CHAPTER VIII.
SALADS AND SALAD SAUCES.
"The very herbs of the field yield nourishment, and bread and water make a feast for a temperate man," says Plato; and indeed the healthfulness of fresh vegetables is well enough known in our day; we include under this term not only the edible roots, but the young shoots of succulent plants, rich in nitrates and mineral salts, which play an important part in the preparation of salads. Americans are beginning to realize the wealth of green food abounding in their gardens and fields, which they have too long abandoned to their beasts of burden. We are wise in letting the ox eat grass for us, but with the grass he too often consumes tender herbs which might find a place on our own tables, to the advantage of appetite and digestion. Dandelion, corn-salad, chicory, mint, sorrel, fennel, marshmallows, tarragon, chives, mustard, and cresses, and their numerous kind, grow wild, or can be cultivated with but little trouble; and should find their way to favor in every family, for with the oil and vinegar employed in dressing them, they promote digestion, and purify the system; while the condiments used with them are of decided medicinal value.
There is some degree of truth in the idea that a salad-maker is born, not made, and yet with due care and delicate manipulation, almost any deft-handed and neat-minded individual may become an expert salad dresser. Most careful preparation of the green vegetables is imperatively necessary to the production of a good salad; they must be freshened in cool water, cleaned of all foreign matter, well drained upon a clean napkin; and, above all, torn with the fingers, and not cut with a knife. Then the various ingredients should be very delicately and deliberately compounded, and withal by a quick and cunning hand, and the result will be perfection. Below we give the receipts for a class of salads best adapted for general use.
In the preparation of all salads only good oil should be used, as none other will produce invariably satisfactory results. The very best salads are often the result of the inspiration of the moment, when the necessity arises for substituting some ingredient near at hand for one not to be obtained, as in the case of the shad-roe salad mentioned below. The formula called for Russian caviare, but Russian caviare was not to be had, and a cold shad-roe was; the consequence was its substitution and the alteration of one or two other ingredients, and the result, we do not hesitate to say, was the production of one of the most delicious salads ever invented. Let careful housekeepers not given to these "foreign dishes" remember that they are not only appetizing but economical.
120. Spring Salad.—Break one pint of fresh mustard tops, and one of cresses, tear one good-sized lettuce, and chop two green onions; place all lightly in a dish, and ornament it with celery and slices of boiled beet. Use it with a cream dressing.
121. Watercress Salad.—Serve one quart of watercresses with one chopped green onion, one teaspoonful of ground horseradish, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, and two of oil, simply poured over.
122. Mint Salad.—Wash and clean the tender tops of one quart of spearmint, lay them in a bowl with one tablespoonful of chopped chives, and dress them with brown sugar and vinegar, or sweet sauce. This is an excellent accompaniment for roast lamb.