Salad
Laap (Minced Meat Salad with Toasted Rice)
Laos's national dish: minced meat cooked without liquid, dressed with lime, fish sauce and herbs, and bound with toasted ground sticky rice. Without the toasted rice — khao khua — it is not laap, and the dressing and herbs go in only after the pan is off the heat.
Shopska Salad (Tomato Salad with Grated Cheese)
Bulgaria's signature salad: roasted red pepper, tomato and cucumber dressed with sunflower oil and vinegar, then buried under grated white cheese until the vegetables disappear. Roasting the peppers and piling the cheese on top rather than mixing it in are what make it shopska.
Fattoush
A Levantine salad of crisp toasted pita and crunchy vegetables tossed in a tangy sumac dressing. Loaded with cucumber, tomato, radish, and herbs, it is bright and fresh — a Mediterranean healthy classic that puts leftover bread to good use.
Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad)
Thailand's iconic salad: shredded green papaya pounded in a mortar with lime, fish sauce, palm sugar, and chili. Sour, spicy, salty, and sweet all at once, with crunchy papaya and toasty peanuts — and no cooking required.
Gado-Gado (Salad with Peanut Sauce)
Blanched vegetables, potato, boiled egg, and tofu on one plate under a generous pour of sweet-savory-spicy peanut sauce — Indonesia's beloved salad. Filling without a stove, with kecap-manis peanut sauce tying every element together.
Coleslaw
An American salad of finely shredded cabbage and carrot in a creamy mayo-vinegar dressing. A crisp, no-cook 5-minute side that's a must with burgers, BBQ, and fried chicken.
Tabbouleh (Parsley Salad)
A Lebanese herb salad of chopped parsley with bulgur, tomato, and mint, dressed in lemon and olive oil. A bright, healthy no-cook dish that pairs perfectly with mezze like hummus and falafel.
Caprese (Insalata Caprese)
An Italian salad from the island of Capri — slices of tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil drizzled with just olive oil and salt. Its red, white, and green echo the Italian flag. With good ingredients it's a few cuts away from done — the easiest of starters.
Greek Salad (Horiatiki)
The traditional Greek salad (horiatiki) — ripe tomato, cucumber, red onion, and olives topped with a slab of feta, drizzled with olive oil and plenty of oregano. No lettuce; simple ingredients, Mediterranean at its best.
Caesar Salad
Crisp romaine tossed in a rich anchovy-garlic-Parmigiano dressing and piled with crunchy croutons and cheese. A world-loved classic, born in Tijuana, Mexico in 1924.