What Separates A Side Salad From A Regular Portion Is In The Small Details

Not sure what to eat for lunch or dinner? Consider having a salad as a side dish or main course. That's right — salad can be a wonderful addition to steak, fish, or poultry dishes, but you can also enjoy it as a standalone meal. Plus, you can serve it as an appetizer or snack.

The actual definition of a salad is quite confusing, and the name of this dish refers to something you may not expect. As it turns out, the word "salad" comes from "salata," a Latin term for "salted." In ancient Rome, the dish was referred to as "herba salata" or "salted herbs." Today, there is still no consensus on what a salad should look like or when to serve it.

For example, some salads have over 1,300 calories per serving and, therefore, probably shouldn't be considered a side dish. Others, such as coleslaw, can double as a side dish, appetizer, or main course, depending on your preferences. But what truly separates a side salad from a regular portion lies in the details.

Salad can be considered a side dish or main course, depending on its size and ingredients used. A side dish can be any food served with meat, fish, or other main courses. What differentiates it from the main dish is its smaller size. Additionally, side dishes often consist of vegetables rather than meat or other protein sources. Some examples of vegetable salad stars are purple rice, grilled zucchini, cucumbers, or lettuce.

A main course, on the other hand, is supposed to fill you up. Therefore, it's often bigger and more substantial than a side dish. A vegan or vegetarian main course may consist of veggies and starches just like a side dish, but it will still be more filling. The dish typically includes meat, fish, seafood, soy, eggs, cheese, mushrooms, pasta, or grains.

For instance, you can make honey-smoked Norwegian salmon salad with avocado, fish, cucumbers, light cream, celery, onions, and herbs. It's quite big and filling, so you can serve it as a main course. The same goes for Caesar salad, Cobb salad, tuna salad, and traditional salad recipes like Turksih kisir, shopska, or Bayerischer wurstsalat, a dish with pork sausages, veggies, and pickles. However, you can get away with serving these salads on the side as long as you keep the portions small.

With some creativity, you can turn any salad into a main course and wow your guests. The key is to add satiating ingredients like chicken breast, eggs, tofu, sliced steak, quinoa, legumes, or nuts. Ideally, opt for foods rich in protein, fiber, and healthy fats. For instance, turkey and other high-protein foods increase satiety and suppress hunger, according to 2012 research published in the British Journal of Nutrition. The same goes for dietary fiber, which fills you up quickly and keeps hunger at bay.

If, say, you're craving tomato salad, add some cheese and bulgur or quinoa to the mix. Cheese is chock-full of protein, while bulgur and quinoa are high in fiber. Another great choice is avocado. With its creamy texture, it can make your salad more filling and appetizing. Go one step further and recreate the Cheesecake Factory's almond-crusted salmon salad for a restaurant-style dinner.

The salad dressing can make a difference, too. It's one thing to dress your salad with olive oil and lemon juice and another thing to serve it with pesto or a mixture of creamy Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard, garlic, and capers. You could also try a vegan ranch dressing with blended cashews, nutritional yeast, garlic and onion powder, cucumbers, lime juice, and herbs. An even simpler option is to top your salad with shredded cheese, mix in some beans, or serve it with toasted sesame seeds, walnuts, or black olive paste.