It’s peak picnic and barbecue season across the nation, and during the “dog days of summer,” chefs and home cooks alike seek to create delicious easy, no-cook salads.
The Oxford Dictionary defines a salad as a cold dish of mixed ingredients, typically including raw vegetables, greens, or fruits, and often served with a dressing.
The word originates from the Latin sal (meaning “salt”), evolving into the Latin phrase herba salata (“salted vegetables”). It transitioned into the Middle English salade via Middle French, reflecting the original method of seasoning raw greens with salt and oil, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
But today the word “salad” has far surpassed the Tossed Salad iceberg version with chopped tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and Western dressing of my childhood, and it evokes many food memories of recipes called salads that have no lettuce whatsoever. For example, my childhood also had the standard church potluck gelatin salad (with fruit, shredded carrots or even cottage cheese, possibly served on a piece of lettuce).
Then came the annual family reunion on the 4th of July with relatives coming from all over the country back to Minnesota. My grandmother, aunts and I peeled what felt like 10 million potatoes for the event. That’s no surprise. “During the summer, 60% of Americans rank potato salad as their number one cookout side dish,” per a U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
Then, things went crazy.
Future reunions would showcase my aunt’s talents with Pistachio Pudding Salad, Macaroni Salad with Cheese and Peas, Pickled Beets Salad, Taco Salad (with a new use for Western dressing), Heirloom Tomato and Corn Salad, and eventually the Snickers Apple Salad. I’m not sure when a salad also became a dessert, but it happened. That seems like an oxymoron but once that “salad” cat was out of the proverbial bag, there was no going back.
Salads continue evolving with new combinations taking us to new heights. Maybe there’s a Salad World Cup somewhere that judges the best of the best, or at least there should be.
On a recent trip to Duluth to celebrate our wedding anniversary with friends at Silos Restaurant, it was the Peach Burrata Salad for the win! My taste buds have tried a zillion salads, but this was one of the best I’ve ever had in my life. With slices of fresh fennel, tons of fresh dill topped and topped with grilled salmon, it was a culinary masterpiece!
It’s fun to remember meals and special occasions because of fabulous foods with our loved ones.
One that I can’t leave out is a family favorite from my mother-in-law’s recipes. Food and flowers were Pam’s love languages. Like many Norwegian (uffda!) housewives of the day, she absolutely took joy in cooking and feeding our family for ordinary or special occasions – while adding her secret ingredients (heavy cream and a heaping dash of love) to literally everything. One cherished dish that I wish she was still here to cook for us is her version of Napa Valley Chicken Salad (which she had at a department store lunch in downtown Minneapolis and then tried to recreate at home).
For Mother’s Day, family picnics at the St. Croix River, baby or wedding showers or just everyday get-togethers, there was Mom’s chicken salad – a Korabek staple that our adult kids frequently still request. Using canned chicken (drained) or shredding a rotisserie chicken makes it even easier to assemble. Usually, Mom served a scoop on sliced croissants, but other times she would add a box of cooked pasta rings and chill it, or just serve it with crackers. Any version was delicious.
Neiman Marcus Chicken Salad Recipe (Pam’s Copycat)
In the 1950s, Neiman Marcus department stores made chicken salad famous.
3 cups cooked chicken breast, diced or shredded
¼ cup celery, chopped
3/4 cup red grapes, quartered
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
¼ teaspoon garlic powder, optional
¾ cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
⅓ cup cold heavy cream, whipped
½ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt, or more to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup almonds, slivered (for garnish)
Combine the first five ingredients in a large bowl. Add mayonnaise and stir until well-combined.
In a separate bowl, add heavy whipping cream and use an electric hand mixer to beat until soft peaks form.
Season the large bowl of ingredients with salt and pepper, then fold in the whipped cream and garnish with slivered almonds.
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