How Do You Usually Eat Salads?

[The Late Night Gourmet]

This might sound like a dumb question (and maybe it is), but I thought about this as I prepared my salad for lunch today. I always pack the greens separately from the other vegetables, meat separately from the vegetables, and of course the dressing is also separate. But, what I do next depends greatly on whether I'm going to take a picture or just eat it.

Take this salad, for example:

No, this is not the salad I brought to lunch today. But, observe the attractive arrangement of the spinach leaves, egg, and other components. If I had that served to me, I would think, Wow, that looks beautiful, and then I would attack it with my knife and fork, and it would look something like this:

I always cut my salad into pieces and then distribute the components so I have an even distribution. Ideally, every forkful has the same proportion of everything.

I simply never eat the salad the way it's plated (unless it already looks like the second picture). In the above case, I don't want to:

• slice off a little piece of egg
• stab a few sprouts
• stab a few leaves
• scoop up some onion
• dip it in the dressing
• repeat

I don't want to spend 3 hours eating a salad. I want to cut it into manageable portions, mix in the dressing, and then go.

But, maybe some of you are different. I can understand the benefit to not rushing through meals. But, eating a salad while maintaining the plating seems like a lot of work to me.

 

[CraigC]

It all depends on the salad, as in is it a dinner salad, side salad or pasta salad.

 

[Morning Glory]

I wouldn't ever chop it all in bits and mix it up to eat - any more than I'd do that with a plate of chicken and chips or anything else. But of course, some salads do come already chopped and mixed up, as that is the type of salad they are.

If I served a salad that I'd carefully arranged to someone and they minced it all up together before eating, I think I'd be quite upset. For example - take this plate (My sort of Waldorf). It would simply look dreadful if it was chopped and mixed up and I wouldn't want to eat it. Part of the pleasure is tasting contrasts between elements. If they are all jumbled together, that is not possible.

But as I say - it depends on the type of salad. A Russian salad, for example is meant to be served mixed up.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

If I served a salad that I'd carefully arranged to someone and they minced it all up together before eating, I think I'd be quite upset.

This is a fair point. I don't act like a barbarian if I went to the house of someone who took the time to arrange a beautiful plate. But, I do at restaurants, in many cases. I would probably feel ashamed about obliterating something as pretty as the plate you showed above.

 

[Morning Glory]

This is a fair point. I don't act like a barbarian if I went to the house of someone who took the time to arrange a beautiful plate. But, I do at restaurants, in many cases. I would probably feel ashamed about obliterating something as pretty as the plate you showed above.

I still don't understand - why do you want every mouthful to have every bit of the ingredients in it? Surely you wouldn't do that with steak and chips or any other hot meal served with separate elements - although I have known some people do that with a roast dinner! I suppose some people might do that with dishes such as curry and rice, though.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I still don't understand - why do you want every mouthful to have every bit of the ingredients in it?

Now that I think of it, there's a difference between a salad that has a massive amount of greens with other vegetables on top of it, as opposed to the plate you show above. In your case, the ingredients are specifically arrayed in separate places, which suggests a separated approach to the plate. While a steak is sometimes plated on top of the chips (I hate when they do that, since it makes then soggy), it's expected that they will be enjoyed separately.

In the case of a salad where the greens are underneath everything else, I expect that the intention is to enjoy them together. I am also posting this as a result of the salad I brought to lunch, which was a Greek salad. I do want the beets, olives, lettuce/spinach, feta cheese, and dressing in every bite.

 

[Mountain Cat]

Yes, it depends on the type of salad. When I make salads for me I pre-chop everything up and try to mix depending on how much time I have during prep. When I make salads for others or for the blog, I'll go for something that relies on presentation in most cases.

Here's a salad I was recently served at an Asian restaurant.

The dressing was originally all served on the side, and lettuce and a little cuke is hidden beneath the avocado.

I didn't mix it all together, but I had to break up the slices of avo - which mostly fell apart anyway as I picked them up. It would have been nice to have a taste of all ingredients in every bite, but this wasn't practical. I focused on avo, leaving some behind, then eating the other ingredients, sometimes with attached avo, often not. I made sure some avo lasted the entire experience.

 

[Cinnamonita]

Yes, it depends on the type of salad.

This is so true for me. If I'm making a salad as party of my everyday routine, I'll have maybe four or five elements in the salad, and they'll usually be very complementary and it's nice to have it mixed up with the dressing. Then I combine a few of the pieces with each bite. Efficiency reigns.

But oh my gosh, if I plated a salad with, I dunno, burrata, roasted beets, polenta croutons, micro greens, and pancetta, there will be NO bestial stirring of my salad and each bite will be a thoughtful pairing or conjoining of elements, with the weighty responsibility of making a morose and precise decision fully assumed.

 

[Morning Glory]

oh my gosh, if I plated a salad with, I dunno, burrata, roasted beets, polenta croutons, micro greens, and pancetta, there will be NO bestial stirring of my salad

Agreed - it so much depends on type of salad. Your impromptu example salad sounds divine!

 

[TastyReuben]

It really depends on the salad. Most of the salads I make are some version of a chopped salad.

I'll put the greens in one bowl, toss those with the dressing, then put the other items in another bowl and toss those. That way, when I build the salad on the plate, I can get a good proportion doled out. Otherwise, all the add-ins, like the tomatoes and cukes and peppers, all fall to the bottom because they're heavier.

Lastly, I top each salad with croutons or something else crispy and the cheese, either in a chunk, or shredded/crumbled.

That salad, I don't have to have a bit of everything in each bite, but I do want a couple of things in every bite.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

This is one of my salads. I general pick and choose which bit of what I eat next. I'll not eat all of the say carrots at once, but I'll take an entire stick of carrot and dip that in any dressing.

Salad

• SatNavSaysStraightOn
• 11 Jan 2018
• salad

 

[Cinnamonita]

This is one of my salads.

So much freshness on one plate!

 

[detroitdad]

This is one of my salads. I general pick and choose which bit of what I eat next. I'll not eat all of the say carrots at once, but I'll take an entire stick of carrot and dip that in any dressing.

Salad

• SatNavSaysStraightOn
• 11 Jan 2018
• salad

That's sexy

 

[Morning Glory]

This is one of my salads. I general pick and choose which bit of what I eat next. I'll not eat all of the say carrots at once, but I'll take an entire stick of carrot and dip that in any dressing.

Salad

• SatNavSaysStraightOn
• 11 Jan 2018
• salad

What are the pink things?

 

[detroitdad]

We usually keep a salad in the fridge. We normally mix kale and greens together. Keep them in a separate bowl. Then whatever veggies will go in it are pre chopped and stored separately. When its time to eat, I mix everything together on my plate, add dressing, and enjoy.