SALAD VARIATIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19268, 3 January 1931, Page 20 (Supplement)

SALAD VARIATIONS.

As the summer wears on, the housekeeper feels she ought to vary the “ green ” salad which makes such a frequent appearance on the menu. Many unusual salads can lie made, but the materials need to be combined very carefully if they are to be edible. Cold lamb, veal, and chicken are delicious when served with asparagus and cherry salad made as follows: Take half a pint of stewed, bottled or tinned cherries from their syrup, and pour over them a tablespoonful of brandy. Leave for a time. Whisk two tablespoonfuls of cream until thick, add a dessertspoonful of lemon juice, a few drops of tarragon vinegar, and seasoning of pepper and salt, and whisk well. Stir in a bundle of cooked asparagus cut into swall lengths. Add a little of the syrup and the cherries; decorate the dish with some of them.

Potato and nut salad is both substantial and delicious. S/ice some cooked potatoes thickly, cover with mayonnaise mixed with some finely minced onion, sprinkle with chopped walnuts and a few capers. A very decorative is made from slices of tomato garnished with chopped cucumber and spring onions. Place some stuffed olives in the centre and cover very lightly with a thin French dressing. A delightful salad served on individual dishes is made from lettuce hearts, a slice of fresh or tinned pineapple, with an olive in the centre and some red pepper on top. This should be served with cream dressing, which is made by adding a teaspoonful of sugar and a little red pepper to half a breakfast-cup of cream. Then beat in very slowly the juice of a lemon. This dressing is also used for Japonaise salad, which consists of lettuce leaves, peeled grapes, chopped apple, orange and banana, and walnuts. This, of course, should be served as a sweet. Mushrooms. Mushrooms are not often served in salad form, but they should be tried. Cook some well-seasoned mushrooms until tender in a little salad oil, with a few slices of lemon peel, preferably in a double saucepan. Leave until cold, sprinkle with chopped parsley, and garnish with shredded lettuce leaves. Rice and shrimp salad is also unusual but simple. Drain very dry half a pound of cooked rice and, when cold, mix with it a gill of shrimps. Pour over oil and vinegar dressing. These are some suggestions, but there are endless combinations, both sweet and savoury, such as apple, date and walnut; egg and endive; cheese and lettuce; walnut and endive; banana and lettuce; beetroot, chicory and lettuce; orange and banana. When experimenting with new salads, the housewife should try them in small quantities first, as some mixtures which sound very appetising are unpalatable in actuality. Another point to watch is that the salads are artistically decorated and daintily served.