Foods and home making

As has been explained, salad greens are rich in mineral matter and vitamins. They contain very little fat. A salad dressing containing a vegetable oil makes a good accompaniment to a salad. What salad oils shall we buy? Olive oil sells for about four times as much as cottonseed or corn oil. Why are some persons 290 Luncheon or Supper willing to pay the greater price for olive oil ? The only advan- tage in buying olive oil is that it has a flavor which some persons like very much. Fresh cottonseed and corn oils have no flavor. They are, however, as nutritious as olive oil. Unless the flavor of olive oil is especially pleasing, buy corn oil or cottonseed oil for salads. Salad oils are put up in either bottles or cans. It is cheaper to buy the oil in cans. Although the rate is higher for small quan- tities than for larger quantities, it is not advisable to buy so much oil that it will become rancid before it can be used. When oil spoils, it becomes rancid and has a very disagree- able taste. Oils should be kept in a cold place to keep them from spoiling. How are salad dressings made ? The simplest salad dressing is made of salad oil, vinegar or lemon juice, and seasoning. These ingredients are merely mixed together. They are not cooked. Such a dressing is called French dressing. A recipe follows : FRENCH DRESSING 1 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons salad oil § teaspoon paprika 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice Put all ingredients in a bowl. Beat with a wheel egg beater until they are well blended. Stir just before serving. Variations. — Other flavoring may be used in French dressing. A faint onion flavor may be obtained by rubbing the bowl in which the dressing is to be mixed with a piece of onion or a clove of garlic. Celery salt may be added — £ to § teaspoon for the above quantity of dressing. Sugar may be added — 1 tablespoon for the above quantity of dress- ing. Some like the addition of sugar when the dressing is served with fruit salad. One tablespoon sugar , 1 teaspoon celery salt, 7 drops Tabasco sauce added to the plain French dressing give a pleasing flavor. Tinting and Flavoring. — Finely chopped mint or parsley may be added. This not only flavors the dressing, but tints it a pleasing green. Salads and Other Dishes 291 It is convenient to put French dressing in a bottle to serve it. (See Figure 98.) Because the oil separates from the vinegar, the dressing can be mixed by shaking the bottle just before serving. Mayonnaise also is an uncooked salad dressing. It is, however, very different from French dress- ing in appearance, taste, and method of making. Mayonnaise contains oil, vinegar, egg, and seasoning. The problem in mak- ing it is to combine the oil and egg so they will not separate. To accomplish this, (1) have the oil and eggs chilled, and (2) add the Figure 98. A Salad-Dressing oil slowly to the eggs, beating the Bottle mixture continuously. Notice that on this bottle the In making mayonnaise, we for salad dressing are Indloated_ separate the oil into drops by These ingredients may be poured beating, and coat each drop with into the bottle without previous egg. When this is done, the oil measuring and the seasonings will not separate from the egg. added' The mixture will also become thick. The recipe follows : MAYONNAISE 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon vinegar £ teaspoon mustard f teaspoon salt