50 Shades of Green
Even the most veggie-averse consumer is likely to indulge in a salad on occasion. A glamour category on restaurant menus, salads provide a halo of health for diners and a creative jumping off point for chefs. The changing palette of the salad greens themselves is an interesting indicator of evolving tastes.
Back in the day it was all about iceberg, the head lettuce pale in both color and flavor. Its primacy was challenged by spinach, which many Americans were shocked, shocked to learn was an actual plant with leaves of a lovely dark green hue—not a khaki-colored lump that came in a tin can. The happy marriage of cool spinach and hot bacon dressing guaranteed its success and has led to the quintupling of fresh spinach consumption since the 1970s.
Twenty years ago or so, the Caesar salad entered the mass market and made waves with its substantial, spring-green romaine leaves and its decidedly pungent flavor. While Americans immediately made it their own with the addition of chicken--and just about every other protein known to man-- it was the unexpected punch of flavor that set it apart.
In the 1990s, California chefs, hot on the trail of seasonal, local and artisanal produce, popularized baby greens, typically a mélange of small young leaves of various shapes and shades, sometimes dubbed mesclun. And as we moved through the millennium, arugula emerged as the green of choice. Its distinctive, peppery flavor was perfectly in tune with diners’ growing tolerance for more assertive flavors.
The breakout player of the moment is kale. Previously overlooked and underutilized, it is appearing absolutely everywhere. Noodlecat in Cleveland puts it in the Super Salad with green-tea granola and soy vinaigrette, the soup-and-salad buffet chain Fresh Choice lives up to its name with a Sesame-Kale Salad and The Cheesecake Factory features Fresh Kale Salad with cranberries, apples, Marcona almonds and green beans, tossed in buttermilk-black pepper dressing. Kale’s arrival heralds the further broadening of both palette and palate. Bitterness, a flavor dimension that’s been largely missing in action on American menus, is a characteristic of the vegetable.
Photo: The Cheesecake Factory's Fresh Kale Salad.
Food and Beverage Manager
10 年Delicious ... and best Salad
Deputy Manager Internal Audit at Mirpurkhas Sugar Mills Limited
10 年Salad is very helpful for health and make perfect to digestive system as well as beauty of dining table
Team Lead
11 年Delicious title Nancy. :-)
I've been preparing a Kale dish for close to 20 years. I sort of stumbled upon the recipe that my kids ate and continue to like. It has 4 main ingredients of 1) kale, bunch, 2) cooked macaroni, about 2 cups (dry) such as elbow mac, 3) whole onion, med-large sliced, 4) can of red kidney beans. Start by sauteing the onion in olive oil at medium heat, adding chopped kale after the onions are starting to be caramelized. Add 1.5 tablespoons of chopped garlic, along with 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes and cook until kale is wilted and bright green. In a large bowl, mix kale mix, macaroni and kidney beans. When served top generously with Parmesan cheese. Bon appetite!
Global marketing & communications, culinary connector, moving food & beverage ideas to market, focused on coffee and tea
12 年Even if I didn't like kale...and I do like it, your article reads, "delicious."