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Besides the accustomed salad vegetables, you can use any other produce, including just
about any fruit. After cutting fruits that brown when exposed to air, immerse them in an acid
bath for a minute (see under Desserts). Small amounts of pickled or marinated vegetables are
other great additions. Cheeses, fresh-toasted nuts, cooked fish, meat, poultry, processed meats or
eggs in tiny amounts give even more flavor and color varieties.
Edible flowers are great for visual impact. Don’t use flowers from your garden if you
sprayed them within a few weeks or commercially-grown flowers that may have been sprayed
with chemicals to extend shelflife, unless they grew the flowers specifically for culinary use.
(See list of edible flowers below.) Don't use more than a blossom or two. People are either
suspicious of eating flowers, or they might feel criminal about it.
Edible Flowers
Bachelor button
Carnation
Yucca
Lilac
Chrysanthemum
Dandelion
Nasturtium
Pansy
Day lily bud
Elderberry
Petunia
Pink
Flowers of edible herbs
Forget-me-not
Guava flower
Hibiscus
Portulaca
Rose
Squash
Snapdragon
Viola
Honeysuckle
Impatiens
Violet
One precaution—avoid very strong-flavored foods that overpower the salad, like pickled
herring—or ones that ruin the color scheme. Beets tend to bleed all over their neighbors if they
rest together for more than 15 minutes.
Getting it together
When making the dressing, count on 1 to 2 tablespoons (0.5 to 1 ounce or 15 to 30 ml) of
dressing per person for a lightly-dressed salad. Always prepare extra for those particular guests
who like to drown their innocent salads greens. You may serve dressing on the side or dress the
salads yourself before serving. Lots of dressing, by the way, dampens appetites thanks to its high
oil content.
For an average serving, plan 3 to 4 ounces (85 to 110 g) of salad ingredients for each
guest if you plan your salad to stimulate appetites. Add a little more if the rest of the meal is
light. Cut up the ingredients into bite-sized pieces. The usual rough-cutting suitable for tossed
green salad is not satisfactory for a composed salad. Use pleasing shapes and be meticulous. For
instance, you may cut broccoli into small florets with even-length stems, carrots angle-cut into
thin ovals or little match sticks, strawberries may be sliced thin, small berries can be left whole,
green beans look elegant if French cut, asparagus left whole (gives the guests something to do),
peppers cut into rings or narrow strips, beans and lentils left whole, and so on.
Some items you need to cook, like green beans, and any other vegetables that generally
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