Seven-layer salad
Encyclopedia
Seven-layer salad is an American
dish that includes a colorful combination of seven layers of ingredients: iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, sweet peas, hard boiled eggs, sharp cheddar cheese, and bacon pieces. The salad is topped with a mayonnaise-based dressing and sometimes sour cream is added. It is served in a glass bowl or large pan so the layers can be observed. The dish is often associated with potlucks, picnics, and barbecues, where a large gathering of people takes place and many people need to be fed. There are many variants on the seven-layer salad and it can be made with additional (or sometimes fewer) layers, making it (for example) an eight-layer salad instead.
and was called the "seven-layer pea salad" for its main layers of peas. The traditional seven-layer salad is covered with a coating of mayonnaise (and sometimes sour cream) and includes eggs and bacon. It has been said to have "helped give salads of the 1950s a bad name... when it came to health."
who include sliced mozzarella, red tomatoes and basil layered for red, green and white color, and others using fruit, cutting back on high-fat ingredients, substituting low-fat yoghurt
or a vinaigrette dressing for the mayonnaise/sour cream, and modifying the ingredients with ethnic and gourmet foods such as tomatillos, chickpeas, black beans and pepperoni. Another chef who serves items with "a sense of humor" offers "an updated seven-layer salad in a tortilla, where the ground beef of the 70's is exchanged for grilled shrimp."
The seven-layer salad has quite a few devotees, including Rita Mae Brown
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
dish that includes a colorful combination of seven layers of ingredients: iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, sweet peas, hard boiled eggs, sharp cheddar cheese, and bacon pieces. The salad is topped with a mayonnaise-based dressing and sometimes sour cream is added. It is served in a glass bowl or large pan so the layers can be observed. The dish is often associated with potlucks, picnics, and barbecues, where a large gathering of people takes place and many people need to be fed. There are many variants on the seven-layer salad and it can be made with additional (or sometimes fewer) layers, making it (for example) an eight-layer salad instead.
History
Although there are many variations, the traditional seven-layer salad has remained the same for decades. The dish may have originated in the SouthSouthern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
and was called the "seven-layer pea salad" for its main layers of peas. The traditional seven-layer salad is covered with a coating of mayonnaise (and sometimes sour cream) and includes eggs and bacon. It has been said to have "helped give salads of the 1950s a bad name... when it came to health."
Variations
Popular variations on the home-made salad's ingredients include ham, mushrooms, celery, carrots, and bell peppers. The dish remains a party staple, and its impressive height and layered architecture have been adapted by some restaurant chefs, though "our mothers were stacking long before many of today's chefs were even born." Cooks modifying the salad include those at Aura restaurant on Lincoln Road in FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
who include sliced mozzarella, red tomatoes and basil layered for red, green and white color, and others using fruit, cutting back on high-fat ingredients, substituting low-fat yoghurt
Yoghurt
Yoghurt, yogurt or yogourt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yoghurt are known as "yoghurt cultures"...
or a vinaigrette dressing for the mayonnaise/sour cream, and modifying the ingredients with ethnic and gourmet foods such as tomatillos, chickpeas, black beans and pepperoni. Another chef who serves items with "a sense of humor" offers "an updated seven-layer salad in a tortilla, where the ground beef of the 70's is exchanged for grilled shrimp."
The seven-layer salad has quite a few devotees, including Rita Mae Brown
Rita Mae Brown
Rita Mae Brown is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel Rubyfruit Jungle. Published in 1973, it dealt with lesbian themes in an explicit manner unusual for the time...
.
See also
- List of salads
- Potato saladPotato saladPotato salad is a dish made from boiled potatoes, the versions of which vary throughout different regions and countries of the world. Although called a salad, it is generally considered a side dish, as it generally accompanies the main course....
- Snickers saladSnickers saladSnickers salad is a mix of Snickers bars, Granny Smith apples, whipped cream and often pudding or whipped topping served in a bowl. It is a potluck and party staple in some parts of the Midwest of the United States, where the "salad" is popular alongside glorified rice, pistachio salad, jello salad...
- Cookie saladCookie saladCookie salad is a dessert salad from the U.S. state of Minnesota made with buttermilk, vanilla pudding, Cool Whip, mandarin oranges, and fudge stripe shortbread cookies. It is popular with children and for potlucks. Berries can also be added.-See also:...
- Jello saladJello saladJell-O salad, also called gelatin salad, jelly salad, and congealed salad is the common name for salad made with flavored gelatin, fruit and sometimes grated carrots or, more rarely, other vegetables...
- Pistachio salad
- HotdishHotdishHotdish is a variety of baked casserole that typically contains a starch, a meat or other protein, and a canned and/ or frozen vegetable, mixed together with canned soup. The dish is popular in Minnesota...
- Glorified riceGlorified riceGlorified rice is a dessert salad served in Minnesota and other states in the Upper Midwest. It is popular in more rural areas with sizable Lutheran populations of Scandinavian heritage. It is made from rice, crushed pineapple, and whipped cream. It is often decorated with maraschino...
- Baked beansBaked beansBaked beans is a dish containing beans, sometimes baked but, despite the name, usually stewed, in a sauce. Most commercial canned baked beans are made from haricot beans, also known as navy beans – a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris – in a sauce. In Ireland and the United Kingdom, a tomato...