People made appetizing salad dishes from foods that were in season. Many of these recipes are quite imaginative and include foods I never thought to combine.

INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS

BUTTER BEAN SALAD
Lightly mix together one pint butter beans (canned or cooked), one cup chopped celery, one tablespoon finely chopped onion, and one tablespoon finely chopped green pepper. Garnish with grated cheese, and serve with French dressing.

DANDELION SALAD
Pick the young tender leaves of the dandelion, wash, and lay in ice water for half an hour. Drain, shake dry, and pat still drier between the folds of a napkin. Put into a chilled bowl, cover with French dressing, turn the greens over and over in this, and send at once to the table.

FRENCH DRESSING
Mix three teaspoons of cider vinegar with three and one-half tablespoons olive oil, one large pinch of salt, and one tiny pinch each of black pepper and red pepper.

TURNIP SALAD
Scrape six common sized turnips and chop into dice. Add two cups sugar, one or more cups vinegar, and mustard, celery-seed, and pepper to taste. Mix lightly.

FRUIT SALAD
For the salad, have one can pineapple cubed, one pound grapes seeded and cut in half, one-fourth pound pecans, and one-fourth pound marshmallows cut in half.

For the dressing, take the yolks of four eggs, one-half teaspoon mustard, one-half teaspoon salt, the juice of one lemon, and one-half cup cream. Boil in a double boiler until thick and smooth.

Let the dressing get cold and add one-half pint whipped cream. Pour over and mix thoroughly with the fruit and let stand in the ice-box* four hours before serving, giving the marshmallows a chance to become creamy. It will come out like a thick fluff.

*ice-box – a wooden box lined with tin or zinc, insulated with various materials, and containing a large block of ice. They were often called refrigerators until the electric refrigerator was invented.

ANCHOVY BONNES-BOUCHES
Fillet some anchovies, cut them into thin strips, and put them on a dish with some shredded lettuce leaves, small radishes, some capers, thin slices of lemon, and chopped parsley. Arrange all tastefully, season with lemon juice mixed with olive oil, and garnish with stoned* olives, and slices of hard boiled eggs.

*stone – to remove the stones of fruit, such as the seeds in raisins and the pits in olives. 

STRING BEAN SALAD
Cut the ends of tender green beans, string them, cut them lengthwise, or just break them. Boil until tender, add salt, and drain. Slice an onion very fine, mix with the beans, season with pepper, and another pinch of salt. Pour diluted vinegar over them and add diced, fried bacon quite hot over this mixture.

SPINACH SALAD
Chop cold, boiled spinach fine, season well with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg, and mold into small cups. When cold and formed, turn out on lettuce leaves and garnish with hard boiled eggs sliced, or the yolks of hard boiled eggs run through a ricer. Serve with mayonnaise. Strips of Spanish red peppers may be used for garnishing in place of the eggs. The nutmeg can be omitted if distasteful, but most people find it an attractive addition.

TOMATO JELLY
Cook two cups of tomatoes for twenty minutes with a slice of onion, one teaspoon salt, and a dash of pepper. Strain and add one tablespoon gelatin, which has already been soaked in cold water. Stir all until the gelatin is entirely dissolved, then pour in a ring mold that has been dipped in cold water. When ready to serve, turn out on a bed of lettuce leaves and fill the center with chopped celery well mixed with mayonnaise.

TOMATO SALAD WITH MAYONNAISE
Have as many hollowed out tomatoes as there are guests to serve and set each in a crisp lettuce leaf. Upon this lay half of an egg that has been deviled, and with this three little silvery sardines. Sprinkle with pieces of green pepper, cut fine, and dress with mayonnaise.

HERRING SALAD
Take equal quantities of cold boiled potatoes and herring, and two or three small onions. Cut the potatoes in cubes, remove bones from the herring, and cut in small pieces. Chop onions and add all together. Let stand on ice till ready to serve. Cover with sweet cream, and season with salt and pepper.

CABBAGE SLAW
Chop up very fine one-half of a medium sized cabbage head, one stalk of celery, one sweet pepper, and salt to season. Add one-half cup of sugar and enough vinegar to moisten the mixture.

POTATO SALAD
Put one small onion, chopped, in a large bowl. Add one teaspoon salt, one-eighth teaspoon pepper, and one-half cup weak vinegar. Let stand ten minutes. Then slice four cups potatoes while still warm and mix thoroughly. Add three tablespoons olive oil, four stalks celery cut fine, two slices bacon fried to a crisp and diced, and the bacon fat. Sprinkle all with one tablespoon parsley. Arrange on a bed of lettuce and garnish with beets and hard cooked eggs that have been chopped.

OYSTER SALAD
Allow six oysters to each person. Parboil them in their liquid and drain at once. When cool, cut each one in four pieces. Break tender young leaves of lettuce and mix in equal parts with oysters.

Make the following dressing:
Allow one egg to two persons and boil eggs twenty minutes. When cold, cut whites in slices and mix with oysters and lettuce. Mash yolks fine in a deep bowl and add one raw yolk. Stir in some olive oil slowly until you have a smooth paste. Season with lemon juice, English mustard, and salt. Add more oil until the dressing is as thick as cream and pour over the salad.

photo from Pixabay

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Do you eat many salads that aren’t lettuce-based? Please leave a comment below.

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