The other day, we were sitting around Mike and Liz's table talking about horses, the economy, wine, and of course food, when the conversation turned serious. As the salad bowl was passed from hand to hand, our friend Don stated in a resolute voice, "Hey, I live alone, I could put anything I want in my salad!" He explained further that his salads don't by definition include greens. Sometimes, he continued, he simply cuts up some carrots, beets, and avocado, and tosses it with sea salt. That's one of his favorites.
The word "salad" is derived from the old French "salade," which we can trace to the Vulgar Latin "salata," which is translated as "to salt." Yes indeed, Don is absolutely right. The idea of food "having been salted" was the idea behind the salad. Salt is the root of many of our favorite foods, including salsa and sausage, in which their Latin references to salt can easily be seen. Salsa is derived from "salsus," which translates to "salted," and Sausage is derived from "salsicius," which means "to prepare by salting."
Certainly our notion of a salad is broad enough to encompass anything we can think of, but always, it should include a dash of salt.
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