It's true that modern salads include much more than just fruits and vegetables, but even potato, pasta, bean, and gelatin salads usually combine some sort of raw produce in the dish. Regardless of whether you grow your own succulent plants or choose the perfect produce from a farmer's market, turning raw ingredients into a culinary triumph provides a certain sense of satisfaction.
Fresh salads also offer something rare in modern life: They contain ingredients you can recognize and pronounce. As long as you stick with produce and all-natural toppings, you can create anything from an appetizer to an entrée without including a single mysterious additive in the meal.