A traditional festive meal cannot be imagined without salads. Often they are more varied, satisfying, high-calorie than during everyday meals. Each culinary specialist tries to add a special "flavor" to each dish in order to delight and surprise guests. Festive salads are distinguished by an interesting design, therefore they become a decoration of the table.
Features of holiday salads
The interesting design of the dish is almost the most important distinguishing feature of the festive salad. The chef should think about this at the stage of cutting the ingredients. Various graters, vegetable knives, molds will be used to give the products a neat, beautiful shape. Thus, even a classic cold appetizer of cucumbers and tomatoes can look elegant and unusual on the table.
In festive salads, not only the usual mayonnaise, vegetable oil and sour cream are used, but also various homemade dressings. A culinary specialist can show his guests his skills, take time for original sauces and give dishes unique flavors.
For a festive salad to become a miracle of culinary art, it is very important to serve it beautifully and unusually. In the design, an important role is played by:
- serving plates and salad bowls;
- neat cutting of ingredients;
- decorative display of salads;
- forming rings;
- figurines from vegetables and fruits;
- greens;
- berries;
- nuts.
Any usual recipe on holidays can undergo some changes, and the dish will immediately change. For example, in the Olivier salad, which is familiar to many for the New Year, boiled sausage can be replaced with shrimp and other seafood, offal, smoked meats. The holiday is the time not only to remake the old, but also to find a completely new, exclusive recipe for yourself.
Caesar salad with chicken breast
Cut 400 grams of chicken breast into very neat slices, then fry for 10 minutes, turning the meat from time to time. Then cool the chicken.
Grind 3-4 slices of white bread so that you get small cubes of the same size. Mix with three peeled crushed garlic cloves and fry for 5 minutes until golden brown in 4 tablespoons of heated olive oil. Reject.
Rinse and dry the Chinese cabbage forks, leave a few leaves to lay on a serving platter, chop the rest. Set aside some of the chicken breast slices, cut the rest of the meat into neat strips. Grate hard cheese on a coarse grater to make a couple of tablespoons of the product. Wash 200 grams of cherry tomatoes, dry and cut into halves.
Make a salad dressing. To do this, mix thoroughly:
- 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise;
- a couple of crushed garlic cloves;
- table salt to taste.
Place Chinese cabbage leaves on a serving dish. Mix the salad ingredients with the dressing, place on a green substrate, garnish with the set chicken slices.
Mexican salad "Taco" with chips
Wash a bunch of green lettuce leaves, dry it, call it quite large with your hands. Crush a clove of garlic. Cut half of the peeled onion into half rings, and a large clean tomato into cubes. Grate 70 grams of hot cheese. Roll 50 grams of corn chips directly in the package with a rolling pin to chop.
Prepare a dressing for the Taco. For her, mix well in a separate bowl:
- a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar;
- a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice;
- a couple of pinches of freshly ground black pepper;
- 0.5 teaspoon mustard;
- finely chopped half of an onion;
- 0.5 paprika;
- a creeper of crushed garlic;
- a tablespoon of granulated sugar;
- a pinch of salt;
- 70 ml of olive oil;
- 40 ml ketchup.
Fry a mixture of ground beef and pork with a total weight of 250 grams in vegetable oil in a deep frying pan. When the meat turns white, add garlic, half a teaspoon of red hot pepper and a pinch of table salt. Stir and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Open a can of canned red beans in their own juice and put all the contents on the minced meat. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes until the liquid boils away. Pour in half a glass of water and the prepared salad dressing, keep on the stove for another 10 minutes under the lid, then turn off the heat.
Layer the green salad, tomato slices, onion slices and grated cheese on a serving platter. Place corn chips in the middle of the dish and pour the meat sauce over everything. Insist 25 minutes. Serve sour cream together with the Mexican salad in a saucepan.
Salmon and quail eggs salad
Boil until tender 200 grams of jacket potatoes, 6 quail eggs, and a glass of green beans. Peel the potatoes and eggs, let cool and carefully cut into equal cubes. Grind 200 grams of washed and dried tomatoes using the same sample. Cut 200 grams of lightly salted trout or salmon fillet into slices. Finely chop a bunch of parsley.
Stir in all the ingredients of the salad, leaving only a few slices of eggs to garnish. Place in the refueling jar:
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- a couple of tablespoons of 9% vinegar;
- 1 clove of crushed garlic
- table salt to taste;
- freshly ground black pepper to taste;
- chopped parsley.
Close the jar tightly. To make the whole dressing infuse better, there is a little trick: to cook it a couple of hours before the start of the feast. Before serving the salad, shake the jar well, stir the contents, pour the mixture over the salad. Garnish with two tablespoons of pitted olives, cut the fruit into halves, and spread 40 grams of canned anchovies on top.
Avocado and pine nuts salad
Wash 4 avocados, dry and cut in half lengthwise, take out the pit. Preheat the oven to 200 ° C. Combine the parts of the fruit, put on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Pour two tablespoons of olive oil and freshly squeezed juice of a large lemon, add a little salt and pepper. Bake until the avocados are golden brown. Then immediately remove from the oven.
In a separate bowl, squeeze the second large lemon and a tablespoon of olive oil. Peel a couple of onions and cut into thin half rings, then place in a lemon-olive marinade. Stir, salt and pepper to taste.
Wash a dozen cherry tomatoes, dry, cut into halves. Place the tomatoes and avocado on a serving platter. Place lightly squeezed onions between them, and sprinkle with marinade all the components of the salad. Grate 150 grams of hard cheese on a fine grater, combine with a tablespoon of pine nuts and sprinkle the prepared dish with the resulting mixture.
Favorite salad with pickled mushrooms
Boil the chicken breast in salted water for 30 minutes, then remove the bones, cool and cut into strips. Peel a large head of red onion, chop into thin half rings. Saute in vegetable oil until transparent and golden brown.
Then you need to open a can of pickled chopped champignons, a can of canned pork tongue. Throw the contents in a colander one by one to drain all the moisture. Cut the tongue into thin long strips. Peel and crush a couple of garlic cloves. After that, combine all the ingredients of the salad in a deep salad bowl and mix. Season with mayonnaise, salt if necessary and garnish with chopped parsley.
Vegetable salad with feta cheese
On the festive table there should be not only high-calorie hearty dishes, but also light vegetable snacks that will help you better digest meat, fish, smoked meats, fatty snacks. A great option is various variations of Greek salad.
For a simple recipe, you need to wash well and dry a couple of fresh cucumbers, 3 large tomatoes. Peel the red onion and soak in cold water, free the pod of red bell pepper from the core, seeds and stalks.
Cut the onion into thin rings, other vegetables and 150 grams of feta cheese into large equal cubes. Throw a jar of canned pitted olives in a colander and divide each fruit into halves.
Wash a few leaves of Roman salad, dry and line the salad bowl with them. Put the ingredients of the dish on top in the following sequence:
- cucumbers and tomatoes;
- pepper;
- onion;
- cheese with olives.
Do not stir the ingredients. Mix 5 tablespoons of olive oil with a tablespoon of dry seasoning (oregano), salt to taste. Season the salad, decorate with figures carved from brightly colored vegetables.
Green beans salad in cheese cups
Boil a glass of green beans, as well as 4 jacket potatoes and a couple of hard-boiled eggs. Peel hot potatoes and cut into strips. Chop a bunch of clean dry green onions into thin rings.
- For salad dressing, mix in a separate container:
- a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice;
- 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil;
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- a teaspoon of mustard;
- table salt to taste;
- black pepper to taste;
- a tablespoon of spices, such as oregano.
Mix the uncooled beans and potatoes and pour over the dressing. Cool at room temperature, then add onion greens and eggs.
Cut 400 grams of hard cheese into rectangular slices about 0.5 cm thick. Rinse a bunch of green onions and dry. Form cheese cups, tie with onion feathers and place on a serving platter. Fill each with the same portions of salad, top with chopped dill.
Turkey and prune salad
Boil 4 chicken eggs hard-boiled, cool. Cook 400 grams of turkey fillets in salted water for half an hour. Rinse 100 grams of pitted prunes thoroughly in running water, then pour boiling water for 10-15 minutes and discard in a colander.
Wash 200 grams of fresh cucumbers, dry, cut into thin strips. Grate 100 grams of hard cheese on a coarse grater. Cut the turkey and eggs into strips, chop the prunes into slices.
Put a round salad dish on a serving dish and lay out the ingredients in layers, smearing with mayonnaise:
- turkey meat first;
- then cucumbers;
- eggs;
- part of prunes;
- grated cheese.
Do not grease the cheese sprinkle with mayonnaise, decorate with the rest of the prunes. Carefully remove the forming ring.
Salad with cod liver under a fur coat
Wash a couple of potatoes and carrots, boil in a uniform in salted water. Boil 3 hard-boiled eggs, cool the food. Remove the eggshells and carefully separate the whites from the yolks. Pour 10 pitted prunes with boiling water for 10 minutes, put in a colander, then cut into slices. Peel the vegetables and grate on a coarse grater, set aside separately.
Place the round salad dish on a serving platter and lay out the potato layer. Open a jar of cod liver in oil, squeeze, loosen and place on potatoes. Cut a bunch of clean and dry green onions into thin rings. Make a mayonnaise mesh on the liver and place greens on it, then carrots, smooth everything with a spoon and grease with mayonnaise.
Put prunes, then chopped egg whites, add table salt to taste. Make an even layer of mayonnaise and grate the egg yolks on top. Decorate with parsley sprigs, canned or fresh cranberries.
Watermelon salad with cheese and chicken
Boil 100 grams of chicken breast, remove from the broth, cool and cut into thin strips. Wash fresh cucumber and a couple of large tomatoes and dry. Grate hard cheese on the finest grater to make half a glass, mix with meat and mayonnaise.
Cut the cucumber into thin strips, chop the tomatoes into small slices. Salt each ingredient separately to taste. On a serving platter, form a cucumber "watermelon rind", make a layer of cheese and meat, put tomatoes in the middle in the form of a watermelon slice. Sprinkle with vegetable oil. Cut 5-6 pitted olives into slices and decorate the salad, simulating watermelon seeds.
Vegetable salad with feta cheese
On the festive table there should be not only high-calorie hearty dishes, but also light vegetable snacks that will help you better digest meat, fish, smoked meats, fatty snacks. A great option is various variations of Greek salad.
For a simple recipe, you need to wash well and dry a couple of fresh cucumbers, 3 large tomatoes. Peel the red onion and soak in cold water, free the pod of red bell pepper from the core, seeds and stalks.
Cut the onion into thin rings, other vegetables and 150 grams of feta cheese into large equal cubes. Throw a jar of canned pitted olives in a colander and divide each fruit into halves.
Wash a few leaves of Roman salad, dry and line the salad bowl with them. Put the ingredients of the dish on top in the following sequence:
- cucumbers and tomatoes;
- pepper;
- onion;
- cheese with olives.
Do not stir the ingredients. Mix 5 tablespoons of olive oil with a tablespoon of dry seasoning (oregano), salt to taste. Season the salad, decorate with figures carved from brightly colored vegetables.
Fruit salad "Elegant orange"
For a delicious and bright festive dessert, you will need a large orange. It must be thoroughly rinsed in running water with a sponge or brush, then wiped off with a towel. Cut in half and remove the pulp, leaving two orange salad bowls intact. Using a knife, gently make cloves on the edges of the two citrus halves.
Remove seeds and partitions from the orange pulp, then cut the fruit into cubes and place in cups from the rind. Peel the kiwi and banana, chop into equal sized slices and combine with the orange.
Season the fruit salad with blueberry yogurt, without stirring the ingredients, and garnish with fresh strawberries. You can put the dessert in a small deep salad bowl, and also use bright pomegranate seeds, red currant fruits as a decoration.
