Summer of Salads!

mrsrebeccaplude

I’m so excited to be home for lunch now, and I’d really like to use the time to find some delicious salads. I’m trying to move past the generic and bagged salads so I’d appreciate your recipes!

Athijade

I do salads quite often for lunch (and less often for dinner), but I don't have recipes per say.

This week's is simple:
Romaine
Grape tomatoes
Mini cucumbers (less seeds so I prefer them)
Bell Pepper
Red Onion
Chicken
Blue Cheese
Dressing (whatever I feel like that day... yesterday I had Bolthouse Farms ranch, today I am thinking Balsamic)

Normally I also do hardboiled egg on this too, but I am having that with breakfast so skipping them at lunch.

If you do a search for salads on the boards, you will also get some ideas!

goal06082021

Grilled chicken, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and mandarin orange slices over baby spinach with raspberry vinaigrette dressing is a delicious salad. Bonus points for marinating the chicken in some of the vinaigrette before cooking it (with the caveat of course to not use the marinade for your salad dressing - I think most folks know that, but just in case).

I have a bag of peaches (because I could not buy individual peaches) - plan A for those is going to be a peach-and-prosciutto flatbread, but while I was looking for savory peach recipes I also found one for a steak salad with peaches and feta over arugula. I think I'll get spring mix instead of straight arugula - it'll probably be easier to find, for one. For two, I don't love arugula, but maybe the bitter, peppery flavor really works with steak and peaches, who knows.

88AViva

I added some pomegranates to my salad today. I like a hint of sweet. Sometimes pineapple, sometimes tangy strawberry or granny smith. I don't like any dressing other than sesame sauce and pepper.

Romaine lettuce
Baby cucumbers
Shredded carrots
Shredded daikon radish
Shredded cabbage
_____

If I'm having a salad without any fruit added, I add proteins like shrimp or roast chicken. Or pieces of chorizo with some feta cheese and black olives.

SuzanneC1l9zz

My lunch most days a work is a salad. I always have several kinds of greens on hand, so I tear up 1-2 leaves of each to make a bed. Then throw on some carrot, pepper, celery, mushroom, onion, zucchini, tomato, whatever is on hand. A few tablespoons of rolled mixed grains (believe it or not it was too low carb - my energy tanks). A serving of cooked chicken. Some avocado. A small amount of cheese. And a couple of tablespoons of either Renée's Greek vinaigrette or the President's Choice avocado dressing (occasionally).

Sinisterbarbie1

I like to do variations on nicoise salad - so bed of lettuce, hard boiled egg, tuna or some other fish or seafood, a few olives, a few cherry tomatoes, steamed green beans, and if calories allow and I have leftovers from dinner or am at home to do it, boiled fingerling potatoes.

Also my husband and I rarely finish an entire serving of meat when we grill a steak so there are always leftovers for a salad the next day. We usually roast or grill veggies too so those also go in the salad. If calories allow a bit of feta or blue cheese crumbles.

Spinach, roasted beets, blue cheese or feta and slivered almonds or pistachios. Or replace cheese with avocado for vegan/ less salt.

I mostly use a good olive oil and splash of vinegar instead of dressing. Plus herbs from my garden.

kshama2001

I vary salads depending on the meat I add, and if it is a side salad or an entrée salad.

For example, for an entrée salad with chicken, I'll add walnuts and cheese.

With chicken, I generally use a dressing that is a base of oil and vinegar. I'll often add fruit, like apples or whatever fruit is around.

Instead of having a hamburger on a bun, I will have it in salad, and in that case whip up a Russian dressing with mayo and ketchup.

AnnPT77

I don't recipe much, except for baking, and even then it can be loosey-goosey with the non-structural ingredients.

If you're a committed recipe-er, this won't help, but I'll share a thematic idea: Don't forget about non-leaf salad bases.

* I like using a cucumber as a salad base, quartered lengthwise then sliced (usually thin, but chunkier if it will sit in the fridge), with a variety of add-ins or dressings. Greek yogurt can sub for the traditional mayo type dressings **, or use a vinaigrette.

* Cabbage-based slaws, or raw root veggie slaws. Consider celery root, carrots, broccoli or cauliflower (might want to blanch those, i.e., quick steam or dip in boiling water to soften slightly), jicama, etc. Add other veggies as desired.

* Bean salads are good, and protein-y. I especially like a combination of red beans; chopped onions; chopped or sliced sweet peppers (or mildly hot ones, or a mix); maybe some minced garlic; maybe chopped celery; maybe halved cherry tomatoes; maybe sweet corn (roasted is great, but frozen/cooked/cooled is fine); maybe sliced or chunked avocado; and often a manageable bit of cubed cheese (reduced fat cheese tend to be firmer, but any cheese will get mushy in the fridge IME so I usually add the cheese before eating). Cheese choices I particularly like in this are string cheese (sliced), and smoked is especially tasty; feta; farmer cheese or paneer. My favorite dressing** is some kind of vinaigrette based on malt vinegar, and if I put avocados in the salad I'd probably omit oil from the dressing. Another dressing option is mashed avocado mixed with vinegar or lime. Cottage cheese can also be mixed in instead of dressing.

* I like to roast a big pan of assorted veggies, then I'll use those on leafy salads, or as a salad base on their own. Even a single type of roasted veggies, with a few fresh veggies added, plus dressing, can be tasty as a salad.

I'd encourage you to experiment. What's the worst that can happen? One bad salad.

** I usually make my own dressings, just enough for one salad. Because I live alone, I find it boring to have to go through whole bottles of just one or two dressings, and homemade is easy/quick.

Usually it's some kind of vinegar thing, often without oil if the salad has some fats for good vitamin absorption (like avocado, cheese, nuts or seeds in the salad). I keep various types of plain vinegar in the pantry, because they have different flavor profiles (i.e., malt vinegar, both red & white wine vinegar, both white and regular balsamic vinegar, rice wine vinegar, etc.). Some seasoning options are the typical green herbs (heating the vinegar slightly will help if herbs are dry - just a few seconds in the micro) and minced garlic; an Asian-esque rice wine vinegar with toasted sesame oil and maybe sesame seeds if I have some; prepared mustard with or without herbs. Pureeing veggies/fruits or adding fruit juice or finely chopped (ideally toasted) nuts is also good, as seasoning.

The other main dressing category for me is based on plain Greek yogurt, thinned at the end if needed with nonfat milk. Some alternative options to mix in for flavor: Mashed avocado, a bit of blue cheese if you like it, a bit of parmesan cheese, minced garlic, finely chopped cucumber (salt the dressing to taste and let it sit a few minutes before thinning - the cucumber juice will thin it quite a bit). I always salt and pepper yogurt dressings, personally.

cwolfman13

I typically only eat garden salads as a side...spring mix greens, cucumber, red onion, and cherry tomato. On the very rare occasion that I eat a salad as a meal I will usually just add grilled chicken.

acpgee

This article is a favourite salad resource.
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html