The salad has strayed a long way from its origins. The word “salad” stems from the Latin for salt and literally means, “salted vegetables.” This humble, vegetable side dish, used for centuries as a palate cleanser between the heavy, main course and dessert, has now taken on a far more starring role in menus.

Remember those tiny salads you used to get at restaurants, served in a small bowl and consisting of a chunk of iceberg and one tomato wedge, drowning in a sea of French dressing? A salad can now mean anything from macaroni with mayonnaise to marshmallows in Jell-O. Not a vegetable in sight.

As the profile of the salad on menus increased, salads also became meatier, pun intended. Modern salads can be almost any combination of vegetables and proteins such as chicken, eggs, cheeses, and nuts. They have become the main course.

The entrée salad is not entirely a new invention. Remember sitting on a stool at the Woolworths' lunch counter, eating the tuna salad plate? It consisted of an ice cream scoop of tuna and mayonnaise plopped down on a bed of lettuce, garnished with sliced cucumber and tomato wedges. And long before that, there were other popular entrée salads, some of which are making a comeback.

The chef’s salad was a popular diner item when I was a teenager. The original chef’s salad consisted of tossed greens, julienne chicken or ham, thinly sliced vegetables and slices of hard-boiled egg; dressing choice optional. Over the years, the words “chef’s”, “house”, and even “tossed” became synonymous, and very few people today know what a true chef’s salad should be.

More recently, I have found the Cobb salad on a few menus. This classic from the late 1920s was the invention of, who else, but Bob Cobb, a cook at the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood.  It is a mixture of greens, including watercress, bacon, avocados, diced chicken breast, tomato, grated hard-boiled eggs, and chives in vinaigrette dressing, topped with crumpled Roquefort cheese. The Cobb I ordered was made without bacon, which is why I ordered it. Often the original recipe has been modified to include shrimp or beef. I have a recipe from a vegetarian magazine that substitutes chickpeas for the chicken and uses soy “bacon.” Although the recipe sounds great to me, I am sure that Bob must be rolling in his grave. A vegetarian Cobb!

Probably the most decadent salad meal I have ever eaten was a Crab Louis (or Louie.) We were on a family vacation in Monterey, California, and eating at this incredible restaurant built right out over the ocean on one of the old cannery wharfs. Steinbeck’s ghost seemed to be everywhere. I ordered the salad, not knowing what to expect, and became instantly addicted. Granted, it sure isn’t low-anything, but boy was it good. Like the Cobb, this salad has its origins in the great days of the big clubs on the West Coast. The salad consists of a mound of crabmeat on a bed of iceberg lettuce, garnished with capers, tomato wedges and hard-boiled eggs. The dressing is similar to what we would call Thousand Island, but with a bit more zip; it contains horseradish.

No discussion of entrée salads would be complete without the Salad Niçoise. This salad can usually be found on menus from European style bistros and cafés. The traditional recipe includes lettuce, tomatoes, French green beans, boiled potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, tuna, anchovies, garlic, black olives and scallions. This salad is normally served as a composed salad, that is, the ingredients are artfully layered on the plate, often with the vinaigrette dressing served on the side. As with the other classics, there are many pretenders to be found. One of the best Niçoise salads I have tasted was at the Wesley Street Diner in Nanaimo, where they serve the salad with seared, fresh tuna. It is to die for!

The most popular entrée salad of our time has to be the Chicken Caesar. I don’t know what it is about the Caesar Salad, but it has held on to first place as everyone’s favourite salad for years. Some people use the coffee as their benchmark of a good restaurant; Jordan and I use the Caesar Salad.

            Entrée salads have made a comeback on menus everywhere, and by all appearances, the trend is not going to slow anytime soon. I thought it was a brilliant idea when restaurants began to offer side meat additions such as seasoned chicken breasts or shrimp that could be added to any salad on the menu. That’s my kind of meal.

My current to-die-for salad is the Cole-trane salad at Silva Bay. It combines mixed greens, dates, carrots, peppers, corn niblets, grape tomatoes, feta cheese, cilantro, and blackened chicken, in a honey-lime dressing. I get cravings for it just writing about it. I think that maybe Jordan and I might need to check on our boat tomorrow, sometime around noon?