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Summer Salads

At the season of the year when the system demands an abundance of water to supply its needs, the green foods provided by nature meet that demand. The salad is the prince of the menu, and though the dinner may be perfect in every detail, it is incomplete without a good salad. Vegetables and leaves for salads need to be perfectly fresh, crisp, and tender; they should be carefully examined, and all bruised and tough leaves discarded.

For mixing a salad there is nothing better than the salad knife and fork of boxwood. The bowl in which the salad is to be mixed should be large. It is always best not to season a salad until a few minutes before it is to be served. Many salads deteriorate by standing.

For the dressing of nearly all salads, both an oil and an acid are essential. The term salad is applied to cold meat dishes mixed with lettuce or celery and seasoned like a salad. Chicken and celery, beef, mutton, or fish dressed with mayonnaise dressing are salads. Fruits cut in slices and dressed with syrups or liqueurs are known as "fruit salads."

With a good understanding of several simple dressings almost any number of salads may be made by changing and mixing flavorings and ingredients. With a little ingenuity combined with artistic taste one may have a different salad every day.