SUMMERTIME SALADS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 449, 30 January 1948, Page 22

SUMMERTIME SALADS

N ‘summertime it is ,;much easier to devise a_ satisfying meal without using much rationed meat. "Something cold" is the usual reply when the housekeeper asks "What shall we have for dinner?" You can put almost anything into a salad to make it a meal by itself-sardines, salmon (or other tinned fish), cheese; herrings (caught by the boys at the week-end, fried. and put away because there are too tmany, and then boned and mixed with salad), any cold fish, fresh or smoked, flaked up, cold tongues, cold fried kidney, thick slices of cold fried liver. For the salad itself you can use crisp lettuce leaves, a little chopped celerytops as well as celery stalks, tomatoes, onions (spring ahd ordinary), raw carrots, watercress, heart of young raw cabbage, left-overs of peas, beans, potato, cooked beetroot-an almost endless variety. It is "better, unless following a special recipe, NOT to pour dressing or mayonnaise over the salad, but to serve it crisp and dry, with the dressing separate. Be Also remember that a scattering of finely chopped mint and parsley adds zest to any salad. Don’t discard all the outer green leaves of lettuces in favour of the hearts; use them, shredded up, for they obtain a higher vitamin and calcium content than the inner ones. By varying the mayonnaise and the salad dressing you can give the same salad ingredients quite a different appeal. Next week I will give a variety of these. Cottage Cheese Plate Buy your cottage cheese or make it by just hanging up curds to draia for 12 hours in a piece of muslin; Sour curds may be made by adding lemon-juice or vinegar to milk; sweet curds by adding more rennet to milk than for ordinary junket. When drained, chop the curds roughly, adding salt to taste; or set in a basin under a weight and turn out in a shape. Cottage cheese is good and nourishing. For ‘this meal, heap a _ big mound of. cottage cheese in the centre ‘of each plate, and dust with paprika if ‘aysilable (red Mexican pepper). Ar‘range on each side, 2 slices of tomato in French dressing. Garnish with small, crisp lettuce leaves. On the 2 empty sides of the plate place thin triangular shaped sandwiches of ham cr tongue or chicken. Cheerful Salad Plate Make a simple potato salad by slicing or dicing cold cooked new potatoes, and mixing in a little raw grated or chopped onion-or chopped chives if preferredand chopped parsley. Put a substantial mound of this in the centre of each plate and put a dab of your favourite mayonnaise over it. On each side of this put half a "stuffed" hard-boiled egg (the yolk mashed with chives and mayonnaise and the white shell re-filled with this). Arrange a few cooked (or ‘tinned) asparagus tips on the other two

sides. Surround with small lettuce leaves and serve with the dressing separate, Stuffed Peach Salad Eight peach halves-ripe or stewed; 3 oz. cream cheese; 24 salted almonds, chopped; dash of salt and paprika; lettuce; brightly coloured jelly; and mayon-, naise. Blend cream cheese, chopped nuts, salt and, paprika. Arrange 2 peach halves on lettuce on each plate, fill centres of peaches with cheese mixture, heaping roughly. Top off with spoonful of mayonnaise, and a bright dot of jelly. Red Cap Mushroom Salad Shell hard-boiled eggs, cut off broad ends so that they will stand up. On top of narrow ends fit’ halves of skinned tomatoes. They represent a kind of mushroom with scarlet cap, known in Scandinavia. Arrange these "red caps" in a circle on bed of green salad, with wedges of cucumber in between, Fill centre space with potato salad-cooked potatoes cubed and sprinkled with a little grated onion, Eat with cheese and wholemeal bread and butter, A dab of mayonnaise may be put on red caps. Orderly’s Salad Cooked: broad beans (young ones cooked in pods and sliced as runner beans); cooked sliced potatoes; chopped onion; grated carrot; green lettuce; white lettuce; mint sauce; strips of cheese; and beetroot or tomato wedges. Place beans on bottom of dish, cover with sliced potatoes, then the chopped onion and gtated carrot together. Pile layers of green and white lettuce on top in shape of mound. Put strips of cheese, beetroot, and tomato round edge of lettuce mound. Finally pour carefully the mint- sauce over the whole salad. Crayfish and Lettuce’ One large white, crisp lettuce, shred finely, and chop two or three spring onions and add to lettuce. Cut crayfish up finely, and mix gently through the lettuce and onion. Have ready 1 hardboiled egg. Cut the white into rings and lay on top of the lettuce. Dressing:Put the hard-boiled yolk into dish, add Y teaspoon mustard and 1 level teaspoon sugar, a pinch of salt. Blend well with fork. Pour a little vinegar on this and mix until smooth. Add a little more vinegar (say 3 tablespoonsful). Mix gradually or it may curdle.* Lastly add % cup of cream or good rich milk, Pour over salad and let stand 4 few minutes. A little finely sliced cucumber, or tomato may be added if liked. Mimosa Tomatoes Cut tops off good tomatoes, scoop out insides and mix with a couple of spoonfuls of mayonnaise. Add some cooked green peas and grated cooked carrot. Fill tomatoes with mixture, put lid piece back. Arrange on lettuce leaf, and sprinkle with hard-boiled egg yolk pressed through fine sieve. Sprinkle with curry powder if liked.