Salads! Need ideas!

cvdub16

So I seem to have the hardest time finding a salad recipe I like! Maybe I am just super picky but I find something try it and then don't like it and end up with nothing for lunch for the week at work. Like this week I did a salad with avocado, chicken, and lemon honey vinaigrette, it sounded yummy so I made 5 days worth in mason jars and after the first one I am just not a fan. So I am looking for ideas for salads I can take to work that are yummy and filling.

RelCanonical

Why didn't you like the salad? That might help people with suggestions, otherwise you might end up repeating the same situation with the next recipe. Maybe try out the recipe in a smaller form before making it multiple times.

cvdub16

I think it was the chicken, I am really weird about eating chicken the next day after its cook especially if it reheated. But apparently I didn't like it cold either haha. And yeah that might help too.

etolv

Right now Panera had an amazingly tasty seasonal salad on their menu called Strawberry Poppyseed. I’m looking online for a copy-cat version I can make at home.

It is so good and filling. It has fruits and nuts, nothing cooked unless you add chicken - but it sounds like you’re looking for something minus chicken.

Sasa4u

I enjoy baby spinach with sliced red peppers, cucumbers, chopped half an avocado, thinly sliced red onion, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and a little bit of olive oil. I usually top with a protein such as chicken, steak, left over salmon or a hard boiled egg. Sometimes I’ll buy those little turkey pepperoni sticks and chop one up to mix in . Also little chunks of cheddar too, if that’s your thing. So filling. )

DancingMoosie

make your salads one at a time until you find what you like. I love honey mustard with hard boiled egg, and olive garden dressing with tomato and cucumber. Shredded cabbage and carrots are also good. Do you like deli meat or flavored tuna in a pouch? I like taco salad and hamburger salad too.

Walkywalkerson

I dont follow recipes for salads - just put all of the vegetables you like together.
Add a protein and I always add avocado and sometimes nuts.
If its a dinner salad I add cold baby potatoes.
I like balsamic dressing.

cvdub16

Thank you all for your suggestions. They sound yummy!

acpgee

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html
My favourite salad resource.

tnh2o

Anything with roasted beets. Don't say ewwww. I get them fresh, roast, and lately I have been using a balsamic and basil dressing. The longer they sit in the fridge, the better they taste.

tnh2o

Thanks for the link @acpgee!

missysippy930

I’m eating a salad with romaine, arugula, baby spinach, broccoli sprouts, chopped carrot, radish, celery, bell pepper, English cucumber, red onion, shaved Parmesan, with light Caesar dressing. I do really like the same salad with fresh strawberries, chicken, pecans and strawberry poppyseed dressing. You can leave out the chicken and sub some other protein, but I really like cold chicken breast.

MikePfirrman

I love chopped salads. Couldn't be easier. Take whatever your favorite vegetables are and a food processor and just throw the veggies in (after destemming and basic prep like washing them) and pulse. Red Cabbage, Carrots, Kale, Cilantro, Chickpeas (and whatever else you like) along with this Maple Tahini Dressing.

If you make it vegan, you can add meat as you go. It also tends not to get as nasty leftover without the meat and cheese.

https://cookieandkate.com/creamy-tahini-dressing-recipe/

I also love to make Greek/Italian Salads. If I'm making Greek, I use Romaine (very finely shredded), parsley, red onion, tomato, cucs, pepperoncini (banana peppers), feta, black olives. If Italian, I might take out the cucs and banana peppers, feta and black olives and replace with artichokes, pepperoni and mozzarella (and perhaps Italian Sweet Cherry Peppers).

Ina Garten's dressing is amazing for either of these two. I just use the original Greek version for the Greek salad and replace Oregano with Italian Seasoning and Red Wine for White Wine Vinegar for the Italian version. Lots and lots of lemon zest, too, for the Greek Salad. Here's the recipe (she used to make the Greek with White Wine, she switched it in this recipe to Red Wine Vinegar).

https://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/inas-greek-salad-recipe-0170505

Once you make this, you will never go back to bottled dressing again. I do mine in a Ninja one cup blender. So much easier.

yirara

Maybe not eat salad?

Megan_smartiepants1970

I made a Mac Daddy Salad (think McDonald's big mac) minus the bun ....I am a keto'er so I made my version of 1000 island dressing .... it is romaine .... browned hamburger with onions, garlic, salt and pepper ..sharp cheddar cheese ....dill pickles ..toasted sesame seeds and dressing

tnh2o

@MikePfirrman I've been making this vinaigrette for years It's great. But I've cut down on the oil so the ratio is more like 50/50 with the vinegar. I make it in a jar to shake and store. I'll have to try the tahini dressing.

Noreenmarie1234

sparklyyeah wrote: »

I dont follow recipes for salads - just put all of the vegetables you like together.
Add a protein and I always add avocado and sometimes nuts.
If its a dinner salad I add cold baby potatoes.
I like balsamic dressing.

Exactly what I do! It always find it funny when people follow a recipe for salads. You just put everything you like together with a dressing you like!

I like to add roasted veggies on top sometimes (air fried radishes for crunch sometimes).

I like to make salads with romaine lettuce, onion, tomato, green pepper, radishes, cucumber, zucchini, banana peppers, then I roast some cauliflower/broccoli/zucchini/onion/radish and put it on top. Top with hot sauce, italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, truvia, mustard, 0 cal walden farms honey mustard, little bit of aged balsamic vinegar. It's delicious.

littlegreenparrot1

I'm weird about anything raw prepared to far in advance of eating it, it would never occur to me to make a salad on Sunday that I would be eating on Friday.
It's more about the texture of the chopped veg for me, cooked stuff I'm not bothered about, we all have our things.

Because of that I always make my lunch while dinner is cooking the night before.

Rarely a recipe for salad, just combinations of what looks good or needs using up. Roast veg is great.
Try with smoked salmon, hard boiled egg or falafel as better to eat cold?

Or of course you could try making up soup/stew/chilli or something similar that you can eat hot.

icemom011

I wouldn't make salads for a week ahead as a meal prep. Although i eat big salad every night for dinner with some kind of protein. I take a bag of chopped raw veggies for lunch most days, they stay good from Sunday through work week, but salads are delicate. If you don't like chicken cold or reheated, try something different. Hummus makes a great topping and it's a good source of protein, i personally love seasoned and pan fried tofu, maybe salmon, depends on your taste. Experiment. Definitely have your dressing on the side, if you meal prep salads.

MikePfirrman

tnh2o wrote: »

@MikePfirrman I've been making this vinaigrette for years It's great. But I've cut down on the oil so the ratio is more like 50/50 with the vinegar. I make it in a jar to shake and store. I'll have to try the tahini dressing.

My daughter stayed with us a few months during the Covid shutdowns. She's an adult pescatarian and was a vegetarian for years. She doesn't like that much oil. You can use chia seed water instead of oil for any recipe as well. Just put a TBS or so of Chia seeds in like 1/2 cup of water and let them sit there an hour or so and then blend them up. Gives dressings a nice thickness as well but it does look like pepper but there's no taste to it. You could easily do 1/2 chia water and 1/2 olive oil.

I have made this Maple Tahini dressing as well and it's delicious too (it's more like the Forks over Knives recipe) and has less oil, because the Tahini has enough oil, to be honest -- I've been in maintenance for years, so I worry less about calories.

https://minimalistbaker.com/make-tahini-dressing/