Salad is a mixture of cold foods, usually including vegetables and/or fruits, often with a dressing, occasionally nuts or croutons, and sometimes with the addition of meat, fish, pasta, cheese, or whole grains. Salad is often served as an appetizer before a larger meal.

The word "salad" comes from the French salade of the same meaning, which in turn is from the Latin salata, "salty", from sal, "salt", (See also sauce, salsa, sausage).

Green salad

The "green salad" or "garden salad" is most often composed of some vegetables, built up on a base of leaf vegetables such as one or more lettuce varieties, spinach, or rocket (arugula). The salad leaves are cut or torn into bite-sized fragments and tossed together (called a tossed salad), or may be placed in a predetermined arrangement.

Other common vegetables in a green salad include cucumbers, peppers, mushrooms, onions, spring onions, red onions, avocado, carrots, celery, and radishes. Other ingredients such as tomatoes, pasta, olive, hard boiled egg, artichoke hearts, heart of palm, roasted red peppers, cooked potatoes, rice, sweetcorn, green beans, black beans, croutons, cheeses, meat (e.g. bacon, chicken), or fish (e.g. tuna, shrimp) are sometimes added to salads. In a restaurant, a small salad without meat is called a dinner salad. The entree salads may contain chicken, either grilled or fried chicken fingers on top of the salad, or seafood in the form of grilled or fried shrimp, or a fish steak, such as tuna, mahi-mahi, or salmon. Steak such as sirloin can be grilled and sliced and placed upon the salad.

Popular types of garden salads

• Caesar salad
• Chef salad
• Chinese chicken salad
• Cobb salad
• Greek salad
• Michigan salad

Dressings

A green salad is often served with a dressing. Some examples include:

• Balsamic vinegar
• Caesar dressing
• Creamy mayonnaise or yoghurt-based dressings:
• Bleu cheese or blue cheddar dressing
• Louis dressing
• Ranch dressing
• Russian dressing
• Honey Dijon
• Thousand Island dressing
• Oil and vinegar, lemon, or soy sauce based dressings:
• French dressing
• Italian dressing
• Vinaigrette
• Wafu dressing
• Tahini
• Hummus