How to Make a Really Good Salad

Summer is here, the weather is hot and our thoughts often turn to a cool, refreshing salad. It was not always that way. Its only been within the recent past that salads moved from being strictly a side dish to a main dish. In the journey a lot of mistakes have been made.

There are very few foods that can not be made into a salad. Some salads can be very intricate and some are extremely simple. In some cases, leftovers can be used for great salads. For instance, last weekend's leftover steak can be turned into a great main course. You can make up your own mixture, do it all from scratch and have a wonderful salad. On the other hand you can buy a Caesar salad kit from your supermarket, toss it with some shrimp, the leftover steak and some cherry tomatoes and present a grand dish with very little trouble. Sort of your own version of Surf and Turf.

A word of warning. Please do not use a salad as an excuse to cover up poorly cooked foods. If you burned the chicken it will not taste any better in a salad. If the lettuce is Limp it will still be Limp when you toss it in a salad. And, if you overcooked the green beans do not even think of using them in a salad Nicoise. Salads should contain fresh ingredients or leftovers masterful, nothing else.

The dressing you use is really half the salad to make it first rate. Please do not insult the salad, and your guests, by using lite or fat free dressing. If you are obsessed with cutting out a few less calories eat salad. Speaking of dressing, most people use way too much anyway. Dressings are meant to merely anyone the ingredients not drown them!

Below is a recipe for a fruit salad with my own dressing. I came up with it because I really dislike the ubiquitous poppy seed dressing that is so prevalent when fruit salads are served.

First, select a variety of fruits that are in season or that you prefer and cut them into bite-sized chunks. I like Watermelon, canteloupe, apple slices, pineapple chunks and Seedless grapes. I also add strawberries or other berrries if they are in season.

The dressing is made as follows and the recipe is for two people:

1 / 2 package of mixed baby greens or romaine chilled and torn into bite-sized pieces.
1 8 oz. carton of sour cream
1 1 / 3 table spoons of honey. (more if you like a sweeter dressing)
1 / 4 cup orange juice

Place greens on a plate and arrange fruit on top Neatly. Mix all the other ingredients together and pour over the salad. Pass extra dressing.

This other salad is so simple it really is not a recipe. I got it from one of my favorite cookbooks, White Trash Cooking by the late Ernest Matthew Mickle. Do not look at it and dismiss it out of hand - its a wonderful salad somewhat like a tomato and lettuce salad without the bread.

Take one head of iceberg lettuce, wash it and cut it into 2 inch chunks. Cut up three ripe tomatoes into quarters and then Halve the quarters. Toss with mayonnaise good enough to generously coat everything. Add plenty of salt and pepper to taste. If you need more moisture, unlikely, just add a few table spoons of vinegar.

Note: If you can not obtain really good, home grown tomatoes, the salad will still be okay but not great.

Both these recipes can be found in my award-winning cookbook, Help-I Gotta Cook! and can be purchased on Amazon or from my webpage http://www.ineedtocook.com

Like many other chefs, Ed Dugan learned to cook at the feet of his grandmother. His cookbook, Help-I Gotta Cook! was named Cookbook of the Year in 2007 and was written for people who want to learn to cook, or who want to learn to cook better. It contains a comprehensive Cooking Guide and 325 reclpes. If you are really new to the kitchen he has a chapter entitled Training Wheels Meals that will have you cooking a great meal in minutes. Check it out on http://www.ineedtocook.com

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