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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[–] ipha@lemm.ee 95 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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

[–] emmanuel_car@kbin.social 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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

[–] turtlepower@lemm.ee 37 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."

[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That’s a terrible honeymoon.

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[–] Badass_panda@lemmy.world 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

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 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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[–] Sigmatank@midwest.social 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/

[–] JackDark@lemmy.world 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!!

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

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[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

lettuce in a bowl is salad.

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[–] Fizz@lemmy.nz 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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

[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Fizz@lemmy.nz 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] DoctorWhookah@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] Fizz@lemmy.nz 13 points 1 year ago

Yeah that gives me salad vibes

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[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 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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[–] Stecharan@lemmy.ml 21 points 1 year ago

One, if that ingredient is salad.

[–] MTK@lemmy.world 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

[–] f314@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago

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

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[–] vitriolix@lemmy.ml 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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[–] MooseBoys@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I would argue the minimum number of ingredients is two.

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[–] PetDinosaurs@lemmy.world 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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[–] TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world 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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[–] Globulart@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

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

[–] Paschko@lemm.ee 11 points 1 year ago

What about Kabelsalat?

[–] dbilitated@aussie.zone 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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

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[–] Saraphim@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago (8 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.

[–] kogasa@programming.dev 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Alright buddy. Here's your "whole carrot dipped in ranch" salad.

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[–] qyron@sopuli.xyz 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.

[–] Dubious_Fart@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago (3 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.

[–] porkchop@midwest.social 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I want to agree with you, but I think the minimum number of ingredients has to be three. Otherwise, the unbelievably sad bowl of iceberg lettuce and Italian dressing that was served to me would qualify as a salad and I simply cannot allow that to be.

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[–] Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 1 year ago

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

[–] MartinXYZ@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago

You can make tomato salad with just tomato and onion.

[–] XEAL@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago

2 minium?

  • A base, such as lettuce, pasta, boiled potato or rice.
  • Some salad-worthy veggie or fruit.
[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 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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[–] theneverfox@pawb.social 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

[–] VioletRing@kbin.social 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.

[–] ivanafterall@kbin.social 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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[–] N5DEW@lemmy.radio 9 points 1 year ago

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

[–] PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world 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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[–] WhiteHotaru@feddit.de 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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

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[–] heird@lemmy.ml 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).

[–] CaptainBlagbird@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] TrismegistusMx@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Her salad did have multiple ingredients.

[–] ivanafterall@kbin.social 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.

[–] guyrocket@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

When will the divorce be final?

[–] Nemo@midwest.social 6 points 1 year ago (9 children)

Heterogenous chunks served around or below room temperature are a salad. To be heterogenous, there must be at least two different things, so... two is the minimum, dressing doesn't count towards the total.

Cucumber slices with tajΓ­n? Not a salad.

Cucumber, tomato, and red onion dressed with tahini? Jerusalem salad.

Tuna mixed with mayonnaise? Not tuna salad.

Tuna mixed with celery and mayonnaise? Tuna salad (barely).

Lime jello? Not a salad.

Lime jello cut into cubes mixed with orange jello cut into cubes? Jello salad.

Cranberries stewed with spices and sugar? Not a salad, cranberry sauce.

Cranberry sauce mixed with mandarin oranges, cut pineapple, and walnuts, set into a bundt-shaped jello mold? Cranberry salad.

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