this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2023
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My significant other ate cucumbers and onion with some ranch. I called it a cucumber onion salad. She says there aren't enough ingredients to call it a salad, because "it takes multiple ingredients". I pointed out she had three and asked what the minimum is. She refuses to answer so I ask Lemmy.

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[–] [email protected] 95 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Lettuce alone is sufficient, but not necessary. As soon as you omit lettuce it takes multiple ingredients.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

My nana calls that the β€œhoneymoon salad”, lettuce alone

[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 year ago

Ha! You beat me to it. My dad loved that joke.

"Do you have honeymoon salad?"

"What's honeymoon salad?"

"Lettuce alone, without dressing."

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That’s a terrible honeymoon.

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

So teeeeechnically, a salad is a dish composed of mixed ingredients. You could make the argument that you mix any two set of chopped ingredients and bingo bongo, it's a salad.

However, I like to think that dishes' ingredients aren't a taxonomic thing, they're a probabilistic thing. In other words, there's no such thing as "not salad" or "salad", only shades of saladness.

  • Serve it cold? Ok it's saladier

  • It's made up of chopped ingredients? Saladier still

  • Those ingredients are mostly vegetables? Getting pretty saladish

  • They're mixed together? Even more salad like

  • They've got some sort of dressing mixed in? Now it's very likely a salad!

... and so on. To me, your SO'a dish has a pretty high Salad Probability^tm

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Is there anyway to convert a Salad Probability^tm into a Salad Factor score?

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Well, the cube rule of food says anything without a starch/bread is a salad, if you want an absurd authority to point to: https://cuberule.com/

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Looks at breakdown of the cube rule: Yeah, okay. That all makes perfect sense.

Looks at examples that follow the cube rule: YOU MONSTERS!!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

This is hilarious! What a beautiful, pointless discussion! I love it! 🀣

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

lettuce in a bowl is salad.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I think 1 ingredient can be a salad as long as it's a very salady ingredient.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Yeah that gives me salad vibes

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I would probably still call dressing on just lettuce a salad, although I would say it's an unusually basic one. 3 ingredients definitely counts.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

One, if that ingredient is salad.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

All you need is lettuce and salt. "Salad" is derived from the latin for salt: sal

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Been there and found out that If you dig deep enough almost everything is either a salad or a soup

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

A soup is just a salad with a lot of dressing.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I would argue the minimum number of ingredients is two.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Can we first define "salad"?

If it's cold ingredients, mixed together, then wilted iceberg lettuce and a gas station dressing packet is salad.

So two.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (8 children)

Something in a bowl with a dressing is salad.

  • Tomatoes + balsamic + olive oil = salad
  • Romaine + Caesar dressing = salad
  • Canned tuna + mayo = salad
  • Cucumber + rice wine vin + sesame oil = salad

Salad is more fun with multiple ingredients, but everything up there is still salad

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

What about Kabelsalat?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Potato salad is often just potatoes with chives and Mayonnaise. Your SO is chatting shit imho.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

it's a salad, it's just a terrible one

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Two ingredients must be present for something to be a salad - a vegetable and a dressing. I make all sorts of salads. Some have lettuce, some don’t. I make salad with just fennel and an oil/vinegar dressing. I make salad with tomatoes & cucumbers with a dressing. What she ate was 100% a salad. This is a weird fight.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I grew up with the notion that chopped tomato sprinkled with coarse salt is a salad.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

One vegetable and dressing is enough if you need a utensil to eat it. Example: cucumber salad.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

You can make tomato salad with just tomato and onion.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Take lettuce for example.

If you put a lot of lettuce in a bowl.. What do you have? A Salad?

NO. You have a bowl of lettuce.

You put a second object in the lettuce bowl (Crouton, dressing, another veg, whatever), Now do you have a Salad?

Yes. You have a salad.

There is no maximum ingredient count for a salad, but you must have a minimum of two items for a salad.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I would say the important distinction is in presentation. Was it a bowl of onion and cucumber mixed together with ranch? If so salad. Was it a plate with a pile of cucumber and a pile of onion, with ranch for dipping? If so crudites.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Does pouring the dip over the crudites transform it into a salad? So french fries are crudite? Does that mean cheese fries are a type of salad? I'm not waiting for your answer before getting my daily dose of salad in.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

As long as there's no structural starch it's a salad https://cuberule.com/

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

2 minium?

  • A base, such as lettuce, pasta, boiled potato or rice.
  • Some salad-worthy veggie or fruit.
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (4 children)

One. But it needs to be a vegetable AND have dressing AND be chopped into bite sized parts AND be raw.

If any of the previous conditions isn't met, then you need at least two ingredients.

So, yes, cucumbers and onion with ranch most definitely is a salad.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Carrot salad is just shredded carrots with dressing made from mustard mixed with oil, but I'd challenge you to take a bite of that and tell me it's not a salad.

Now mix up uncut baby carrots, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber slices. I'll give you a bowl of ranch, and if you pour it in try to eat it like a salad instead of using them as dip, there's something wrong with you

Salads aren't about ingredient counts, they're about preparation

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Oxford dictionary says:

Originally derived from the Latin sal for salt, meaning something dipped into salt. Now normally a dish of uncooked vegetables; either a mixed salad or just one item (commonly lettuce or tomato).

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (5 children)

If i chop up a cucumber and throw it in a bowl with some vinegarette, I call it a cucumber salad.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

There is tomato salad. Just tomatoes, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

If you're telling me grapes in a bowl doesn't count as fruit salad, then I guess I've never had a salad.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Her salad did have multiple ingredients.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

When will the divorce be final?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

Merriam Webster says :

*any of various usually cold dishes: such as

a: raw greens (such as lettuce) often combined with other vegetables and toppings and served especially with dressing

b: small pieces of food (such as pasta, meat, fruit, or vegetables) usually mixed with a dressing (such as mayonnaise) or set in gelatin*

As such, even just cucumber would suffice.

Edit: in dutch, a "salade" has to accompanied by a dressing or vinaigrette, thus very much limiting what a salad is.

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