SALAD TIME

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 72, 8 November 1940, Page 37

SALAD TIME

ORE and more we are waking up to the idea of "Eating for Health"; and Lunch Time has come to mean Salad Time for hundreds of people. Many restaurants and self-serving luncheon counters specjalise in really excellent individual plates of salad, most attractively set out. Probably the modern way of serving salad is partly the reason for its popularity. Instead of a bowl of wet lettuce coarsely cut up with a slice or two of cooked carrot and some chopped onion or a slice of tomato, with a small jug of brownish, uninviting-looking liquid called "dressing," we now have a "real picture of a plate" with very crisp and dry heart-of-lettuce leaves arranged around it, each one half-concealing a different health-giving snack-both fruit and vegetable, and all delicious. The colours should harmonise too-don’t put the finely-shredded raw carrot next to the wafer-like beetroot, for the one colour kills the other. The centre of the salad may be a hard-boiled egg, cut in half lengthwise and covered with a rich mayonnaise. Sometimes the eggs are "stuffed," i.e., the yolks have been taken out and pounded with mustard and curry powder and chopped chives and ham or tongue, and the whole bound with mayonnaise or cream before being refilled into the hard-boiled white. Sometimes an anchovy or two forms the centre of the salad; and on special days, there is creamed chicken at one Wellington "Quick-Lunch"! Each curled leaf contains a different thing — a spoonful of green peas, a couple of sections of orange, a little sliced pineapple, some chopped pear, or apple, chopped celery, finely-sliced radishes, a wafer or two of cucumber, some cream cheese, or some grated ordinary cheese. One could go on multiplying examples, for almost any pieces of fruit and vegetable can be combined on a salad plate, and eaten with wholemeal bread and butter. A healthier mid-day meal for men, women and children could not be devised. Do try these ideas if you have not already done so. It seems strange at first to combine fruits and vegetables, but you will soon see how delicious it is. Don’t forget the delicious new potatoes-one lettuce leaf should contain slices or dice of this. Nor is it expensive, for one uses such a little of each ingredient. MAYONNAISE AND DRESSINGS It is a good plan to vary the salad dressings-it adds the element of surprise to the salad, and makes the same one taste different! Honey Salad Dressings One egg yolk, 1 tablespoon of honey, 6 teaspoons of lemon juice, 34 cup of olive oil, 1% teaspoon of mustard, a few grains of cayenne, and a pinch of salt. Break the egg yolk, add honey and all the dry ingredients. Beat the mixture

thoroughly, add the oil, a tablespoonful at a time, alternately with the lemon juice. This should be smooth and thick, and is so very "different"! Honey Dressing Half a cup of honey, % cup of lemon juice, 4% teaspoon of salt, and 3 tablespoons grated pineapple. Stir the honey and lemon juice together, add the salt and grated pineapple. This is delicious with crisp head of lettuce salad. Lemon and Honey Mayonnaise Three tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon of honey and one egg. Beat these well together, heat in an enamel pan until it thickens, but do not boil. French Dressing Make this with one-third of a cup of mild vinegar or 4% cup of lemon juice, 1 cup of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/3 teaspoon of pepper, one teaspoon of sugar, and 1% teaspoon of paprika. Combine the oil and seasonings, and gradually beat in the vinegar. Turn into tightly covered jar, and keep in the refrigerator, or a coot place. Shake well before serving. California Dressing This is really French Dressing, with grape fruit juice used instead of vinegar, Cream French Dressing For this just add to the ordinary French Dressing nearly half a cup of thick cream, either unbeaten, or beaten until thick, but not stiff. Tomato French Dressing This is made by adding a little strained tomato juice-about a dessertspoonful — and a few drops of onion juice, to the French Dressing. Potato Dressing This is especially good with root salads, such as carrot and parsnip. Remove all the mealy part from a large baked potato, and put it through a sieve. Stir in a pinch or two of salt, and 14 teaspoon of castor sugar, and a little mustard. Then add a dessertspoon of vinegar. Mix very well, and then very gradually beat in 4 tablespoonfuls of olive oil. When creamy, stir in another tablespoon of vinegar. Australian Salad Dressing This will keep for a week or two, if kept in a cool place in a screw-topped jar. Four tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of flour, 1 saltspoon of salt, 1 cup of good vinegar, 1 teaspoon of dry mustard, a little white pepper, and three eggs. Heat the butter in a saucepan until it is oily, add the flour, and stir till smooth. Add a little milk and let boil, then add the other ingredients, and stir till it thickens like custard. Custard Powder Salad Dressing Quarter of a pint of milk, 1 small teaspoon of custard powder, some vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and cayenne. Mix the custard powder with a little

of the cold milk, add the remainder boiling, pour it all back into the saucepan, and boil. When cold, add the vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and cayenne, to taste.

Economy Salad Dressing This is my own favourite. It is made with sweetened condensed milk. One tin of sweetened condensed milk (which is (Continued on next page)

(Continued from previous page) equal to one and one-third cups), one teaspoon of salt, ¥2 cup of vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of dry mustard. Mix thoroughly, the condensed milk, salt, vinegar and mustard. Stir till the mixture thickens. Allow to stand a few minutes to stiffen. It will keep in a jar. Thin down with a little vinegar after a few days. New Zealand Salad Dressing This is from one of our Daisy Chain. Mix together one tin of the sweetened condensed milk, %%4- of the same tin full of fresh milk, a dessertspoon of mustard mixed with a little of the fresh milk to prevent any lumps, a teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon of sugar. When well blended gradually stir in 3% of the tin full of vinegar. Use same tin all the time for measuring. This will keep for some time in a screw-top jar in a cool place. If it gets too thick, thin it with milk or vinegar, according to taste. Buckingham Salad Dressing One pint of milk, 2 dessertspoons of mustard, 1 tablespoon of flour, 1 dessertspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of sugar, 4 teaspoon of pepper, 2 pint of vine- gar, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of salad or olive oil. Mix together, the flour, sugar, salt, and pepper, mustard, and oil. Well beat the eggs, add the milk, and stir gradually into the other ingredients. Lastly add the vinegar, drop by drop. Pour into the saucepan, and stir over the fire until it simmers. Simmer for five minutes. Use a double saucepan to prevent burning.