Salad Noob

rachelhaueter

While I'm sure I'll probably get laughed out of the forum for this I must ask. Those of you who eat salads.....how do you do it? (With a fork! Heh.) I mean how did you come to like eating them. I've never liked salads really. The last time I ate something resembling a salad was 20 years ago and it had a piece of lettuce a carton of croutons and I drenched it in Catalina dressing. I was grocery shopping and saw a pre-packaged Chicken Ceasar salad and I actually thought it looked pretty good. I decided against getting it at the time, but I keep thinking I might grab it next time I'm at the store. If anyone can see past my crazy and help me figure out how to like salads enough to make them a regular part of my diet I'd be forever grateful.

Alatariel75

I'd start with trying them!

Can't really give you advice on how to improve your salad experience if you're starting from zero. Grab one that sounds like you might like it. Give it a shot. If you don't like it, try something different.

If you feel like making something yourself, pick an ingredient or two that you think you might like, and google those ingredients along with the word "salad" and see what recipes come up.

There is a huge variety of pre-made salads and recipes to choose from and you might surprise yourself by hitting the ground running when you actually get amongst them.

But you're not going to get anywhere unless you start trying!

z_bra

Crush three cloves of garlic, salt, one teaspoon of olive oil with a mortar and pestle. Add juice of one lemon. For salad 200gr purple cabbage 200gr of tomatoes 100gr bell pepper and 100gr red onion. Put the lemon mixture on the salad add 1 or 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. I eat this everyday for dinner its great. Sometimes I add 50gr of feta.

melaniecheeks

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/738594-more-salad-ideas-than-you-can-shake-a-stick-at?page=1

This is an old thread, so you might have to click on the "display all images" box to get the full technicolour glory.

My tip would be to use your imagination. Don't think of salad as a lettuce leaf and a tomato, it's much more exciting than that.

libbydoodle11

While I'm sure I'll probably get laughed out of the forum for this I must ask. Those of you who eat salads.....how do you do it? (With a fork! Heh.) I mean how did you come to like eating them. I've never liked salads really. The last time I ate something resembling a salad was 20 years ago and it had a piece of lettuce a carton of croutons and I drenched it in Catalina dressing. I was grocery shopping and saw a pre-packaged Chicken Ceasar salad and I actually thought it looked pretty good. I decided against getting it at the time, but I keep thinking I might grab it next time I'm at the store. If anyone can see past my crazy and help me figure out how to like salads enough to make them a regular part of my diet I'd be forever grateful.

Think outside the salad box. You don't always have to use lettuce as a base. You can make an avocado, corn and red pepper salad. Or maybe a miso edamame succotash salad. One of my faves is cabbage (any kind), cilantro, green onion and avo. I recently bought a book called the Salad Samurai. It has a hundred salads that I can't wait to sink my teeth into.

MissJay75

For me, it's all about the salad dressing - both for flavor and for calories! Salads are a great way to get veggies in, and add volume to meals to help fill you up, but many salad dressings have a ton of calories, so be careful!

One of my go to salads is buffalo chicken (shredded chicken breast with buffalo wing sauce) over lettuce and crushed tortilla chips. Shredded cheese if I have the calories and/or can use the extra protein. I use a homemade ranch dressing (season packet, with low fat mayo & sour cream).

I experimented with a lot of different dressings. I have found I like Ken's Steakhouse brand a lot. They make a great sesame ginger that goes well with chicken and mandarin oranges. They also make a sweet Vidalia onion dressing which is 100 x better than it sounds - not onion-ey at all. I love that over a salad with craisins. Both are low calorie at around 80 cals for 2 TBSP serving.

ETA - if salads turn out not to be your thing, that's OK. There are a ton of great healthy meal options that don't include salad.

rainrain83

oh and be careful of salads at the shops or in restaurant.
some ceasar salads have more calories than a quarter pounder.
make your own so that you know what goes in there

KameHameHaaaa

I'm not big on salads, but if there's one combination of stuff I like it's this

Spring mix or baby spinach
Hearts of palm
Pine nuts
Dried cranberry
Feta or goat cheese (I prefer goat)
Citrus vinaigrette

NOM.

A salad can be anything. Just take stuff you know you like and throw it together. Or try new things, maybe one new item a week or whatever til you find a combination of new things you like :] And as others have said be careful in restaurants. Salads can be high calorie too.

RodaRose

I don't eat mine with a fork -- that makes me feel like I am eating a salad -- boring and difficult.

I open a bag of romaine, put some in a bowl, and eat with my figures. Some how doing that has become less like the torture it was in the beginning, and almost enjoyable.

I agree about the salad dressing. Sometimes I kind of use that as a dip.

kristydi

What flavors do you like? Try putting those in a salad form.
We usually do taco Tuesday for dinner so I frequently have a taco salad for lunch on Wednesday. Grilled taco shrimp or chicken, black beans, grilled onions and peppers, little bit of shared cheese, tomatoes top of chopped romaine lettuce. Then I mix a little bit of spicy ranch with some salsa and use that as dressing. Mixing them makes the ranch thinner so it goes further and coats everything.

Shirotora88

I have always loved salads. there are more then the regular salads. I love broccoli salad, bean salad, noodle salad, cucumber salad, potato salads, the list goes on

Owlie45

Get it and try it.
Try different leaves. That was my problem. I hate ice berg but I love romaine and other loose leaf lettuces, ooo and spinach. Make different kinds of salads. Turn your favorite dinners into salads.

annarop

I love to have something really strong flavoured to make all the leaves a lot more interesting - so bits of grapefruit, sauerkraut or a lime and chilli dressing - something that really gives your tastebuds a jolt. Also varying textures, so soft pulses with some crunchy vegetables, or sprinkling with toasted seeds. Lots of the little extras can be quite high fat or salt, but you really don't need a lot to make your salad more interesting.

You can also vary texture by chopping things differently. Chopping stuff up small can really improve the flavour, as you get more variety in each mouthful too.


I love this blog post too, as a basic intro to making salads that are meals: http://francesbavinnutrition.co.uk/?p=338

LB2812

Agree, mix it up! If you're usual experience with a salad is iceberg lettuce and a grape tomato and slice of cucumber, then yes... not very exciting.
There's no rule about what you can or can't put in a salad, so think of things you like and throw them in. Some combos will work better than others of course.
I personally found the best way for me to really like a salad and enjoy eating it is to put fruit in it!! Oranges, grapes, strawberries, blueberries all lend themselves well to salads and give it a nice touch of sweetness and fun. I also mix up the lettuces. A variety of things in there to pick through and eat makes it more fun for me too. Various nuts, raisins, edamame, chickpeas, etc.
And a good dressing can make the difference too. I prefer a vinegrette. If you just smother the whole thing in ranch (for instance) you will just taste ranch and not even get all the yummy tastes in there (not too mention the high fat/calorie content!).

geneticsteacher

If you don't like salads, you don't have to eat them.

We eat salad mostly in the spring when we have home grown lettuce and in the summer, when we can get local lettuce (usually leaf or romaine). You can add any leftover cooked vegetables such as asparagus, sliced beets, etc. and anything fresh you like. Sliced pickled beets, kalamata olives, grated parmesan, etc. add a lot of flavor.

We actually prefer cooked vegetables most of the time and they are a healthy choice - salads are NOT mandatory for weight loss.

liftingandlipstick

You haven't eaten salad since you were a teenager, and tastes most definitely change as you grow up, so you won't know until you try again! Personally, Cesar salads are my absolute favorite. When I have a salad, it's pretty much always that. So definitely try the one you have your eye on! If you don't like it, try something else. Someone mentioned taco salad- I love those too, with lettuce, black beans, corn, salsa and whatever other fixings I have. Asian salads with sesame and ginger dressings or spicy plum sauce and those crunchy little noodle things. Make sure you try different lettuces also! Most pre-made salads start with an iceberg lettuce based mix, and while I'm perfectly happy with it, tons of people hate it, so branch out. Romaine mixes are great, and so is baby spinach. I think salad is one of those things that no one can really blanket hate, because there is at least one salad out there for everyone. You just have to find it.

kwiatrtdy

I am absolutely useless at making salads. They seem to taste awful when I make them myself (like cups of tea), but I love them when I eat out. My favourite Mexican restaurant does a lovely one with sprouted lentils, potato salad, apple, lettuce, carrot, red cabbage and beetroot. Nom, nom, nom, might have to go and get one next weekend now I think about it :laugh:

mockchoc

I don't eat mine with a fork -- that makes me feel like I am eating a salad -- boring and difficult.

I open a bag of romaine, put some in a bowl, and eat with my figures. Some how doing that has become less like the torture it was in the beginning, and almost enjoyable.

I agree about the salad dressing. Sometimes I kind of use that as a dip.

I LOVE eating with my fingers too as often as possible. Not in public though!

nykismile

Honestly? I spent years trying to love salad. The only salads I would eat as a kid were always smothered in at least four servings of ranch dressing. No wonder I was a chunky kid, haha.

People on this site seem to, more often than not, shun absolutely every dressing with the exception of vinaigrettes and balsamic vinegar. Even now when I bring up salads, there's always someone who'll tell me, "Don't eat salad dressing at any cost, olive oil and lemon juice is all you need!"

You know how many times I've tried to choke down salad coated in olive oil and lemon juice? Too many times. The oil is bland and has no flavor and the lemon juice is just odd and makes all the leafy greens too soggy. Not to mention, the amount of calories in olive oil ends up being more than most dressings. Thought it was all about calories in and calories out, naysayers.

Really, you just gotta find that special dressing that speaks to you. If you truly enjoy vinaigrettes, good for you! But I'm not that kind of person. I guess I just like the creamy stuff.

I started using this dressing a few months ago and I swear to you, I'm never going back. It's called Annie's Naturals Goddess Dressing and I eat it every single day! 2 TBSP merits 120 calories, but I measure out only 1 TBSP and that's enough for two heaping cups of lettuce and other veggies.

Just find a dressing you like and measure it out. There's bound to be one out there

midnight419

Two of my favorites:
http://ohsheglows.com/2011/12/14/over-the-rainbow-cabbage-salad-with-tahini-lemon-dressing/

http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/2013/04/minimal-monday-grapefruit-and-roasted-beet-salad-with-lime-vinaigrette.html
^with blood oranges and navel oranges added

BenjaminS_Fitness

i buy bags of prepared salads (no dressing/meat/cheese or anything just a mix of cut up salad leaves) and i eat it with chicken + corn/pineapple. sometimes only pineapple if i had too much protein (occasionally i break 300g before my last meal).
For the dressing i use a balsamico dressing by knorr which is low in calories, an herb dressing without oil (0.1g of fat) or the jamie oliver low fat dressing (you can find it on youtube)

healthyfoxx

I used to not like salads. I now realize I don't like boring iceburg lettuce salads, and certainly not covered in heavy dressings.

Now I make salads most days of the week for lunch! I usually do:

- Kale or spinach (1 bunch ofkale is much cheaper than bagged spinach - and tastier)
- Cherry tomatoes
- Shredded carrot
- Shelled edemame (I get frozen and thaw it)
- Bell pepper, if I have it
- Mushrooms
- Sometimes cucumber
- Sometimes avocado

Or whatever leftover veggies I have that I need to go through.

Very filling! For dressing, I love either using just straight, fresh lemon juice (add oil if there's no avocado so you have some fat in there) or mustards. I'm currently using a sweet and hot one and it is DELICIOUS.

My advice is use fresh ingredients whenever you can, and experiment with whatever veggies you like. Start with maybe one a week, and maybe you'll learn to love them.

Capt_Apollo

i went on a date to appleby's and ordered something that came with a salad. i ate my whole meal, but didn't touch the salad until the very end because i was still sooooo hungry. it was spinach with craisins and feta cheese, and a honey mustard dressing. it was outstanding.

i know a lot of people will load up their salad with about 12 different things, but i prefer to keep things simple. the greens, 2-3 toppings, and dressing.

and when i figured out you could add protein to a salad and still call it a salad MY ENTIRE WORLD CHANGED.

Chezzie84

Salads are great and so versatile. Make them interesting. Anything can be made In to a salad.

Main ingredient: Chicken, Turkey, Pork, Beef, Lamb, Cheese, Boiled Egg, Quiche, Tuna, Prawns, Salmon, Baked Potato.
Salady Stuff: Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumber, Sweetcorn, Carrot, Beetroot, Pepper, Pickled Onion, Boiled Baby Potato, Cress, Mushrooms, Celery, Spinach, Watercress, Rocket, Avocado, Seeds, Nuts.

catb58

What flavors do you like? Try putting those in a salad form.
We usually do taco Tuesday for dinner so I frequently have a taco salad for lunch on Wednesday. Grilled taco shrimp or chicken, black beans, grilled onions and peppers, little bit of shared cheese, tomatoes top of chopped romaine lettuce. Then I mix a little bit of spicy ranch with some salsa and use that as dressing. Mixing them makes the ranch thinner so it goes further and coats everything.

I do this, but mix salsa with plain Greek yogurt as a dressing.