Since the salad was called spicy greens sliced and seasoned with vinegar, at least five thousand years have passed. Since the days of ancient Rome, the cold snack has changed a lot. Many people remember that quite recently, less than half a century ago, Soviet housewives, except for vinaigrette and Olivier, knew almost no recipes for cold snacks. The situation has changed dramatically, and in modern cooking, salad is one of the most favorite cold dishes, and leafy greens more often serve a decorative function in a dish, or serve to create a certain taste. Salad is sometimes difficult to name a snack, given the complex and high-calorie composition. Yes, and to cold dishes, for example, warm salads have an indirect relationship.
How many in fact there are recipes for salads in the world, no one knows. It does not make sense to count their number, because the list is regularly and spontaneously updated. Along with the most famous recipes from famous chefs, salads invent housewives. No wonder they say that a woman can come up with a salad out of nothing. This “nothing” can mean anything.
Any products that match to taste can be turned into a salad by adding a suitable dressing to them. For example, if you add one or two ingredients to a salad with prunes, mushrooms and chicken, picking them up with mushrooms or chicken meat, the home cooking encyclopedia will be updated with a new recipe, which the author will share with friends or work colleagues. Those, in turn, will complement or change the recipe so that there will be another version of the cold dish - and so on to infinity. Each housewife has her own special salad recipe, as can be seen right now.
Salad with prunes, chicken and mushrooms - the basic technological principles
The technology of preparation of all salads, despite the diversity of their types, has no fundamental differences, and consists in the preliminary preparation of ingredients, their grinding, mixing and preparation of the dressing. Refueling matters. The invention of mayonnaise in the eighteenth century significantly influenced the expansion of the range of salads and their taste. Many housewives prefer to use this versatile sauce not only for cooking salads, but also for baking dishes in the oven. Mayonnaise is really tasty by itself and in a salad it combines the ingredients so much that even the most unusual combinations of products become harmonious, thanks to the mayonnaise. But, nevertheless, do not abuse this sauce: not only because nutritionists consider it a high-calorie product - mayonnaise in large quantities muffles the taste of the dish.
Alternative to mayonnaise - oil-vinegar sauces, with the addition of spices and herbs, vegetable oils, sour cream or sour cream-based sauces. For the preparation of salad dressings are also used other dairy products: cream, yogurt, buttermilk. Wine, juice of lemons or other fruits with a sour taste, tomato paste are added to salad dressings. For giving sharpness and a special taste mustard, a mixture of peppers is used. What kind of dressing to use in a particular salad depends largely on the intuition of the cook, his knowledge of the properties of the products and culinary experience.
The main rule of salad dressing: its taste should not prevail in the salad, but only combine its components and emphasize their taste. You should also remember that after adding any dressing, the shelf life of the salad is reduced to two hours, especially at room temperature. Mayonnaise and sauces based on lactic acid products, in combination with meat, fish and other salad ingredients containing animal protein, are a very favorable environment for pathogenic microorganisms.
Pay attention to the ways of cutting. This is also important. Traditionally it is believed that all components of the salad should be cut the same size, taking into account the appearance of the dish. But also need to pay attention to the consistency of the components. So, for example, dense in texture, boiled potatoes in combination with juicy vegetables is better to cut thinner, and so on. A very important detail in the preparation of salads - sharp knives. Without this trifle, a beautiful and tasty salad will not work. A dull knife will not only slow down the cooking process - it will knead the ingredients, worsening the appearance of the dish, with such tools you will not get beautiful and even forms when slicing.
Now about making salad compositions on the example of a salad with prunes, chicken and mushrooms. Note that the proposed option is already a completely self-sufficient dish, which lacks only refueling. But, if you go further, you can add, for example, cheese with a delicate creamy taste to sourish and smoked olives, especially since cheese is not in conflict with chicken meat and mushrooms. Any ingredients will suit the neutral taste of chicken meat, but the dense and dry consistency of chicken can be supplemented with juicy fruits of vegetables or fruits. If you add pickled mushrooms containing vinegar and salt to the salad, add sweet glazed carrots or beets, figs, raisins to contrast. In a word, the proposed composition can be developed in any direction.
Bold fantasies in cooking are welcome, because this is how new and better dishes appear.
1. Salad with prunes, chicken and mushrooms “Klukovka”
Ingredients:
Boiled breast, chicken
Marinated mushrooms
Prunes
Quail eggs
Fresh cucumbers
Cranberries (or lingonberries)
Mayonnaise
Cooking:
Ingredients for salad take in the same amount, by weight, except for cranberries and prunes. They are added to the salad to decorate and give a spicy taste, not more than 10% of the total mass. Mayonnaise is added to taste.
Cut:
Mushrooms - plates;
Cucumbers and breasts - in bars (0.5 x 0.5 x 2.5 cm);
Boiled eggs - slices.
Wash, dry, and chop the large prunes without stones. Gently combine the ingredients, mix with a fork. Put in a salad bowl, decorate with mayonnaise and leaves of fresh greens.
2. Salad with prunes, chicken and mushrooms in a Mediterranean style
Products:
Smoked fillet, chicken 450 g Prunes 100 g
Chanterelles, pickled 350 g
Avocado 3 pcs.
Salad pepper (yellow) 150 g
Tomatoes 200 g
Cucumber, fresh 250 g
Pine nuts 70 g
Green onions, dill, rocket leaves - for decoration
Lemon juice, salt, olive oil, pepper - for dressing
Cooking:
Prepare avocados: wash and remove the bones in half. Spoon remove the pulp and fruit and coarsely chop it into cubes. Also coarsely chop the chicken, pepper, tomatoes and cucumbers. Small mushrooms cut in half, and washed prunes chop with a knife. Mix all the ingredients in a salad bowl, lay in avocado halves. Serve on a la carte plates, sprinkle with nuts, sprinkle with dressing prepared to taste and garnish with fresh leaves of greens.
3. Salad with prunes, chicken and mushrooms in orange "baskets"
Products:
Mayonnaise (30%) 120 g
Ground black pepper
Garlic 20g
Chili Ketchup 80g
Oranges (large) 7 pcs.
Prunes 300 g
Grilled chicken (fillet without skin) 1.2 kg
Marinated mushrooms 450 g
Parsley 100 g
Cooking:
Wash large oranges, gently cut the peel in half and remove them with the flesh. Peel the lobules of the membrane and finely chop. To the oranges, add small cubes of chicken pulp, mushrooms and prunes.
Mix mayonnaise with ground black pepper and minced garlic, season the salad. Scald the peel of the oranges with boiling water, then dry with a napkin and fill with salad.
Cut thin strips from the peel of one orange and place them across each “basket”, thus making handles. To decorate the salad, place small mushrooms on top, and on the plates, around the “baskets” - leaves or sprigs of fresh parsley.
4. Layered salad with prunes, chicken and mushrooms
Product Set:
Walnut (fried kernels) 100 g
Eggs 5 pcs.
Smoked chicken fillet 400 g
Eggs 5 pcs.
Prunes 200 g
Boiled beets, glazed 150 g
Cheese, hard 250 g
Mayonnaise
Mushrooms (pickled mushrooms) 300 g
Pickled onions, bulb 150 g
Lemon juice 50 ml Honey 100 g
Oil, vegetable 50 ml
Water 150 ml
Cooking:
Cut boiled beets into cubes, put them into a solution of water and honey. In hot oil, pass the beets until transparent.
Diced onion dipped in lemon juice, mixed with water, in equal parts. Soak for at least half an hour, then drain the marinade.
Crush nuts, washed prunes, mushrooms and chicken. Hard cheese, boiled and peeled eggs rub on a grater.
All components of the dish lay in a round shape, smearing layers of mayonnaise. After a couple of hours, turn the dish over onto the dish and steal the surface of the puff salad cake with the ingredients that make it up.
5. Salad with prunes, chicken and mushrooms
Products:
Glazed carrots 200 g
Honey 150g
Butter 100 g
Water
Grape white muscat 200 g
Prunes 300 g
Champignons 250 g
Red Orange 350 - 400 g
Chicken breast, boiled 450 g
Dressing - Soy Sauce
Cooking:
Peel the carrots and cut them into slices or large cubes. Melt the butter and mix it with honey and water. In this mixture, put the carrots and cook until transparent. You can optionally add spicy spices. All other ingredients cut into pieces of arbitrary shape, but the same size.
Season the salad with soy sauce.
6. Cocktail salad with prunes, chicken and mushrooms
Products for cooking:
Chicken fillet, boiled 500 g
Ryzhiki 350 g
Kishmish 350g
Dried prunes 250 g
Frozen Cranberries 120 g
Sesame, fried 90 g
Dressing: honey, vinegar, wine or balsamic, pepper, walnut oil
Working order:
Cut meat, mushrooms and prunes. Combine all the ingredients in a large container, pour the prepared dressing and mix. Serve the salad in a bowl with high legs, sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Salad with prunes, chicken and mushrooms - tricks and tips
The quantitative ratio of ingredients is, of course, an individual matter, completely dependent on the taste of the cook. But do not forget that the ingredients with low moisture content need to add the same amount of juicy ingredients or increase the amount of dressing to balance the dish. If the composition of the salad includes meat products, then use sour cream dressing is not recommended.
To prevent the beets from coloring other components of the salad, “seal” it with vegetable oil. Glazing also helps to preserve the natural color of vinaigrettes and salads, in which the beets are added. In addition, the sweetish taste of glazed pieces of beet or carrot will be pleasantly distinguished from the background of sour and salty components of the salad.
Salad is a perishable dish that is recommended to be cooked before use. He is the most favorite component of the holiday feast, and the hostesses cook several salads at once. Because of this, the amount of work becomes very large, and the main requirement - the freshness of the dish - becomes difficult to fulfill. Try to make preparations on the eve of the celebration: you can cook and chop meat, vegetables (not juicy), eggs, cheese - all products that do not spoil until the next day, when stored in a refrigerator, in tightly closed containers. Then two hours before lunch, they will only be combined with each other, in different salads and in the required quantities. In this case, the preparation of several salads does not take much time, and they will be fresh, as the salad quickly deteriorates when its components are mixed and watered with dressing.
It is important for every woman to keep a little vigor and strength for a smile, despite the festive efforts. Therefore, plan the holiday menu in advance, distribute all operations on time, so that vanity does not spoil the mood.
