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Salad conjures a vivid picture of a plate filled with a bounty of vibrant vegetables: the crunchy cucumber, the cheeky tomato, the chewy carrot, the crispy lettuce and the all-round onion. The trick is in the combination but any which way it still looks good to eat (at least to me!!). The amazing thing about salad is that it is constantly reinventing itself. But the fun part is finding a combination that is uniquely yours.
Wiki tells me that the word “salad” comes from the French “salade” of the same meaning, which in turn is from the Latin “salata”, meaning “salty”. Vegetables seasoned in brine seems to have been a popular Roman dish.
In all probability, salad was invented out of necessity rather than a statement of the chef’s innovation. It is common knowledge that a good cook wastes nothing. Stale bread, left over vegetables, stalks , grasses, leaves and kitchen greens all went in to make a mix, and christened with exotic sounding names.
Nothing demonstrates this better than the Panzanella Salad. With all due respects to the Italians, I bring you my version of this delicious concoction. There is always stale or left-over bread and if I am making this for an appetizer then I make sure I stake the bread! You can use any type of bread but multi-grain corn or rye bread tastes best. Cut the bread or loaf into cubes and toss around in olive oil, salt, a generous amount of milled pepper and a little pressed garlic and leave to crispy in the oven till golden brown. Set the temperature to a gentle heat, they need just a tan not sunburn, if you know what I mean. There have been times I have totally forgotten about these crumbs and had to literally scoop the salad dish off the table and rush to add the most essential part of this salad. Nevertheless, I did this most reverently and could almost feel the croutons graciously pardoning me for my oversight.
Next you need crispy tomatoes cut into cubes with the seeds removed. My crisper is mostly filled with veggies. Though I do not share my zodiac sign with a goat I must have been an herbivorous farm animal in my past life. I go Baa and Moo whenever I see edible greens. My Mom swears I was a goat. What’s more, I believe her for a change.
A few cubes of carrots, radish and red onion rings go in next along with a medley of black, green and purple olives and some crumbled mozzarella (paneer if mozzarella is not available will also do). Now comes the most important part: the dressing. Please believe me when I say I am never serious about dressing up for an occasion as I am about dressing my salads. I read somewhere that it takes four men to dress a salad: a wise man for the salt, a madman for the pepper, a miser for the vinegar, and a spendthrift for the oil. Thankfully, I can dress myself!
So without further ado and with utmost care and attention to details I start the process of dressing up my salad. In a bowl take a generous amount of olive oil; say 4-5 tablespoons, crushed garlic, salt, pepper and two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Whip it well. Toss the veggies in it and then add the slightly cooled crisped bread. Give it a last toss. I guarantee that whatever you have called it will be a victory.
I do not believe that even be it ever so humble, the salad will ever be a bore or out of mode, not if it is freshly made with loads of colour and sparkle, fine-tuned with the right amount of seasoning and further refined with a good quality olive and lots of attitude.

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