Is it possible to imagine a festive menu without a salad? This dish is so diverse that it does not lose relevance at any time of the year and is relevant to all events. Holiday salads are the decoration of the table, each hostess has her own, proven recipes, crown dishes.
The main success of these popular dishes lies in the original and harmonious selection of products that create a taste bouquet. Holiday salads differ from everyday dishes with decorations and the way they are served. Here are some recipes to watch out for.
Meat salad with prunes. For it you will need: potatoes (avocado possible) - 200 g, one medium-sized beet, two carrots, boiled meat (pork, beef, rabbit, just not chicken) - 200 g, seedless prunes - 100 g, walnuts with whole halves Mayonnaise - 150-250 g.
All ingredients except prunes and nuts should be boiled and cut into small cubes. Cut half the prunes into strips and mix with beets. Next, the salad is laid out on a flat plate in layers: potatoes, carrots, meat, beets with prunes. Each layer is smeared with mayonnaise, on top it is decorated with halves of nuts and whole prunes.
Crab salad with pineapple. The dish will turn out to be festive if it is made from real crab meat, and not sticks from surimi. You need to take equally, by weight, crabs, canned pineapples, hard cheese and eggs. Cut all products in equal cubes, mix, adding a little mayonnaise so that the salad does not turn out to be liquid.
It is advisable to diversify holiday salads and snacks in the composition of the components, including not only meat and fish, but also mushrooms or vegetables.
Eggplant and carrot salad can be used as a light meal. Bake two eggplants in the oven, cool, cut into large strips. Grate two carrots, season with spices (ground coriander, paprika, black pepper). In a wok pan in a very hot oil, fry two medium onions, chopped with noodles. In an onion put eggplant, carrots, a spoonful of balsamic vinegar, let the appetizer cool.
It is convenient to prepare simple salads for the holiday, so that preparation for the reception of guests is not tiring.
Cod liver salad looks spectacular in the form of snack balls. You will need a jar of liver from which fat should be drained. Grate two boiled eggs on the smallest grater, add to them 50 g of softened butter, a liver mashed with a fork. Knead the products until smooth, if the mass is too liquid, put everything in the refrigerator for several minutes. Then, from the resulting salad, roll balls no larger than a walnut. Each such a nut breaded in coconut, sesame seeds or chopped walnuts. Snack balls look beautiful on green lettuce leaves.
Holiday salads are well served in portions; you can use glasses with a capacity of up to 150 ml for this purpose. The traditional herring under a fur coat in a batch design looks original. At the bottom of each glass put a layer of finely chopped boiled potatoes, onions in small cubes, pour in a teaspoon of dressing made from olive oil and lemon juice. Next, chopped herring, chopped protein, grated boiled beets, and mayonnaise in the form of a net are laid out. Top layer - grated yolk. Garnish each serving with a sprig of parsley.
Mushrooms can also be served as appetizers by pickling them in an original way. For the recipe, you can use small mushrooms, and large ones cut into 2-4 parts. Put the washed mushrooms in a frying pan, add to them a third glass of wine or apple vinegar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons of sugar, a teaspoon of coriander and black pepper, half a glass of vegetable oil. Cover the frying pan, simmer the mushrooms for 5 minutes from the moment of boiling, allow to cool under the lid, refrigerate for at least 4 hours.