Green Salad Ideas

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Thanks to the health-food craze of the ’60s, spa cuisine in the ’70s, nouvelle cuisine in the ’80s and the organic movement in the ’90s, salads have come of age. The legacy of iceberg lettuce, cucumber and tomato salads has been replaced with far more exotic and diverse options.

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Recipes: 

• Pecan Pear Salad
• Creamy Poppy Seed Salad Dressing
• Tomato Onion Salad
• Baked Sweet Potato Salad
• Mustard Honey Dressing 

Garnishing Sidebars:

• How to Toast Nuts 
• How to Grill Onions 

According to The Joy of Cooking, the culinary bible of modern America, the term “salad” originally referred to the edible parts of various herbs and plants dressed solely with salt. Although leafy salad greens have been a part of the world’s great cuisines for centuries, the modern salad—as we know it—was virtually unheard of in the United States until the early 1900s, and uninspired until the second half of the 20th century.

Thanks to the health-food craze of the ’60s, spa cuisine in the ’70s, nouvelle cuisine in the ’80s and the organic movement in the ’90s, salads have come of age. The legacy of iceberg lettuce, cucumber and tomato salads has been replaced with far more exotic and diverse options.

Aromatic mesclun greens—salad mixes made from young, tender arugula, chicory, assorted chard and mustard greens, endive, frisée, kale, sorrel, radicchio and other exotic leaves—add nutrients and brighten the salad bowl.

To add interest to your salad greens, consider using yellow pear tomatoes, orange cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes or a purple heirloom variety. For a sweeter flavor, add seasonal fresh berries, sectioned and sliced citrus fruits, cored and sliced apples, pears or dried fruits, or sun-dried tomatoes. For a deliciously crunchy texture, add thinly sliced or grated radishes, shaved slices of fennel bulb, or a sprinkle of lightly toasted nuts or seeds. Garnish with fragrant fresh herbs or edible flowers, minced scallions, chives or parsley and you’ll have a tantalizing blend of bold flavors and textures.

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