Each housewife wants to decorate the festive table or just to please her household with a beautiful and tasty salad. To date, there are a huge number of recipes, but many out of habit give preference to such classic recipes as "Olivier", "Herring under a fur coat" or "Mimosa". But the same dishes are boring, and the thought comes that you need to cook some more modern salads and snacks.
This article will tell you about how to prepare delicious and original salads that can be served both for the holiday and on a weekday. Below you can find recipes for modern salads with photos and step-by-step instructions for their preparation. Surely every housewife will find at least one recipe from them and dare to surprise the family with a new and tasty dish.
Shrimp, cucumber and avocado salad: recipe
Such a dish will appeal to those who appreciate the delicate taste of shrimp, the lightness of cucumber and the specific notes of avocado. For cooking you will need:
- 400 grams of shrimp (in shell);
- 300 grams of fresh cucumbers;
- 2 pcs. avocado;
- 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar sauce
- 4 teaspoons of olive oil;
- ½ lemon;
- spices and salt to taste.
The first step is to fill the shrimp with boiling water and leave them in the water until it cools completely, and then clean them. Next, you need to clean the avocado, remove the stone from it, cut into plates and sprinkle with the juice of half a lemon. Cucumbers should be washed thoroughly under running water and cut into half rings.
Now you need to start assembling the salad. Avocados, cucumbers and shrimps are laid out on plates (in portions). Next, you need to salt the salad, add some of your favorite spices, pour olive oil and balsamic vinegar sauce. Such a simple but very modern salad can be a wonderful light dinner or will please the family at dinner.
Cheese and Beetroot Salad Recipe
This delicious and light modern salad is a storehouse of nutrients. It is well suited for those who like a healthy diet. One of the main ingredients in this salad is baked beets. Many housewives are used to boiling beets before preparing snacks and salads. However, not everyone knows that when cooking, a lot of useful substances simply evaporate. When baking, it is possible to maintain the benefit of this unique product and fill it with the body.
So, for the salad you will need:
- 2 beets (preferably medium size);
- 150 grams of homemade soft cheese or feta cheese (in the absence can be replaced with hard);
- 100 grams of lettuce;
- 3-4 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar sauce;
- spices and salt to taste.
Beets should be washed, cut the tail, put in a baking sleeve and sent to the oven for an hour and a half. In this case, the temperature in the oven should be 180-200 degrees. If the beets are small, then the baking time should be reduced to 60 minutes.
Ready beets need to be cooled, peeled and cut into slices, the thickness of which should not be more than 2-3 centimeters. Next, cut lettuce leaves and put them in a dish. Beets are added on top and the preparation of cheese is started. It needs to be cut into medium-sized cubes. If desired, cheese can be rolled in spices. Thus, you get beautiful, spicy cubes. All ingredients are mixed in a salad bowl and poured with sauce.
Bacon Chicken Salad
This simple recipe for a modern salad with a photo will help to prepare a delicious dish for the whole family, which will appeal to both adults and children. The main ingredient of the dish is chicken. This healthy product is rich in protein, and it is also easily absorbed in the body. In general, this salad looks very appetizing and elegant, so it is often cooked even in restaurants.
To prepare it you will need:
- 200 grams of chicken fillet;
- 100 grams of bacon (smoked);
- 8 quail eggs;
- 4 tomatoes;
- 100 grams of cheese (hard);
- 4 slices of white bread;
- 100 grams of lettuce;
- 4 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar sauce
- salt to taste.
Bread, preferably for toast, should be cut into small pieces and fry in a pan without butter until golden brown.
Bacon must be cut into thin strips. Chicken fillet is cooked until cooked, cools, cut into 2 centimeter thick cubes, and then wrapped in strips of bacon. It is recommended to fix the resulting convolutions with a toothpick and fry the fillet and bacon in a pan.
Quail eggs need to be boiled, cooled and cut in half. Tomatoes are washed under running water and cut into small cubes. It is advisable to choose cherry tomatoes for this modern salad.
Lettuce leaves need to be cut and torn into pieces and put in a salad bowl. Next, the rest of the prepared ingredients are laid out in a plate. Salad should be salt, pour balsamic vinegar and serve. It is best to cook a salad before eating it and not leave it for later. Rusks quickly absorb tomato juice into themselves, become too soft, and the structure of the salad will not be so pleasant.
Salad with strawberries and arugula
This modern salad is a real gourmet treat. Today it is one of the most popular dishes of trendy restaurants, and for good reason. This combination of tastes is very unusual, but very original, and the modern design of the salad enhances the desire to quickly eat the dish.
So, for the dish you will need the following ingredients:
- 1 medium bunch of fresh arugula;
- 150 grams of strawberries (always fresh);
- 15 grams of ricotta;
- 15 grams of almond flakes;
- 0.5 teaspoon of sugar;
- 30 milliliters of lemon juice;
- spices and salt to taste.
The arugula must be washed, dried with a paper towel and put in a salad bowl. Strawberries need to be thrown in a colander, washed with running water, cut into rings, added to the arugula. Next, add almond flakes to the salad bowl and mix gently.
To prepare dressing in a separate container, mix ricotta, salt, spices, sugar and lemon juice. The resulting mixture is seasoned with salad, carefully but carefully mixed and served on the table. This delicious, modern salad will perfectly satisfy your hunger in the summer heat.
Salad with Chicken and Nuts
This amazing recipe affects all taste buds and gives you the opportunity to enjoy a magnificent combination of tender chicken seasoned with piquant garlic and the unusual taste of three kinds of nuts.
For the salad you will need:
- 1 chicken breast;
- one handful of nuts - pine, cashew and peanuts;
- olive and sesame oil for dressing;
- ½ red bell pepper;
- 1 clove of young garlic;
- 1 leek;
- salt to taste.
First you need to fry the nuts in a pan for 5-7 minutes (without oil), when they darken, they can be removed temporarily to the side. Next, add olive oil to the pan, heat it and put finely chopped garlic. It is necessary to reduce the fire to a minimum and thoroughly grind it.
While the garlic is fried, you need to do the preparation of chicken and vegetables. Fillet and pepper are chopped into small cubes. Leek needs to be cut into small rings.
When the chicken is cut, it must be put in a pan to the garlic, salt, increase the heat and fry for 5 minutes, constantly stirring. Next, vegetables are added to the chicken and fried for no more than 2 minutes. At the end of the specified time, the chicken with vegetables is removed from the heat and laid out on the dish. Pre-prepared nuts are added to it, from above the salad is poured with sesame oil and served on the table.
Step-by-step salad recipe for Shrimp on the Pillow
This modern holiday salad will be a decoration on the table and will delight both guests and households.
For the salad you will need:
- 400 grams of cheese;
- 8 chicken boiled eggs;
- 800 grams of shrimp;
- lettuce;
- 10 quail eggs;
- 300 milliliters of vegetable oil;
- 2 teaspoons of mustard;
- 2 teaspoons of sugar;
- zest and juice of one lemon;
- greens (dill and cilantro) to taste;
- ground pepper and salt to taste.
First you need to grate the cheese. Boiled eggs should be divided into protein and yolk and grated separately from each other. The yolk must be added to the grated cheese, and the protein temporarily set aside. Shrimp cook until tender, and then cool and peel.
Now you need to prepare a salad dressing. To do this, you need to combine mustard, salt, sugar and quail eggs in a separate container. Everything is thoroughly beaten with a mixer for one minute. Without stopping the operation of the mixer, pour in a thin stream of vegetable oil and continue to beat until the mass becomes homogeneous. After adding chopped greens and lemon juice to the dressing.
Next, start spreading the dish. Egg whites, which were previously grated, are laid out on whole sheets of salad in the form of a pillow. After that, you need to put the cheese with the yolk on the protein, and then the shrimp. Top salad should be sprinkled with lemon juice and crushed with zest. Salad sauce must be served separately in a bowl or gravy boat.
Modern raw vegetable salad
This salad is suitable for a light snack or lunch. To prepare it you will need:
- 2 fresh cucumbers;
- 1 small head of young cabbage;
- 7 olives;
- green onions;
- 1 tablespoon of wine vinegar;
- ½ lemon;
- 40 milliliters of olive oil;
- 2 sprigs of mint;
- ½ chili peppers;
- salt to taste.
Cabbage should be finely chopped. Cucumbers, chives and chilli must be finely chopped. Next, crush the olives with a spoon and add wine vinegar to them.
To prepare dressing you need to mix oil, chopped mint and lemon juice. All ingredients must be combined in a salad bowl and add dressing. The salad is mixed and served.
Modern tendencies
As can be seen from the above recipes, modern salads combine products that are not so often on our tables. Previously, it was customary to season salads with mayonnaise or regular vegetable oil. Today, leading chefs recommend abandoning this habit and making refueling easier.
This fashion is due to the fact that more and more people are trying to give preference to proper nutrition and eat food that is easily digested. Any person at least once felt heaviness in the stomach from a salad prepared at a mayonnaise dressing, in which there are a lot of ingredients. By listening to the advice of world culinary experts, you can avoid this unpleasant sensation.
Cooking Tips
The first and most important advice is that all products should be fresh. This point is very important in the preparation of salads. You should not buy bad greens or spoiled vegetables.
If balsamic vinegar, which is present in most of the described recipes, is not at hand, it is worth trying to replace it with wine. And if you pre-insist vinegar on herbs, you will be able to get closer to a more accurate taste.
Do not be afraid to cut the products into large pieces. No need to cut them as finely as, for example, at Olivier or Crab Salad. Most importantly, the pieces should be easy to use.
In general, if any ingredient is in doubt or family members do not like it, you should not be afraid to experiment. After all, you can replace it with a more suitable one. The most important thing is to choose the right combination of products.
Decor
Modern salads do not need additional design. Thanks to originality, in sum, all the ingredients make it possible to get not only the good taste of the dishes listed above, but also to make them bright and beautiful.
Optionally, you can decorate the salad with a sprig of greens. Such a decor would be quite enough.
Conclusion
These salads will decorate the table and bring novelty to the usual diet. The main thing is to approach the process creatively and listen to the recommendations on cooking.
Surely the efforts of the hostess will be appreciated. It is always nice to try a new recipe and understand that cooking is not just an opportunity to satisfy hunger, but also a chance to treat yourself to original tastes and unusual combinations of products.