In Slovenian cuisine, salad plays a very important role, almost as much as soup, which is an important prelude to a real home-cooked meal. The salad is an essential accompaniment to the main course, and it is a matter of habit or taste when and how it is eaten, some before the main course, some during and some after.
It can also be prepared with rice, porridge or legumes.
It can be an independent meal. PHOTO: Monkeys Corporate Images/Getty Images
Thus, it is not only a vegetable with this name, but also a dish that is assembled and mixed from a wide variety of ingredients, in addition to salad, other types of vegetables, as well as pasta, rice, meat, fish. , cheese, nuts and anything else, including fruit. If served as an accompaniment, it does not have to be very hearty, in fact it only has an accompanying role, that is, it enriches and completes the taste. of the main course. But if you want to elevate it to the rank of main dish, you need accessories that will satisfy the eater. Pasta, rice, porridge or legumes are usually used as the base of the salad as a main dish. We add different types of vegetables, nuts and of course meat, fish, cheese and other dairy products. Truth be told, it can also be quite unhealthy, especially if the dressing is made with, say, mayonnaise or heavy cream.
If you want a lighter and above all less caloric dish, you omit the heavy carbohydrate base and complement the vegetables with shredded or grated fresh cheese, grilled meat or nuts and seeds. Hard-boiled eggs, which are added at the end, halved or quartered, also fill. Instead of mayonnaise or cream, use a light herb-flavored liquid yogurt.
Pasta is often the base of hearty stand-alone salads. PHOTO: Etorres69/Getty Images
Salad is usually a cold dish, so cool cooked or baked ingredients before adding them. The exception is thin slices of grilled meat, which many people prefer hot.
When assembling the salad, pay attention to the structure of the ingredients, cucumbers and tomatoes are full of water, so the dish will be juicier. However, it can be inconvenient if the liquids are soaked with pasta, rice or porridge. Actually a matter of taste, some people like it. However, it is best assembled and mixed just before eating, precisely so that the dish retains its shape and the individual ingredients retain their flavor. Since we also eat with our eyes, we decorate it with fresh herbs, for example a sprig of parsley or basil leaves, sprinkle with seeds, cover with thinly sliced radishes, hard-boiled eggs, or you can also with fruit , for example, berries or pieces of apples or pears.
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