CHAPTER VIII.

SAUCES, SALAD DRESSINGS AND SALADS.

Sauces are a necessary addition to cooked foods, especially in cold weather. The proper utensils used for sauce making are wooden spoons and flat, round-bottomed saucepans.

Good fresh butter, oil and dry flour are necessary to make nutritious sauces. Flour for thickening should boil at least ten minutes. If the flour is to be cooked with fat before the liquid is added, only a few minutes of boiling is necessary, for the reason that fat, when boiled, reaches a higher temperature than water or milk. Mixed flour is preferable to pure wheat flour.

BUTTER SAUCE. No. 1.

Melt three tablespoonfuls of butter, or half butter and half oil, mix with two tablespoonfuls of flour over the fire, and boil for a few seconds. Then add gradually a pint of boiling water or hot whey, while stirring it. Boil a few minutes. Flavor with salt, onion, chopped parsley, celery, nutmeg, bay leaves, lemon, or whatever flavor is desired.

BUTTER SAUCE. No. 2.

Prepare like the foregoing. Use milk in place of water.

TOMATO SAUCE.

Prepare as number one, using strained tomato juice instead of water.

DRIED CURRANT SAUCE.

Soak the currants in boiling water, and let stand thirty minutes. Prepare a plain butter sauce from butter, flour, and hot water, and when done mix the currants with it.

MINT SAUCE.

Wash half a handful of young fresh mint, pick the leaves from the stalks, and chop them very fine. Make a plain butter sauce, add vinegar and sugar to suit the taste. Then remove from the fire, mix with the chopped mint.

LEMON SAUCE.

Wash a lemon, remove the peel and steep in three cups of water for fifteen minutes. Add the juice of one or two lemons and the necessary amount of sugar. Dissolve three teaspoonfuls of cornstarch with a little cold water and stir into the lemon juice. Boil ten minutes. Remove from the fire and mix with a tablespoonful of butter while warm. The lemon rind can be grated and added to the sauce instead of boiling the rind. This is good for steamed puddings. The yolk of an egg may be added.

CHERRY SAUCE.

Remove the stones and steep the cherries in water with a stick of cinnamon. Add a little sugar and thicken with cornstarch or arrowroot. Strain or leave the cherries in it.

CAPER SAUCE.

Prepare as number one, add capers and lemon before serving.

HORSE RADISH SAUCE.

Prepare as number one, adding dried currants and grated horse radish at the last minute.

MUSTARD SAUCE.

Prepare as number one, adding two to four teaspoonfuls of prepared mustard a minute before serving. Serve with hard boiled eggs.

MUSHROOM SAUCE.

Prepare as number one, add the desired amount of dried mushrooms, which have been soaked in water for several hours, and boil for ten minutes. Serve with rice.

The best way to use spices is to buy them whole, in the fresh or dried state, and chop, grate, or grind them when needed. Vanilla beans, bitter almonds, bay leaves, cinnamon bark and many others may be used whole and removed before serving.

CREAM SAUCE. No. 1.

Prepare as number one; remove from the fire, add a few tablespoonfuls of hot cream, or the yolk of one or several eggs, which have been diluted and stirred with a little cold water. Flavor with mace, pepper, nutmeg, parsley, lemon, or vanilla. Serve with macaroni, plum pudding, French toast, or boiled onions.

CREAM SAUCE. No. 2.

Thicken some water with flour. Cook ten minutes, and add hot cream and flavoring.

ALMOND SAUCE.

Prepare with hot water as directed for butter sauce. Stir smooth a tablespoonful of almond butter or paste with two tablespoonfuls of cold water, remove the sauce from the fire, add the almond butter and stir thoroughly. Serve with baked apples, rice, or bread.

OLIVE SAUCE.

Prepare as butter sauce. Soak some olives in warm water, remove the stones and add to the sauce, boiling all a few minutes.

DRIED CHERRY SAUCE.

Soak the cherries and prepare as the foregoing. Strain, if desired.

SALAD DRESSINGS FOR CEREALS, VEGETABLES AND FRUITS.

Great care should be exercised in the preparation of foods with nut-butter. Never spread it on bread without first diluting it with an equal amount of water. Do not keep it on the shelf like ordinary butter after it has been mixed with water; prepare only sufficient to last for twenty-four hours, and keep it on ice.

They can be prepared from oil, butter, eggs, cream or nut butter. Dressings prepared from nut butter are especially good during the summer months. They can be prepared by making a plain butter sauce with flour and water, and adding nut butter before serving, or by diluting nut butter with water to the desired consistency. They may be flavored with orange or lemon juice. If a sweet flavor is desired, boil a little water with sugar, then add the juice of lemon or oranges and mix with nut butter. Serve hot or cold.

FRENCH DRESSING.

Mix three tablespoonfuls of olive oil with one of vinegar, or with the juice of one lemon and one grated onion. To this may be added sugar, pepper, salt, parsley or mustard, if desired. The proportion of oil and vinegar may be changed according to the taste. For fruit salads, lemon should always be used instead of vinegar. For raw vegetables, the dressing should not be poured over the salad until ready to serve.

MAYONNAISE DRESSING. No. 1.

Put into a high narrow bowl the yolk of an egg and one whole egg, a tablespoonful of flour, one of olive oil, one of vinegar, and a little mustard; beat with an egg beater about five minutes, or until it becomes thick, adding slowly one cup of cottonseed or olive oil while beating it. Flavor with lemon juice, onion and salt, to suit the taste. Keep on ice.

MAYONNAISE DRESSING. No. 2.

Stir one or several yolks of eggs and mustard with a fork on a soup plate for several minutes. Slowly add some olive oil, and if it becomes too thick, add lemon juice, then salt, sugar and onion, if desired. Keep on ice.

MAYONNAISE DRESSING. No. 3.

Make dressing number two. Add salt and sugar to suit the taste, and one cup of thick cream. Keep on ice.

MAYONNAISE DRESSING. No. 4.

Take the yolks of three hard boiled eggs and one raw yolk. Stir as smooth as butter, with one teaspoonful of mustard, one of sugar, one of grated onion, a little salt and pepper, the juice of a lemon or some good vinegar, then add slowly one-half or one cupful of olive oil. Keep on ice.

MAYONNAISE DRESSING. No. 5.

Grate one medium sized cold boiled potato, stir one or two hard boiled eggs through a strainer and mix with the potato. Add the yolk of one or more eggs, stir well, then slowly add some olive oil, mix with lemon juice or vinegar, and flavor.

MAYONNAISE DRESSING No. 6.

Cream one-fourth of a pound of butter, add the yolk of one raw egg, and the finely grated yolks of two hard boiled eggs. Mix well, and add finely chopped parsley, onion, a little mace and some lemon juice. Spread on bread.

HONEY OR SYRUP DRESSING.

Add the juice of one lemon, orange, or grapefruit, to one-half cup of honey or table syrup. Mix well and serve with pancakes. This is more nourishing and wholesome than pure sweets. Do not prepare more than enough for one meal at a time.

SYRUP DRESSING. No. 2.

Let a half cup of syrup and a small tablespoonful of vinegar come to a boil. Add one finely chopped onion. Remove from the fire and cool, adding the desired amount of oil, and mixing well. This is good for lettuce and watercress. Serve with pancakes, or baked rolled oats. If lemons or oranges are used in place of vinegar, do not allow the latter to boil. Prepare fresh for each meal. Do not use vinegar or onions with fancy fruits.

SALADS.

APPLE SALAD. No. 1.

Peel some tart apples, slice and mix with French or mayonnaise dressing. Garnish with lettuce. Grapenuts or ryenuts may be sprinkled over this. Serve with egg food or nuts or any kind of cheese for lunch or dinner. For breakfast or supper serve with black toast or hygienic crackers. If protein foods are added, use the lightest form.

Do not combine legumes with bananas, berries or other fancy summer fruits.

APPLE SALAD. No. 2.

Peel, slice and chop in chopping bowl as fine as rice. Then prepare and combine as explained in number one. Onion is a good addition. Chop or grate the onion very fine, mix with a little oil and lemon juice separately. Add this to the apple and the mayonnaise last of all.

APPLE SALAD. No. 3.

Arrange some lettuce or celery in a salad bowl, add dried raisins, currants or shredded cocoanut. Serve with nuts. Nut cream may be added to the apples in place of the cocoanut. If bread is desired “unleavened” is the best. Grapenuts or ryenuts sprinkled over the salad makes it look dainty and appetizing.

CELERY SALAD.

Cut the tender white stalks into small pieces. Add chopped apples and nuts or salad dressing.

CUCUMBER SALAD.

Peel and slice the cucumbers thin and pour French or mayonnaise dressing over them. They may be combined with lettuce, tomatoes, chopped parsley or onions.

TOMATO SALAD.

Prepare and mix like cucumber salad. Serve with French or mayonnaise dressing.

BOILED VEGETABLE SALAD.

Use left-over asparagus, string beans, cow beans, lima beans, peas or cauliflower. Pour over them French dressing half an hour before serving, adding lettuce and mayonnaise dressing when ready to serve.

Cucumbers are a valuable food and should be eaten almost daily by growing children and anemic people, especially if much muscular work is required. If eaten in combination with half a dozen other articles, it produces indigestion. Cucumbers should never be eaten at night.

CABBAGE SALAD.

Use the innermost part of a head of cabbage. Cut and chop very fine, add lemon and olive oil, and mix with mayonnaise dressing. A cold grated potato may be added for those who have difficulty in digesting cabbage.

TOMATO AND WATERCRESS SALAD.

Carefully wash some watercress, dry, and mix with equal parts of sliced tomatoes. Use French or mayonnaise dressing.

DANDELION SALAD.

Carefully wash and mix with finely cut green onions and French dressing.

YELLOW DOCK SALAD OR SOUR GRASS.

Wash and serve plain or mix with lemon and olive oil.

LETTUCE SALAD.

Lettuce should be kept in a cool, dry place and not left in water longer than 15 minutes. It may be served alone as a salad mixed with French dressing or served in combination with fruits, starchy foods or other vegetables, and eaten in addition to cheese, eggs, nuts or legumes.

SPINACH SALAD.

Take some fresh leaves of raw spinach or use cold boiled spinach, and mix with French dressing.

CHEESE SALAD.

Chop up some tart apples, arrange lettuce in a salad bowl, pour in the apples, and sprinkle over it grated Swiss cheese.

Lettuce is the most desirable green on our tables and combines well with almost any kind of food. Being rich in minerals and alkaloidal extracts, it tends to render the digestive fluids alkaline and promotes oxidation and nutrition. People with delicate stomachs should not eat lettuce at the evening meal.

NUT SALAD.

Chop or grind in a nut grinder some almonds or walnuts. Arrange lettuce and chopped apples in a salad bowl, sprinkle the nuts over it, and serve with celery and raisins. The French dressing may be omitted.

EGG SALAD.

Arrange lettuce in a salad bowl. Cut up hard boiled eggs, pour over them French or mayonnaise dressing. Capers or olives may be added.

CEREAL SALAD. No. 1.

Mix a cupful of raw rolled wheat, oats or rye with a cup of finely grated or chopped carrots. Add a few drops of lemon or orange juice, and a little olive oil. Lettuce, celery or parsley may be mixed or eaten with it.

CEREAL SALAD. No. 2.

Wash and chop lettuce or celery, and apples. Mix with French or mayonnaise dressing. Then add an equal amount of rolled raw cereals and serve. Parsley or watercress may be added. A syrup dressing or onions combine well with it. Peaches and apricots may be used in place of apples and carrots. Onions should not be used with peaches or apricots.

EMPIRE SALAD.

Ingredients: Two raw apples, two cold boiled potatoes, six hard boiled eggs, three boiled beets, three stalks of celery or one boiled celery root, onions, parsley, and two tablespoonfuls of mustard. Chop fine each of the ingredients separately. Set apart three tablespoonfuls of chopped whites of eggs, yolks of eggs, beets and parsley. Mix all the other ingredients well and add mayonnaise dressing. Put the salad on a platter or into a large glass dish; garnish with lettuce and olives and make designs of green, red, white, and yellow with left-over ingredients.

Nuts are high in nutritive value, and are better evenly combined with non-protein elements than flesh foods are. They are rich in fat and form an ideal diet in combination with raw fruits and greens. They are not sufficiently appreciated as a food, and receive much unjust criticism as to their digestibility. All nuts are wholesome. The right combination and proportion, and the time of day when eaten, are of great importance. The kind of activity as well as individual peculiarities have much to do with likes and dislikes or requirements of certain foods.

CORN SALAD.

Remove the husks and put in cold salt water for thirty minutes. Scrape from the cob, put into a deep bowl and pour diluted lemon juice over it. Let stand ten minutes. Then mix with sliced tomatoes and lettuce or watercress and olive oil. If the acid taste is not liked, mix it with French dressing or serve plain with tomatoes and green leaves.

STRING BEAN SALAD.

Use canned or left-over string beans. Mix with French or mayonnaise dressing and add chopped parsley. Serve with eggs, egg foods or vegetable pudding.

RADISH SALAD. No. 1.

Wash and slice some radishes, mix with chopped onions. Garnish with lettuce, and serve with French or mayonnaise dressing.

OLIVE SALAD.

Stone and slice some ripe olives. Mix with equal parts of thinly sliced tomatoes and French or mayonnaise dressing. Serve on lettuce.

RHUBARB SALAD.

Wash the rhubarb, cut the red part of it into one inch pieces and mix with mayonnaise dressing.

ASPARAGUS SALAD.

Cut off the tips of raw asparagus, arrange some lettuce or watercress in a salad bowl, and mix with French or mayonnaise dressing. Sliced tomatoes may be added. Boiled asparagus may be prepared in the same way.

MUSHROOM SALAD.

Arrange some lettuce or watercress in a dish, select fresh mushrooms, wash and mix with French dressing, and pour over the green leaves.

Green corn is rich in fat and protein, and can form a perfect meal during the summer if combined with tomatoes. Do not cook the corn if it is agreeable raw. Canned corn should be used with care for people with intestinal weaknesses. If used for soups it should be strained and diluted with an equal amount of hot water before thickening.

CELERY ROOT SALAD.

Wash and boil the roots with the skins. When tender, peel them and cut into slices into a big bowl. Pour over them a little hot vinegar diluted with water; let stand 15 minutes. Then drain off the liquid and mix the roots with French or mayonnaise dressing. Flavor with parsley. Serve with lettuce and tomato puree or with string beans or green peas and bread.

POTATO SALAD.

Boil or steam some potatoes with their jackets on. When done, peel and slice them into a deep bowl while warm; then sprinkle over them a little salt, pepper, and finely chopped or grated onion, and pour over them some boiling hot vinegar diluted with one-half water and mixed with melted butter or oil. Cover with a saucer and shake well; let stand for twenty or thirty minutes. If there is too much liquid, pour off some and mix the remainder with mayonnaise dressing and chopped parsley, if desired.

BANANA SALAD.

Arrange lettuce and sliced bananas in a salad bowl, adding a French dressing of lemon and olive oil. Ryenuts or grapenuts may be sprinkled over it. Scrape off the inside of the skin of the bananas, and mix with it.

ORANGE SALAD.

Peel some oranges, slice them crossways, remove the seeds, put into a bowl and grate some of the orange rind over them.

Serve plain or with lettuce, and pour a French dressing of lemon and olive oil over it.

PINEAPPLE SALAD.

Peel and slice crossways, serve with lettuce and lemon or with sweet cream.

PINEAPPLE AND APPLE SALAD.

Mix equal parts of sliced apples and pineapples. Serve like the foregoing or with nuts.

Celery contains valuable minerals and is soothing to the nervous system. Celery roots are rich in fat and a healing food for people with kidney, liver, and intestinal trouble.

PINEAPPLE AND ORANGE SALAD.

Mix equal parts of sliced oranges and pineapples. Serve like the foregoing.

APPLE AND BANANA SALAD.

Prepare and serve like the foregoing, with cream or nuts.

ORANGE AND BANANA SALAD.

Scrape off the bitter pulp of the inside of the skin of the banana, mix with sliced oranges and bananas, and serve like the foregoing.

FRUIT SALAD IN GELATINE.

Prepare some lemon or orange gelatine. Let cool and pour over the sliced fruit. Set on ice and serve plain or with cream.

CRANBERRY AND CELERY SALAD.

Wash and cut some celery the size of cranberries. Mix with an equal amount of cranberries, and serve plain or with lemon and olive oil.

PEACH SALAD.

Wash and slice some peaches. Serve with cream or lettuce, lemon, and olive oil. Fried beachnut bacon and shredded, puffed or raw rolled wheat are a good addition, if lemon and oil is used.

APRICOT SALAD.

Prepare and serve in the same manner as peach salad.

CRANBERRY AND BANANA SALAD.

Cook some cranberries, strain, and thicken with a little cornstarch. Cool and pour over sliced bananas. Serve with raw celery.

CRANBERRY AND PEAR SALAD.

Combine like the foregoing or use baked pears. Raw cranberries with raw pears and celery is also good.

BANANA AND GRAPE SALAD.

Slice some bananas and mix with an equal quantity of green grapes. Garnish with lettuce, and add lemon and olive oil, if desired.

RADISH SALAD. No. 2.

Mix some chopped or sliced radishes with French or mayonnaise dressing, and add lettuce or celery. Serve for breakfast with whole wheat bread and butter, or with raw wheat flakes.

BEET SALAD.

Mix some left-over sliced beets with French dressing. Serve with celery and whole wheat or black toast with butter for breakfast or dinner.

MIXED SPINACH SALAD.

Wash some fresh tender spinach leaves. Cut fine and mix with French dressing, mint and onions. Tomatoes may be added. Serve with hard boiled eggs.

CARROT SALAD.

Grind, chop or slice the carrots and mix with French dressing. Add chopped parsley, lettuce or celery. Serve with rye or wheat flakes.

PLUM SALAD.

Green, red and blue plums are all valuable fruits. The blue plum is rich in iron, minerals, and sugar, and is, next to apples and tomatoes, one of the most perfect fruits. It has great preserving qualities and if picked on a dry, sunny day and placed carefully in straw in a dry, cool place, will keep until Christmas. Remove the stone and slice, mix with rylax or ryenuts or serve with stale bread and butter. Nuts, lettuce and celery make a good addition. Olive oil is also good.

DRIED VEGETABLE SALAD.

Soak Carque’s dried vegetables in a little water for several hours. Then steam in a colander for about ten minutes. When cold, add salad dressing or nut cream.

Salads consisting of mixed nuts or mixed boiled vegetables are not wholesome for delicate people.

Fresh raw fruits, if eaten in the right proportion with other articles, are wholesome. The habit of eating a large amount of acid fruits at the beginning of the morning meal is not necessary. If a heavy meal is eaten in the evening, remaining half digested in the stomach over night, and putrefying, then acid fruits will cleanse the stomach in the morning.

Apples are among the most perfect of fruits. People who have difficulty in digesting a sufficient amount of cereals should eat apples almost daily. If raw apples disagree, they can be made agreeable by combining them with oil in the form of a salad. Baked apples and apple sauce are also good, provided they are not spoiled with too much sugar.