Why Does A Salad Need Fruit?

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Tired of green salads, which are abundant in the summer at the dacha? Try to diversify them with fruit ingredients! An amazing palette of flavors and aromas awaits you. It is no coincidence that such fruit and vegetable and salad mixes are served in elite restaurants for the most sophisticated audience. Try it, and perhaps you will have your own original recipe

In the summer, one of the most beloved and popular dishes on country tables is a variety of salads from garden herbs. Their recipes are about the same, only the ingredients and dressings change. No one doubts the benefits of fresh greens, but sooner or later they may just bother us. Surely, the hostesses have repeatedly noted that the same salad, regularly served on the table throughout the month, remains more and more on the plate.

It is good to change the menu from time to time, and it is even more interesting to try something new. Have you thought about adding a little fruit to your usual salads? Surely, you have met similar recipes in elite culinary books, but you yourself did not dare to cook such for various reasons. After all, the combination is quite unusual, and it is customary for us for the most part to eat fruits and berries separately, without mixing them with anything. However, it's worth a try!

Berry note

To begin with, you can add any fruit of your choice to salads. But it is desirable that the base of the salad be "green" - only greens, lettuce leaves, cucumbers without tomatoes (combining them with berries is not for everybody). The strawberry-strawberry season is far behind, but surely many gardeners have several bushes of remontant strawberries or strawberries on the site.

You don't need a lot of berries for a salad. They are necessary for the play of taste and color, for imparting an unusual sweet sourness. One of the classic combinations is spinach, lettuce, strawberry slices, walnuts and feta cheese. For dressing, you will need olive oil, wine vinegar (or apple cider) in a 1: 1 ratio, as well as salt and pepper to taste. If the salad contains leaves with bitterness (watercress or arugula), then a semi-sweet, fruit sauce or syrup will help soften their taste. In addition to strawberries, green salads can be safely mixed with blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, grapes, cherries, currants, elderberries and other berries.

The sweetness of dried fruit

Fresh fruit is undoubtedly great. But dry fruits can be just as useful in salads. Think of raisins, dried apricots, figs. They go well with green salads with added cheese. Dried fruits will add not only unusual sweetness to green, light salads, but also calories, making the dish more satisfying. If you're already harvesting apples, dry a few of them and try adding them to your salad.

Citrus flavors

Citrus fruits - oranges, grapefruits, tangerines - go wonderfully with greens. They sharpen the taste buds and are even suitable for meat salads. Thanks to them, dishes acquire unique aromas, even if you squeeze a little citrus juice into a dressing. Lemon juice and pine nuts add spicy notes to the most ordinary green salad. Neutral spinach and sweet orange are very good friends. Plus, the vitamin C in citrus will help you better absorb the iron in spinach.

Universal fruits

These include apples and pineapples. These fruits are suitable for both salads and main courses, and they go well with meat. The simplest and healthiest salad is grated apple and cucumber, sprinkled with lemon juice, which, by the way, prevents the peeled apple from acquiring an ugly brown hue.

Oriental shades

For lovers of oriental fruits, we recommend taking note of apricots and peaches. They are unlikely to quarrel with green lettuce leaves. By the way, these fruits are also suitable in canned form. Try the quirky spicy blend of arugula leaves, walnuts and canned peaches, seasoned with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper.

Spicy exotic

Fruits from the farthest continents can easily make friends with garden greenery. Especially popular in salad mixes are mango, kiwi, pineapple and avocado. An interesting harmony of taste is obtained in a mix with spinach (or any neutral salad), mango cubes, avocado and cashew nuts. For satiety, you can flavor the dish with pieces of boiled chicken. Kiwi or pineapple can soften the flavor of the meat, making it more juicy.

Guests with melons

At the sunset of the garden season, melons and gourds are increasingly appearing on the table. So why not use them in salad art too? Slices of watermelon will add juiciness and sweetness to green leaves, soften possible bitterness. A well-known mix of watermelon with arugula, feta cheese and olives with the addition of honey and lemon juice.

We wish you bold and delicious experiments!