Salad facts for kids
A salad is a yummy meal or side dish that usually has lots of fresh, leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, or arugula. People often mix in other raw or cold-cooked veggies, cut into small pieces, such as tomatoes or onions.
To make it even tastier, a special liquid called a salad dressing or vinaigrette is poured over the vegetables. These dressings are often a mix of oil, herbs, spices, and other flavors.
Some people like to add extra foods to their salads to make them more filling or interesting. These can include crunchy croutons, crispy bacon, cooked chicken, grated cheese, tuna, pasta, olives, cooked potatoes, rice, or beans.
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Different Kinds of Salads
Salads come in many exciting varieties, each with its own special ingredients!
Green Salads
A green salad or garden salad is all about those leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, or rocket (arugula). The leaves might be cut or torn into small, bite-sized pieces and then mixed together. This is often called a tossed salad. Sometimes, people add nuts or croutons for extra crunch.
A wedge salad is a cool type of green salad made from a large piece of lettuce (like iceberg lettuce) that's been cut in half or quarters. Other tasty ingredients are then piled on top.
Vegetable Salads
Besides leafy greens, many other vegetables can be used in salads. Common raw veggies include cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, and radishes. You might also find mushrooms, avocado, olives, hard-boiled eggs, artichoke hearts, heart of palm, green beans, or different kinds of cheeses in a vegetable salad.
Fruit Salads
As the name suggests, fruit salads are made entirely of fruit! A popular type is the fruit cocktail, which can be made with fresh fruits or canned ones. They are often sweet and refreshing.
Dessert Salads
Dessert salads are usually sweet and don't often have leafy greens. They are more like a sweet treat! Many are made with gelatin or whipped cream, such as jello salad, pistachio salad, and ambrosia. Other dessert salads include snickers salad, glorified rice, and cookie salad, which are popular in some parts of the United States.
Composed Salads
A composed salad is a salad that is carefully arranged on a plate instead of being mixed in a bowl. It's often so complete and beautiful that it can be a whole meal by itself!
Salad Dressings and Toppings
Salad dressings add flavor and moisture to salads. Here are some popular types:
The way people use salad dressing can be different around the world. In North America, there are many types of dressings. In southern Europe, vinaigrettes are very common. In eastern European countries and Russia, mayonnaise is often used. In Denmark, dressings are frequently made with crème fraîche. In China, where Western salads are newer, the term "salad dressing" often means mayonnaise or dressings made with mayonnaise.
Salad Toppings
Many different foods can be added to salads to make them even better. These are sometimes called garnishes or toppings. Some popular choices include:
- Shelled sunflower seeds
- Onions (especially red onions)
- Bacon bits (sometimes these are plant-based pieces that taste like bacon)
- Radishes
- Grated carrots
- Tomatoes
- Surimi (which is a type of artificial crab meat)
What you choose to put on your salad usually depends on what you like best!
Related Salads You Might Know
Images for kids
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A green salad
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A large mixed salad
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American-style potato salad with egg and mayonnaise
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A traditional Slovak fish salad of cod in mayonnaise, treska s majonézou
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Ambrosia, a dessert salad
See also
In Spanish: Ensalada para niños
