Types of Salad

As salad is so good for you, it is just as well its so versatile and varied! A salad can consist of many things and is so much more than wilted lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber! It can contain vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, pasta, potatoes, meats and cheese to name just a few!

Of course there are a range of well known salads such as:-

Garden salad - Ah the humble garden salad! This is also often called a green salad and is usually presented on some leaf lettuce, it contains items such as mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, carrots and radishes. There may also be some meat with the salad. These types of salad are usually served with a dressing for enhanced flavour and these could be ranch, Caesar, honey and mustard or mayonnaise to name a few of a very exhaustive list!

Other types of salad may be based on a food product rather than on salad or vegetables.

In a traditional Greek salad lettuce will be omitted from the dish. This will be sliced tomatoes and cucumber with red onion. This will be seasoned with salt, pepper and oregano and finished with olive oil. Feta cheese, peppers, capers, anchovies or sardines may also be added.

A potato salad is another version of salad without lettuce and is prepared differently around the world. Some people will cook small salad potatoes and others will cook larger potatoes and chop them up. Mayonnaise is the usual dressing for potato salad but vinegar dressings are also used. Other items may be added including bacon or herbs such as dill.

There are different types of lettuce that you can use in a salad as well as different types of salad. The Chinese Leaf is a slightly bitter tasting leaf which is long and tapered. It is quite a pale green leaf in colour.

Iceberg is another popular type of lettuce and is fresh and crisp tasting. It is usually prepared sliced and is good with a tuna fish salad. They have a mild flavour and their name actually comes from the method that they used to be transported in the early part of the 19th century - packed in ice.