Where have all the vegetarian salads gone?

Once upon a time salads were made of vegetables. At a café or a barbecue a vegetarian knew they could always have some salad even if it was some limp lettuce leaves, tomato and cucumber.

But this is changing. Salads are suddenly fashionable. Salads are more often the main attraction rather than a sideshow. Salads have become substantial and …[frown]… meaty. Packing the salad menu with meat dishes, seems a recent trend in cafe menus. How disappointing as a vegetarian to be excluded from even the salads. E (who likes a bit of chicken) pointed out to to me that meat salads would't satisfy either carnivores or vegetarians.

When I first went vegetarian, much of the vegetarian literature I read pointed out how many vegetables there are compared to the types of meat we eat. Furthermore, a vegetarian diet has prompted many of us to think a bit more creatively about what we eat.

Dressing up every salad by adding chunks of meat seems to show a lack of imagination – or perhaps an inability to value the bounty of vegetables available to us. OK, have your meat salad (if you must), but it would be nice to see more interesting vegetarian salads alongside these. I confess I will sometimes judge a restaurant or café by the salads they serve – if they have lots of meat salads and no vegetarian salads (or just one wilted green salad) I usually want to walk away.

So for anyone who wants to see just how appealing salads can be, I have listed some links to a few salads that inspire me – and don’t need meat to make them desirable. In my dreams I would love some of the café owners in question to see these and give us something more interesting but I know I am probably preaching to the converted. However I list them to comfort us – next time you see a café full of meaty salads, remember this list and think of how good it can be:

- Warm Spiced Pumpkin and Lentil Salad with Pears, Almonds and Goat Cheese from traveler’s lunchbox
- Roasted Tenderstem® Broccoli, Grilled Halloumi and Cherry Tomato Salad from the Vegetarian Society UK
- Sushi Salad at fat free vegan
- Fennel Salad with Grapes, Olives and Dried Figs from Mollie Katzen
- Green Bean Salad with Hearts of Palm, Olives, Red Pepper, and Feta at Kalyn’s Kitchen
- Dr Fuhrman’s Russian Corn Salad at diseaseproof.com
- Raspberry, Feta, Walnut Salad from PCC
- Mixed Vegetable Salad a la Grecque from Delia Online

NB: Why do my thoughts turn to salads as winter in Melbourne is fast approaching? Because this despatch is from sun drenched Darwin where I miss my kitchen and crave a good salad full of interesting vegetables.