Add whipped cream to mayonnaise or plain cream to French dressing at the moment of mixing them with the salad. The proportions need not be exact: a little more or less cream can be used as convenient.
Note.—An onion rubbed on the dish in which lettuce is to be served improves the salad.
PREPARING SALADS
It is essential that leaf salads and celery be dry. Oil and water do not mix, and if the salad is wet the dressing will run off it and also lose its flavor. They should also be crisp and clean. Divest them of imperfect portions and wash to free them of dust and grit. Examine lettuce for a small green insect and celery for a small white worm which infest them, then place them in cold water to refresh and crisp them.
Dry them carefully, shaking lettuce or watercress in a wire basket, or carefully dry each piece in a clean napkin. Celery may be drained or wiped. The salad may be dried sometime before using it, and if kept near the ice will retain its crispness, but the dressing must not be put on until the moment of serving, as it wilts the leaves. The same rule applies to vegetables used as salads: they should be dry and cold.
There need be no waste in lettuce. The imperfect and hard leaves may be boiled and used as directed on page [55] for green eggs. The rejected outside leaves of one head will be enough for one or two eggs, or they may be used with other odds and ends of vegetables to give a macedoine garnishing to a meat dish.
SALADS
Of the many articles used for salad, lettuce is preëminently first in favor. It is the king of salads; and, whatever else is used, lettuce usually forms part of the dish to make it complete. A plain lettuce is always acceptable and can be served in several forms. Combined with one or more articles equally common, a number of bouquet salads can easily be made, giving dishes attractive both in taste and color. The bouquet salads should be placed on flat dishes in order to show the arrangement, color, and variety of articles used.
A variety in salads is desirable; and, as they can be eaten every day, a little change in the combinations will give variety.
The use of nasturtium blossoms is recommended. They are not only beautiful to look at and decorative, but have a piquant flavor. Combinations of green such as are obtained by lettuce and watercress are pleasing.