The hostess's arsenal should include salads without mayonnaise on the holiday table. Firstly, because not all guests eat such a high-calorie product as mayonnaise, and secondly, they also do not recommend it to children. And just to diversify the dishes on the table. Feasts are usually held in the evening, and some (for example, New Year's Eve) even at night. Thus, not always fatty, heavy mayonnaise-containing salads are appropriate. Now that a healthy lifestyle is at the height of fashion, such dishes are more relevant than ever. Choosing which salad without mayonnaise on the festive table is best, each housewife must independently. It all depends on the preferences of the guests, the availability of the necessary ingredients and time for cooking.
Benefits of Mayonnaise-Free Salads
Many chefs call mayonnaise one of the best sauces. Indeed, with it, the dishes become nutritious and very tasty. However, recently there have been more and more rejections of this product. Why is it sometimes worth preparing light salads for the holiday table without mayonnaise? What are their advantages? Consider.
Firstly, this sauce is very high-calorie. Mayonnaise contains chicken or quail eggs, sugar, but the most important thing is that its base is vegetable oil. Although sunflower, even more healthy olive - in any case, it is fat that contains a large number of calories.
Secondly, when it comes to store-bought mayonnaise, it contains preservatives and non-natural ingredients. To cook this sauce by all the rules for quite a long time.
Thirdly, many mothers limit the consumption of this sauce to their children, because it contains a raw egg and vinegar. In addition, mayonnaise is very oily and can negatively affect sensitive children's digestion.
Refueling Options
How can you fill salads without mayonnaise on the festive table so that guests are delighted, and the hostess accepted their admiration? First of all, these are all kinds of vegetable oils: inexpensive sunflower, very useful olive or corn. Although these products are also high-calorie along with mayonnaise, but they are much more beneficial and beneficial effect on digestion, and not cause severity. Guests will surely appreciate the ease by tasting delicious salads to the festive table without mayonnaise.
It is on the basis of vegetable oils that other dressings are made: they can contain mustard (in the form of powder or grains), vinegar, spicy herbs (for example, Provence). A big plus is that here the mistress is given a free field for creativity. Often in such sauces add wine, apple or wine vinegar, soy sauce.
Also, do not leave aside products such as sour cream or yogurt: seasoned with herbs, they can play a good game in almost any salad. These products can be "masked" so that guests do not even notice that instead of fatty mayonnaise, the dish contains such healthy yogurt. Often, soy sauce and herbs are used for such purposes.
Cabbage Salad
Low-fat, healthy salads can be prepared on any basis. In the following sections we will analyze all kinds of options for such dishes. First, let's talk about what vegetable salads can be cooked without mayonnaise on the holiday table. Often, such salads are based on cabbage: cauliflower, white or Chinese.
An always winning option is a green salad, which contains your favorite vegetables, such as white cabbage, radishes, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, dill.
All ingredients are mixed and seasoned with vegetable oil, preferably olive. For a piquant taste, you can add a little apple cider vinegar. Such a salad will be not only a wonderful, light cold appetizer, but also suitable as a side dish for hot dishes, such as meat or chicken, grilled or baked in the oven.
Korean Cauliflower
Do not forget about Korean cuisine. For example, here’s a Korean style cauliflower recipe. For cooking, you need directly cabbage, fresh or frozen (it must be thawed beforehand). This product will need 400 grams, it should also be prepared from vegetables - sweet pepper, preferably red (so it will look “more elegant” in a salad), and a small carrot. Additionally, 400 ml of water, ground pepper - 1 teaspoon of black and 0.5 teaspoons of red, a clove of garlic, 2 teaspoons of vinegar essence, 1 teaspoon of coriander, 5 teaspoons of vegetable oil, a tablespoon of sugar and salt are needed. Also greens, cilantro is best suited here.
Divide the cabbage into inflorescences and pour brine. It is prepared as follows: water, vegetable oil, sugar and salt are mixed, brought to a boil. Add chopped peppers and carrots to the slightly cooled brine and cabbage, as well as the remaining ingredients (garlic through a press). Before serving, lettuce must be insisted for 6 hours.
Updated Vinaigrette
Well-known vinaigrette is another version of a mayonnaise-free salad. It is also suitable for the festive table in a slightly modified form: if you remove potatoes from it, and instead of it add canned miniature ears of corn. In addition, the beets themselves can be marinated with vinegar and Dijon mustard and vinegar (for 1 medium beet, take a tablespoon of mustard and 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar, better than apple).
Serving the vinaigrette in a festive dish will also help: serve it in halves of boiled beets (core must be cut). This dish, decorated with herbs, will cause a real delight among the guests.
Caesar: beautiful and in a new way
More satisfying, but minimal in calories - salads without mayonnaise on the festive table, which includes chicken. Let's look at a few recipes. Perhaps the most popular of these dishes is Caesar salad. There are a lot of options for this dish, so beloved by modern housewives. We will analyze how you can diversify such an already familiar salad and surprise guests with this.
First of all, chicken. Traditionally, it must be fried. We suggest pre-marinating it in red wine with salt and pepper. Two hours is enough to soak the meat, then fry, as usual. Chicken can also be marinated in soy sauce. Another find: you can not cut it into cubes, as usual, but fry in small pieces in a grill pan. When serving, it is beautiful to spread on top of the main salad
Serving also means a lot. For the sake of variety, serve “Caesar” in portions: put a lettuce on the bottom of the bowl, and then the main mixed ingredients: cherry tomatoes, sliced eggs (quail looks more beautiful), olives. Next, lay the chicken, crackers out of wheat bread. All must be sprinkled with parmesan or other hard cheese.
Another important point is refueling. This may be a sauce of sour cream, mustard and spices. You can pour the already served salad with the sauce left over from roasting the chicken. Some housewives use mustard seeds and olive oil.
Chicken Salads
Salads without mayonnaise on the festive table with chicken are countless. It will not be difficult for any housewife to come up with her own. For example, a light, unusual salad with chicken and avocado. To prepare it, you need chicken fillet, 200 grams, each piece of avocado and sweet pepper (preferably red or yellow). The ingredients must be cut into identical slices, seasoned with the following sauce: add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard to vegetable oil, half a teaspoon of honey, orange juice in an amount of 3-4 teaspoons, salt to taste.
This salad is just the basis on which all kinds of flavor combinations can be superimposed, it all depends on the cook’s imagination.
Seafood salads
Seafood is increasingly entering our lives. They are preferred to use in the diet and are loved for the benefit and low calorie content. Let's analyze salad recipes without mayonnaise on a festive table using seafood.
Similar products simply blend perfectly with avocados. Here is one such recipe. To prepare the salad, you need 300 grams of cooked shrimp, avocado and fresh cucumber (large enough). Slice, mix and season the ingredients with olive oil, clove of garlic and soy sauce (to taste).
Another recipe is a combination of seafood and fresh vegetables. To prepare, you need a mixture of frozen seafood in a standard package - 450 g, also tomatoes (3 pieces), bell pepper (2 pieces), juice of half a lemon and olive oil. For cooking, it is necessary to boil and cool the seafood, add the remaining ingredients and season with the sauce.