19. Because of the large variety of ingredients that may be used in the
making of salads, it is usually possible to make the salad correspond
properly with the other dishes in the meal. This is a little more
difficult to accomplish when left-over materials are used in salads,
but, even in this event, the addition of ingredients that will make the
salad more nearly approach what must be supplied is usually possible. If
the meal is to be a light one and the salad is to serve as the principal
dish, it should be sufficiently heavy and contain enough food value to
serve the purpose for which it is intended. It should be decided on
first, and then the rest of the dishes should be planned to correspond
with the salad.
On the other hand, when the meal is a heavy one and the salad is to be
one of the lighter dishes, the main dishes should be decided on first
and the salad planned so that it will correspond properly with the other
dishes. For instance, with meat or fish as the main course of the meal,
a fish, egg, or cheese salad would obviously be the wrong thing to
serve. Instead, a light salad of vegetables or fruits should be selected
for such a meal. It should be remembered, also, that if the other dishes
of a meal contain sufficient food value to make the meal properly
nourishing, a salad containing a rich dressing will provide more than a
sufficient supply of calories and consequently should be avoided.
20. Another point that should not be neglected in selecting a salad is
that it should be a contrast to the rest of the meal as far as flavor is
concerned. While several foods acid in flavor do not necessarily
unbalance a meal so far as food substances and food value are concerned,
they provide too much of the same flavor to be agreeable to most
persons. For instance, if the meal contains an acid soup, such as
tomato, and a vegetable with a sour dressing, such as beets, then a
salad that is also acid will be likely to add more of a sour flavor than
the majority of persons desire.
Then, too, it is not a good plan to serve in the salad the same
vegetable that is served in the soup or the dinner course. Thus, creamed
celery and a salad containing celery, and tomato soup and tomato salad
are bad combinations and should, like others similar to them, be
carefully avoided. Even though such vegetables may be on hand in
quantity, they can usually be kept for another meal.