Salad

andreadee83

What do you like to put in your salads? Needing some new ideas😊

LoveyChar

I'm boring and just buy the basics ~ iceberg lettuce, carrots, onions, and cucumbers with either Italian or ranch dressing. But, I ate a salad from Jason's Deli a few days ago ~ spinach and other mixed greens, blue cheese, cranberries and raisins, walnuts and sunflower seeds with vinaigrette. It was delicious...

hesn92

I like putting quinoa and roasted sweet potato on my salads... roasted corn is good. If Im' lazy I will just throw chick peas on there, if not I will take the time to make little turkey burgers or meatballs or something to put on there for protein. And I like to do a creamy tahini lemon dressing. Or a vinegar based dressing. TBH I really don't care for typical lettuce, tomato, cucumber type salads.

Lietchi

I don't like lettuce, and not huge on cucumber or tomato (except cherry tomatoes), so I do tend to have less traditional salads. I like bell peppers, sweet pointed peppers, kohlrabi, beetroot, endives, fennel, mushrooms, corn (all raw). For protein: boiled egg, chickpeas, edamame, broad beans or canned fish.

Aside from just random combos, I do love a salad of endives, apple, nuts and some honey mustard dressing.

sollyn23l2

I like bell peppers, onions, and sunflower seeds

acpgee

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

ethelbonnie

I had a Cubano inspired salad for lunch today - mixed greens plus some shopped romaine for the crunch, coarse chopped pickles, bacon, black forest ham, pepper-jack, and some dijon mixed into some balsamic vinaigrette.

A couple of days ago, I had a salad with the same base greens as today, with apple, bacon, brie, and sweet onion dressing from Lite House.

Both were quite yummy!

paperpudding

at the moment NOT lettuce.

Price of lettuces has skyrocketed here in Australia (results of floods in lettuce growing areas apparently)

AnnPT77

Shred pretty much any veggie that's good raw to use as a salad/slaw base: Carrots, jicama, zucchini, etc. Make a salad with just-barely-steamed then cooled broccoli or cauliflower. The classic thin-sliced cucumber salad is good with vinagrette or plain Greek yogurt (vs. the old-school sour cream or mayo), plus salt/pepper and herbs of choice to season, and I like some finely-minced garlic and thin-sliced sweet or green onions in there. Chunks of cooked Winter squash (not overcooked) are good in salad, too.

On many salads, consider an Asian-esque vinaigrette dressing (rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, garlic, any other seasonings you like). Salsa or cottage cheese can also be used as a dressing, or herbed/seasoned/salted plain Greek yogurt. Prepared mustard plus vinegar/oil and any other seasonings is a good dressing, IMO especially for broccoli/cauliflower.

As a crunchy topping, toasted nuts, seeds (pumpkin/pepita, sunflower, whatever).

Quite often, if I'm using nuts, seeds or cheese in a salad (any of which provide fat to aid absorption of vitamins in the veggies), I'll dress with just vinegar (plus seasonings), rather than vinegar and oil.

Roasted veggies of all sorts, cooled, are good in salads. Or lightly-steamed asparagus. Or raw edible-pod peas, or blanched regular green peas. (Even frozen peas are OK, heated then cooled).

Make a bean salad with canned beans - doesn't have to be the standard 3-bean thing, can be red beans Southwest-style (sweet corn, sweet onions, maybe crumbled queso fresco, tomatoes, sweet or hot peppers); or I like kidney beans with sweet peppers, onions, vinaigrette dressing (especially if made with malt vinegar), and cut-up bits of smoked provolone or string cheese. Small amounts of feta cheese add a lot to a salad, too.

Experiment: What's the worst that could happen? One sub-ideal salad is not a disaster.

azuki84

salmon, olives, nuts everything, seeds everything, cheese everything, corn
i mix butterhead lettuce, baby spinach, arugula, baby swiss chard, oak lettuce, green onion

perryc05

Not all healthy but here are some places to get ideas:
https://www.eatingwell.com/search?q=salad
https://www.allrecipes.com/search/?q=salad

Walkywalkerson

Greek salad is my favourite- but I usually make a hybrid version - with the usual feta, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and olives
But I add baby spinach rocket and watercress, grated carrot, radishes, yellow peppers and betroot.
I make a massive bowl of it and it lasts in the fridge for 3-4 days.
I don't usually eat dressing but tatziki goes nice with this.
I'm having it tonight and I'm making chicken shwarma to go with it.

SLLeask

I love salads, my favourite is the Halloumi Caesar from Ed's Diner but if I'm at home and want a quick easy lunch, I really finely chop tomatoes, onions, avocado and crab sticks and mix it with a sprinkle of garlic granules and then either light mayo or balsamic vinegar depending what mood I'm in. Sounds and looks a bit gross but the combo is just yum!

littlegreenparrot1

I like to use a grain, cous cous/quinoa/bulghar wheat. Roasted mediterranean veg. Falafel, toasted seeds, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon or lime juice as dressing.

Chopped kiwi in a green salad is good. Different salad leaves, rocket, spinach, different types of lettuce. Panzanella is a bread based salad with tomatoes and peppers and is delicious. Salsa salad that goes with pretty much everything - sweetcorn, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber. Chop everything to about the size of the sweetcorn. Dress with olive oil, lime juice, salt, and chilli flakes or ground pepper for a bit of heat.

Mostly though it's a rummage through the fridge to see what needs using up

cbiggs1861

Are you on TikTok? Katcancook has AWESOME salad ideas that are filling and out-of-the-box. She has a whole series she calls Hungry Lady Salads and every one I’ve tried has been delicious. Her insta is kat_can_cook if you don’t have TikTok.

TheRobotsAreComing

I recently became obsessed with three bean salads - lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and sweetcorn topped with a mix of chickpeas, cannelini and black beans. I was cycling through different salad dressings when I tried salad cream for a chance one day. Game changer! Love this version.

I'm eating a veggie chicken, cherry tomato and pesto couscous salad for lunch today.

iam4scuba

Hearts of palm is always easy to add - you can get them in cans. Same with artichoke hearts but those can be pretty hit or miss.

Most weekends I try to cut up and roast small cubes of sweet potatoes or butternut squash and store them in Rubbermaid containers and add those to salads. Butternut squash is incredibly hard to cut up, but it's a nice to have. I usually season it with some basics, but also throw in cinnamon and it's quite good 2-3 days later.

I sometimes use tomatoes to serve as the "dressing". Another option is fried egg where the yolk serves as the "dressing." (Most store-bought dressings aren't in my diet, and I also don't generally like them, and I am not a fan of balsamic).

Not sure if this was mentioned already, but I've been on a bit of a radish kick lately so I'll slice them up very thin and add those as well.

And for me, no meal is complete without some fresh garlic (often in addition to the garlic powder I'll use in cooking the sweet potatoes/squash).

Nuts and seeds can be good toppers to add a bit of a crunch. I usually go down the bulk section in the supermarket and pick 2 or 3 that look enticing to me at the time.

SuzanneC1l9zz

This is a pretty typical lunch for me to take to work. This particular one worked out to 537 calories, 41 g carbs, 28 g fat, 42 g protein. I'm not trying to lose weight, so this may or may not be appropriate depending on your goals

jsjentz

For lunch I add strawberries, grapes, nuts and top with lowfat raspberry vinaigrette dressing. For dinner I like to add a little cottage cheese, french dressing and shredded cheese.

MaggieGirl135

So many good ideas! My husband and I have a salad pretty much every night (lunch is our big meal of the day, usually). We include much of what was mentioned, on different days, of course. Beets were mentioned, but I would change that up to pickled beets. My husband won’t even consider eating them, but I like the tang/acid/sharpness. It can be canned or jarred in the center aisles of the grocery store (and inexpensive, too). Also, don’t just think cheddar when using shredded cheeses; mozzarella is great in salads, too.

naturallykat

I had an amazing salad in a restaurant that I like to replicate: rocket, smoked sundried tomato (non-smoked works if your can't get smoked), shavings of parmesan, and sunflower and pumpkin seeds- toasted in tamari for full effect.

siberiantarragon

Pickled vegetables (olives, roasted peppers, artichokes, capers, or really anything from the "pickled" section of the grocery store) are a good addition for flavor.
Nutritional yeast is a good topping for salads because it adds a lot of flavor and nutrients without adding a lot of calories.
Other seasonings that I often add are onion and garlic flakes, red pepper flakes, and various dried herbs.
Hummus is a good alternative for salad dressing and there are a lot of flavors of hummus available in the store now.
Dry roasted broad beans or other legumes are good to add some crunch and protein (they are also delicious as soup crackers). These are also available in different flavors at the grocery store.
Oh also I really like putting scrambled eggs on top of salads. Although any type of eggs would work.

rasta_bb

Spinach, mixed leaf lettuce, half a jar of artichoke hearts, some raw red onion slices, banana peppers. Then for dressing, olive oil, tiny bit of vinnegar, tsp mayo, tsp honey, tsp mustard, some minced garlic. And it helps when all of the dressing ingredients are higher quality, the taste comes out superior. Then optional, some bagel everything seasoning.

DancingMoosie

I make sauerkraut. I've tried cabbage with fennel seeds, purple cabbage, and now cabbage/carrot/garlic. It's great to add to lettuce or spinach. Today I did lettuce, spinach, cilantro, cucumber, grape tomatoes, onion, shredded mozzarella, chickpeas, habanero mango seasoning and lemon juice, and a little bit of leftover sauerkraut. Delish!

allaboutthecake

My salad fixin's will usually get sautéed and tossed in with eggs for morning breakfast. Its a way to get more added green/veggie fiber in the day (for me.) Add a dash of dry mustard.