vegetable

Salads and Salads

Salad is a term to which different meanings are attributed, mostly of a gastronomic nature. Probably, in the common language for "salad" we mainly mean a side dish made from raw leafy vegetables, but there are also salads used as an appetizer, a first course, a dish or a single dish.

The prerogative of the salad (as suggested by the Latin etymology of the term - salada -) is that of being seasoned;

generally, the dressing of salads consists of the addition of: salt, (to date) vegetable oil and, if desired, vinegar, lemon, yogurt, sour cream, etc.

Types of salad

The salad can include raw, cooked or both ingredients.

In the distinction of the innumerable dishes, the noun "salad" is often accompanied by the specific discriminant (constituted by the main ingredient), which illustrates the composition of one or more preparations; some examples are:

green salad, lettuce salad, endive salad, rocket salad, corn salad, chicory salad, cabbage salad (all cabbage and broccoli), turnip salad, celery salad, sprout salad, radish salad, artichoke salad, red onion salad / raw spring onions, raw spinach salad, dandelion salad, radicchio salad, mixed salad, raw fennel salad, carrot salad, cucumber salad, raw tomato salad, raw zucchini salad, salad of raw peppers, orange salad, grapefruit salad, apple salad, pear salad, melon salad, pasta salad, rice salad, barley salad, spelled salad, corn salad, potato salad, bean salad, broad bean salad, chickpea salad, lentil salad, pea salad, soy salad, fennel salad etc.

It is possible to make salads more complete and nutritious by increasing the number of ingredients; in this case, the specific discriminant is followed by the supplementary ingredients, which are quantitatively less abundant. For example: " green salad with ": olives, parsley, avocado, chillies, chicken, turkey, wurstel, veal, tuna, mackerel, boiled eggs, mozzarella, parmesan, milk flakes, walnuts, pine nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, sesame, coconut etc. The salad can consist of all 7 basic food groups.

NB . Some dishes, such as "seafood salad" or "chicken salad", mainly contain ingredients of animal origin.

"Famous" salads

On the national and international territory there are many typical preparations (even quite complex) that have become part of the local image; as far as Italy is concerned, we can mention: fennel and orange salad (Sicily), salad of baked onions and soncino salad with eggs (Piedmont and Lombardy), reinforcement salad (Campania) etc.

As for international cuisine, everyone will have heard of: Russian salad (designed by a French chef for a Russian Tsar), Greek salad (Greece), Caesar salad (USA), Montecarlo salad (Montecarlo), Nizzarda salad (Nice ), Valencia salad (Spain), German salad (Germany) etc.

Caesar Salad in My Way (Without Eggs)

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Nutritional reflections on salads

Who knows why, in the common imagination salads and salads are generally synonymous with light, dietetic, low-calorie and healthy cooking; probably, referring to a "green salad" topped with a teaspoon of oil and lemon juice, the concept would not be so far from reality. However, analyzing the preparations mentioned above, it seems quite obvious that the only truly "light" salads are those essentially consisting of leafy vegetable-based side dishes, or roots and fruits, which have nothing to do with the salads of cereals, legumes, meat, fish, eggs and cheese. Rather! For a more expert eye, a quick look at the ingredients of the famous "summer salads" is enough to realize that they probably bring MORE CALORIES than a simple dish of dry pasta with tomato (without considering that, to accompany the salads, a slice of no one takes away bread!)

In the event that the kind readers were not yet convinced, below I will report some examples of salads and salads truly LIGHT, with very few added fats (about 25-50% of the necessary) in comparison to the classic dish of dry pasta with tomato.

Name of the dishDish ingredientsEnergy for 1 medium portion
Green salad, seasonedLettuce 70g, extra virgin olive oil 10g, ½ lemon juice 20gabout 105kcal
"Light" rice saladParboiled 70g rice, 100g frozen mixed vegetables, mayonnaise without eggs 10g, natural tuna 50g or ½ light mozzarella or ½ hard boiled egg 25g, extra virgin olive oil 10g, ½ lemon juice 20gabout 400kcal
"Light" summer saladLettuce 50g, tomatoes 100g, carrots 50g, beans 60g, natural tuna 50g, ½ mozzarella light 60g, ½ hard-boiled egg 25g, extra virgin olive oil 10g, ½ lemon juice 20gabout 430kcal
Pasta with tomato, basil and parmesan cheese80g semolina pasta, 100g tomato sauce, 10g grated parmesan, 10g extra virgin olive oil, QB basilabout 430kcal

I don't think we need to add anything else; just think that any salad or a common rice salad, not "light", provide up to 25-35% more calories than the examples above (for a total of AT LEAST 540kcal in the first case and 500kcal in the second). In conclusion, it is better to pay attention to the composition of salads and salads to avoid that, in an attempt to reduce energy intake, the opposite effect is not achieved.