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Salads and Greens

Both Wild and Tame EVER VER SINCE THE need of vitamins prompted the first caveman to nibble some succulent green leaves with a charred hunk of the boar his club had brought down, and ages later, when instinct prompted the sick Nebuchadnezzar to eat grass, which might have been some Asiatic version of lamb's lettuce, green leaf salads have been the true salads. At first they were any wild herbs that pleased the palate, and even after many of them were tamed they were always escaping under the garden fence to fields that were their natural habitat, so salad eaters made little distinction between the wild and the cultivated, as is still true in country districts all over Europe and wherever Europeans have recently settled in America. Nor did they distinguish between seasoning herbs, salad greens and pot greens, which was very sensible, since all salad greens are good when cooked, many raw pot greens make delicious salads, and some seasoning herbs such as celery, sorrel, fennel and the cresses are salads in themselves.

Such leaf salads are still the best, as appetizers at the beginning of any outdoor menu or as digestives at the end, to accent fish or meat stews and make a midsummer feast with a few trifles to accompany them. Anyone who can turn out a masterpiece of properly dressed green leaves need not worry about shortcomings as a camp cook. Many so-called salads are merely cold foods with cold sauces, although they are not to be depised, since they conveniently take the place of the same foods hot, offer an attractive way to get rid of leftovers, and offer wide variety to the menu at all times. But a really fine fresh air meal rates a green salad, the simpler the better.

The rules are indeed, so simple and so widely publicized that any novice can learn the art:

Salad leaves must be washed gently, and then must be made bone-dry. Swing them in a towel, minnow or butterfly net, until absolutely no more water clings to them. They should be crisp, but not so cold that their flavor is impaired; and not allowed to wilt inside a close cabin or tent. If too big they should be torn with the fingersnever cut. Everything should be ready and waiting, bowl (a wooden one is best), dressing, and garnishing, if any; and the mixing should take place at the last moment before eating, for even ten minutes' delay in serving wastes all the salad maker's loving care. There should be just enough dressing to coat each leaf completely, leaving no extra liquid to collect in the bottom of the bowl. A wooden fork and spoon should be used to toss the salad, that is, to roll it over and over on itself. And that's easy in the woods where you can whittle them out to order. The fourniture, as the French call the inspirational garnishing which distinguishes their green salads, should be as simple as possible; one member of the onion family, either wild or tame, and one or more minced herb is likely to turn out more successfully than putting in a little of everything which has been left lying around the camp or galley. Most of us have learned lately not to be afraid of garlic, a whole clove rubbed to crumbs on the inside surface of the salad bowl is not detected by the uninitiated, and the odor is entirely removed from the fingers if they are held under running cold water.

Indoor diners do not usually go for the hearty French chapon, a dry bread heel into which a garlic clove is rubbed, but outdoor appetites often crave it. If onions or chives take the place of garlic they should be minced and scattered through the salad leaves along with the sprinkling of minced herbs. A little grated young carrot may be added to the green salad leaves, a few slices of cucumber or red radishes, or shredded lettuce or green pepper-but never more than one of these, just to impart flavor. It is easy to fall into the monotony of one salad green, head lettuce, so it is well to remember there are fourteen varieties of lettuce to choose from: Chinese cabbage, cardoon, chicory, collard tops, corn salad (lamb's lettuce), dandelion, endive (both loose head and French blanched), escarole, garden cress and watercress, mustard and mustard spinach, romaine (cos lettuce), salsify leaves, sorrels, and the spinach that is always with us. Some of these make acceptable changes in sandwiches.

Then there are wild greens, by the apronful. In the Salt Lake desert of Utah alone there are burdock, dandelion, pigweed, mustard, lamb's-quarters, wild spinach, sour dock, redroot, stinging nettle, greasewood, milkweed, wild cabbage, cow cabbage, ragweed, Russian thistle, wild lettuce, nightshade.

Besides these, there are cultivated red beet tops, sugar beet tops, spinach, Swiss chard, turnip tops, asparagus, cabbage, kale, Chinese broadleaf mustard, alfalfa, endive, rhubarb leaves (dangerous because of high oxalic acid content), radish tops, Brussels sprouts, caraway leaves, broccoli, chicory, horseradish leaves, collards, and corn salad.

With plenty of greens and a hunk of salt pork, dining out, that is, out of doors, is pretty soft.