Evolution of the salad
The salad course has come a long way from being the food of abstention. Diet plates of cottage cheese, served with canned peaches, and the austere side salads of tired iceberg lettuce, have been replaced by sophisticated ingredients and combinations.
The many iterations of Jell-O salads, and salad bars with their canned bean selections are gratefully behind us now. Pasta salads that proliferated in the carb-enthused 1980s contributed to my lack of love for mayonnaise, however cold noodles with pesto still reigns supreme.
A coterie of salads has stood the test of time. The Caesar — invented by chef Caesar Cardini in 1920s Tijuana — remains one of the most popular items on Canadian menus. Cardini would be incredulous of the many versions departing from his prepared-tableside original. They include grilled romaine, optional topping of grilled chicken or prawns, and the still trending kale replacing the romaine.
Another keeper is the Cobb salad, a hefty protein-focused combination of iceberg, bacon, chicken, hard-boiled eggs, blue cheese, and vinaigrette dressing. And the Greek salad of feta, tomatoes, cucumber and Kalamata olives is found on many more menus than just Greek restaurants. A session of southern-style barbecue pales without coleslaw, and summers would be bereft without potato salad.
What constitutes a salad today is open to interpretation. Viewed as a free-form dish that can reflect many things — from what’s in the fridge right now to heralding seasonal produce — it can set you free to create on the plate. It’s not just about the lettuce or the kale.
Grains such as quinoa, barley or couscous, and beans or legumes such as chickpeas step up power lunch salads, and herbs have star power to transform any grain or pulse-focused course.
Pairing fruits with vegetables is another strategy to take your salads out of mediocrity. Think beets and oranges, fennel and orange segments, kale with apples, pears with watercress. And a flourish of blue cheese is welcome with all of them.
Singular ingredients also make a wonderful salad course. Beets, golden, red or Chiogga make a colourful array, peeled and thinly sliced. Arrange them in overlapping, circular, concentric patterns, drizzle with sherry vinegar, olive oil and sea salt flakes. Add in goat cheese or feta for extra heft and flavour.
Tomatoes too, in all their varietals from red to yellow to green and striped are brilliant right now. If you don't grow your own, farm stands and farmers' markets are brimming with the berry from the Solanum lycopersicum.
They bring to life a Greek salad, and the classic Caprese, paired with sliced fresh mozzarella, sweet basil and simply seasoned with salt and olive oil.
Texture too, makes every bite more interesting. Think toasted seeds and nuts, and dried fruit.
While mixed greens are still on menus, our access to a wide range of fresh locally-grown food has never been better. To this effect, chefs with their seasonal and regional mindsets have taken the salad course to new heights of imagination and creativity.
At Play Estate Winery Bistro, chef
Dominic DiBartolomeo reimagines the salad course by building “awesome bites” with texture, colour, consideration of the five tastes (salty, sweet, sour, bitter and umami) and local produce. His tomato and burrata salad begins with quality-sourced burrata as a base, followed by quartered and colourful saladette tomatoes — meatier and less juicy than other types — sourced from Cawston-based Klippers Organics.
Textures and flavours are added in: black garlic combined with dried olives provide an umami note and licorice-y hit, gremolata crumbs provide a herbaceous crunch, and a flourish of micro basil and marigold petals add pops of colour.
The culinary adventure continues, when fermented tomato water is delicately poured around the dish, tableside, acting as the vinegar to the basil oil. The intersection of execution and imagination is a delicious place to be.
With fork and pen in hand, and a passion for culinary adventure, Shelora Sheldan, a Penticton writer, cook and traveller, goes in search of the delectable.