Another Salad

A variation entry rather than a standalone recipe: it assumes you already have a dressed lettuce salad and a cross-reference for the beetroot. Read it as a list of additions.

• The cross-references"as at 655" presumably points to the book's earlier treatment of beetroot, and the dressing is the one the yolk has gone into, given elsewhere in the book. Beetroot boiled or roasted whole in its skin until tender, then peeled and sliced, gives the same result.
• Mustard and cressThis is the punnet of mixed white mustard and garden cress seedlings sold in Britain, cut at about two inches. Any peppery microgreen, or a handful of watercress leaves, stands in for it.
• A stick of celeryCelery of the period was usually blanched, and "a stick" may mean a single rib or a whole head. One rib of modern celery, sliced thin on the diagonal, suits the salad.
• The yolk and the whiteThe point of the instruction is economy: the yolk is mashed into the dressing, so the white is chopped or sliced over the salad rather than wasted. Boil the egg ten minutes, cool it in cold water, and keep the two parts separate from the start.
• SorrelSorrel is sharply acidic; the recipe offers it only as an optional addition. A few leaves shredded fine is enough; more than that overwhelms the lettuce, and it is best added at the last moment.
• Assembly orderThe recipe gives no order. Scattering the beetroot over the dressed lettuce rather than tossing it through will keep it from colouring the whole bowl.
• YieldNo yield is given. The quantities suggest a side salad for about four; beetroot, celery and egg make it substantial enough to stand beside cold meat.