl and mixed, often with salad dressing). An antipasto plate, the first dish of a formal Italian meal, is similar to a composed salad, and has vegetables, cheese, and meat.


Green salad

A green salad, or green leaf salad, another name for garden salad, is most often composed of leafy vegetables such as lettuce varieties,
spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either f ...
, or rocket (arugula). If non-greens make up a large portion of the salad it may instead be called a vegetable salad. Common raw vegetables (in the culinary sense) used in a salad include
cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.
s, peppers, tomatoes, onions,
carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...
s, celery, radishes, mushrooms, avocado, olives, artichoke hearts, heart of palm, watercress,
parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, Por ...
, garden beets, and
green bean Green beans are young, unripe fruits of various cultivars of the common bean ('' Phaseolus vulgaris''), although immature or young pods of the runner bean (''Phaseolus coccineus''), yardlong bean ( ''Vigna unguiculata'' subsp. ''sesquipedalis ...
s. Nuts, berries, seeds, lentils, and flowers are less common components. Hard-boiled eggs,
bacon Bacon is a type of salt-cured pork made from various cuts, typically the belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central ingredient (e.g., the bacon, lettuce, and tomato sand ...
,
shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
, and
cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
s may be used as garnishes, but large amounts of animal-based foods would be more likely in a dinner salad.


Wedge salad

A wedge salad is a green salad made from a head of lettuce (often
iceberg An iceberg is a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 m long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially-derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". The ...
), halved or quartered, with other ingredients on top.


Bound salads

Bound salads are assembled with thick sauces such as
mayonnaise Mayonnaise (; ), colloquially referred to as "mayo" , is a thick, cold, and creamy sauce or dressing commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, composed salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various other sauces, such as tartar ...
. One portion of a bound salad will hold its shape when placed on a plate with a scoop. Examples of bound salad include tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad, coleslaw, and potato salad. Some bound salads are used as sandwich fillings. Some pasta salads, e.g. macaroni salad, are bound salads. They are popular at picnics,
potlucks A potluck is a communal gathering where each guest or group contributes a different, often homemade, dish of food to be shared. Other names for a "potluck" include: potluck dinner, pitch-in, shared lunch, spread, faith supper, carry-in dinner, ...
and barbecues.


Dinner salads

Main course A main course is the featured or primary dish in a meal consisting of several courses. It usually follows the entrée ("entry") course. Typically, the main course is the meal that is the heaviest, heartiest, and most intricate or substantial o ...
salads (known as dinner saladsMelissa Barlow, Stephanie Ashcraft. ''Things to Do with a Salad: One Hundred One Things to Do With a Salad''. Gibbs Smith, 2006. . 128 pages
page 7
or as entrée salads in the United States) may contain small pieces of poultry, seafood, or steak. Caesar salad, chef salad, Cobb salad,
Chinese chicken salad Chinese chicken salad is a salad including chopped chicken and Chinese culinary ingredients that is common in parts of the United States. Though many variations exist, common features of Chinese chicken salads include lettuce, cabbage, chicken ( ...
,
Michigan salad A Michigan salad is a type of green salad popular at restaurants in the Detroit area and other parts of Michigan. It is typically topped with dried cherries, blue cheese, and a vinaigrette dressing. Some recipes use dried cranberries instead ...
, and Pittsburgh salad are dinner salads. A wide variety of cheeses are used in dinner salads, including Roquefort blue cheese (traditional for a Cobb salad), and
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...
, Cheddar, Jack, and Provolone (for chef and Cobb salads).


Fruit salads

Fruit salads are made of fruit (in the culinary sense), which may be fresh or canned. Examples include fruit cocktail.


Dessert salads

Dessert salads rarely include leafy greens and are often sweet. Common variants are made with
gelatin Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...
or whipped cream; e.g. jello salad, pistachio salad, and
ambrosia In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus ...
. Other forms of dessert salads include regional dishes such as Midwestern America's ambrosia-like glorified rice and cookie salad, which contains crumbled cookies as an ingredient.


See also

* Antipasto * List of salads * Salad spinner


References


Further reading

* {{Authority control Garde manger