I.

Learning Competency
Prepare a variety of salad and Dressing
1. Identify the components / elements of a salad
2. Enumerate the guidelines in preparing salad.

II. Background Information for Learners

Five Elements to a Perfect Salad

1. Greens
There are undoubtedly salads that do not include greens, but greens are an
integral part of most vegetable salads. As a general rule, in the realm of green leafy
vegetables, darker colors means higher nutritional content. Consequently, iceberg
lettuce has little nutritional value in comparison to other varieties. There are plenty of
other greens to experiment with, all with slightly different flavor profiles.

2. Sweetness
Even savory combinations benefit from a hint of sugar. However, too much
sugar in the dressing drowns out the flavors in the salad itself and ruins the overall
experience. The best way to add sweetness to a salad is with fruit, be it fresh, dried,
or canned. In some cases, fruit does not fit the flavor profile I am trying to achieve.

3. Crunchiness
A salad is bland and boring without some crunch. Add some crunchy veggies
and/or fruit, such as carrots, apples, cucumbers, jicama, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
Use whatever sounds good. But don’t stop there, either. The best salads are finished
with additional crunch from seeds, nuts (candied nuts also add sweetness), wontons,
tortilla strips, croutons, or any other crunchy item that is not a fruit or vegetable. Be
creative and use what you have on hand.

4. Creaminess
Creaminess makes salad appealing, and salads are not exempt from its
heavenly clutches.

5. Dressing
Dressing will undoubtedly make or break a salad. If you have all of the
elements of a stellar salad and dress it with a bottle of cheap Italian or ranch
dressing, it will taste cheap.

Guidelines for Making Salads

1. Vegetables, Legumes, Grains and Pasta Salads
 Neat, accurate cutting of ingredients is important because the shapes of the
vegetables add to eye appeal.
 Cut vegetables as close as possible to serving time or they may dry or shrivel at the
edges.
 Cooked vegetables to a firm, crisp texture and good color.
 After cooking, vegetables must be thoroughly drained and chilled before using.
 Starches, pastas and legumes should be cooked until completely tender but not
overcooked. Vegetables are sometimes marinated or soaked in a seasoned liquid
before being made into salad.
 Grains and pastas may also be marinated for a short time. If marinated too long,
pasta absorb too much liquid and become very soft. Legumes should not be allowed
to stand longer in a marinade because the acid toughen the proteins in the beans.

2. Bound Salads
 Cooked ingredients must be thoroughly cooled before being mixed with mayonnaise
and the completed salad mixture must be kept chilled at all times.
 Leftover such as chicken meat or fish which have been handled according to the
rules of good sanitation and food management can be used for making bound
salads.
 Potatoes for salads should be cooked whole before peeling and cut in order to
preserve nutrients.
 Crisp vegetables like celery, green peppers, carrots, chopped pickles, onions and
water chestnuts are used.
 Bland ingredients like potatoes and some foods maybe marinated in seasoned liquid
such as vinaigrette before being mixed with mayonnaise and other ingredients.
 Fold in thick dressings gently to avoid crushing or breaking the main ingredients.
 Bound salads are portioned using scoop to give height and shape to the salad.
  For plated salads, serve on a base with greens and choose attractive, colorful
garnishes when appropriate

3. Fruit Salads
 Fruit salads are often arranged, mixed or tossed of most fruits that are delicate and
easily broken. An exception is the Waldorf salad, made of firm apples mixed with
nuts, celery and mayonnaise based dressing.
 Broken or less attractive pieces of fruit should be placed on the bottom of the salad
while more attractive pieces arranged on top. Some fruit discolor when cut and
should be dipped into an acid such as tart or fruit juice.
 If both vegetables and fruits salads are being prepared, vegetables salad should be
prepared first.
 Drained canned fruits well before mixing them in the salad.
 Dressings for fruit salad are usually sweet, but fruit juices are used to add tartness.

4. Composed Salads
 Prepare and season each ingredients separately and evaluate the flavor and quality.
 Arrangements maybe plated ahead of time and add delicate ingredients just before
serving.
 Flavors and textures of all ingredients should provide pleasing contrast
 Observe general concepts of plating and presentations of output.

5. Gelatin Salads
 Observe the correct proportion of gelatin and liquid. Too much gelatin makes a stiff,
rubbery product while too little makes a soft product that will not form the desired
shape.
 To dissolve unflavored gelatin, stir it in cold liquid to avoid lumping and let it stand
for 5 minutes to absorb water. Then heat it until dissolves, or add hot liquid and stir
until dissolved.
 To dissolve sweetened, flavored gelatin, stir it into boiling water. It will not lump
because the gelatin granules are held apart by sugar granules.
 For quick setting, dissolve the gelatin to half of the volume of liquid and the other
half is cold water to lower the temperature. For even faster setting, add crushed ice
in an equal volume of cold water, stir until the ice is melted.
 Do not add raw pineapple and papaya to gelatin salads because these fruits contain
enzymes which dissolves gelatin.
 Canned fruits and other juicy items must be well drained before adding because
they will have watered down the gelatin.
To unmold gelatin if it is firm
- Loosen it by dipping a small pointed knife in warm water and running the tip of it
around the top edge of the molded gelatin.
- Dip the mold into hot water for 1 – 2 seconds
- Quickly moisten tips of the fingers and gently pull gelatin away from edge
- Refrigerate gelatin salads.

Reflection ;