What do you throw in your salad?

I'm consistent with my daily salad:

-1 romaine heart, ribs removed
-onions, cucumbers, and green peppers, if I have them
-steam cooked fried Asian noodles, 25g
-Kraft mandarin sesame dressing 2T
-Sensations shredded pizza cheese, if my sodium is doing ok

Had the grilled chicken avocado and mango salad the other day, and it was pretty delish!

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/05/california-grilled-chicken-avocado-and.html

avocado i luv,tomatoes,carrots,cucumbers romaine lettuce sometimes chicken strips ,tomatoes,onions

Cucumber, tomatoes, shredded carrot, lettuce, rocket leaves, grilled chicken breast, olives, garlic.
spices would be some salt, some lemon juice and apple cider vinegar

I'm probably a little boring b/c I don't like fruit with my veg...

romaine
mixed salad greens
spinach
celery
shredded carrots
tomato
cucumber
orange, yellow or red bell pepper
avocado
flax seed
hemp seed
walnuts
pine nuts
2% shredded cheddar
low fat mozzarella
small amount of feta
fresh shredded Parmesan raggiano
tuna
chicken breast
salmon
Olives - love calamata

occasionally I will put some organic raisins and/or goji berries in

I usually use ken's light caesar (1 tablespoon goes a long way at 35 calories) or lemon juice, apple cider vinegar with either extra virgin olive oil or flax seed oil

No dressing? That's a crime for me!
Recently, I've started using baby spinach instead of regular lettuce as it has many nutrients that romaine or iceberg don't. I've always been pretty simplistic when it comes to salads, and I'll only eat them for lunch. But here's some of the things I normally toss in.
Honey roasted chicken breast
Diced ham
Carrots
Green peppers
Cucumbers
Hard boiled eggs

For dressing I use light ranch from hidden valley, but if I'm feeling not so lazy, I'll make my own way less calorie version.
1 cup fat free plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup 1% milk
1 packet hidden valley ranch dressing mix.
Combine all the ingredients and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. It's about 10 calories for a tablespoon and almost 0 grams of fat! (Only 2 grams of fat for the whole recipe!)

lettuce, spinach, mixed greens, tomato, bell pepper, onion, bacon bits, croutons, white cheese, ranch dressing

i love all the OP's ideas,
using whatever veggies are in the fridge, too.



as well as bits of FRUITS, like apples, pears, grapes, or RAISINS...............dawg, i love some raisins in the salad. Once you get used to raisins in a salad, you can hardly stand to eat one wihout raisens..............
MMMmmmmMM.
but only a few, they are loaded with calories, (but also lots of iron for the calories)


and i also use stuffing mix for croutons, too,
as those cling to the veggies, instead of just be some too large item in the salad.

another thing i use for croutons,
is,
smashed up uncooked ramen noodles, (no spice packet) Although, this is about 90 calories for 1/4 block of ramen noodles, :noway: but i can sometimes afford to add that in, for crunch.

Occasionally,

I often use Parmesan cheese sprinkled over it, in place of dresssing.
to me, the taste and texture of the greens when dusted with Parmesan
is more appealing than most any dressing i've tried.


Also, do experiment with various types of greens. not just iceberg, but otherwise, the ingredients used by OP sound a lot like mine, too.


FOR VARIETY, I OCCASIONALLY USE ACTUAL 'SALAD RECIPES' !!!!!!!!!

AT FIRST, i thought, "salad recipes? what a dumb idea!":ohwell:
but,
turns out, it can make a nice change up now and then!!


Here are few of the salad recipes i have tried and liked a lot: (juuust to change things up a bit, be unexpected)
Strawberry and Nut Salad, 150 calories per serving:
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/festive-strawberry-nut-salad-64836.aspx

Fresh Asian Salad, 220 calories per serving:
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/fresh-asian-chicken-salad-104845.aspx

Harvest Salad To Go, 270 calories per serving, but sooooooo delish!!
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/harvest-salad-go-94512.aspx

^ some of those recipes sound kinda weird, but, are surprisingly tasty, nice lil change in routine, really. MOst could be trimmed of calories, if you are nearing you calorie limit for the day, too.


tons more SALAD RECIPES on this site, all of them provide the nutritional info.
so you can sort out the lower calorie, lower fat ones.
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/search/SearchResults.aspx?searchtext=salad&u2=salad&start=1&rsort=

Lots of things...hmm

Cashews, apples, pears , grated parmesan cheese , tomatoes , eggs, chicken

Lots of other things. You can always switch a salad up so it doesn't get boring

I am currently growing mesculin mix and herbs in my garden so that is my salad base. To this I add:

My normal base +

Herbs (any combo of basil, cilantro, parsley, fresh dill, fresh mint, lemon verbena, mint, sorrel - again, in my garden)
Other greens (kale, swiss chard, spinach, beet greens, turnip greens, lambs quarters, dandelion greens)
Tomatoes (Different coloured cherry tomatoes from the garden or whatever I buy at the store)
Sweet peppers (red, orange and or yellow, I'm not a fan of green)
Cucumber (skin on)
Carrots (again, from the garden, purple or orange)


Depending on my feelings I add any (or none) of the following:

Nuts/Seeds (cashews, sliced almonds, walnuts, peanuts, toasted or black sesame seed, sunflower seed, hemp seed, flax seed)
Dried fruit (blueberries, cranberries, cherries, currents, raisins)
Fresh fruit (apple, pear, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, grapefruit)
Canned beans (lentils, black beans, kidney beans, mixed beans or chickpeas)
Cheese (feta, cottage cheese, shreeded/diced cheddar, blue cheese chunks, goat cheese chunks)
Fresh green beans
Brocolli
Cauliflower
Canned corn (i like the peaches and cream kind)
Avocado
Hard Boiled egg
Onions/shallots soaked in cold water or vinegar (takes away the astringent bite)

And if I'm making my salad a meal and I haven't already included one of the above proteins then 3-4oz of whatever protein I feel like adding (chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, scallops, salmon, etc.)

Dressings

I normally make an oil & vinegar dressing with salt and pepper. I have found that thnning Tatziki dip/sauce with water or milk makes a great calorie light cream base for a dressing (I often add dried herbs like dill to change the flavour, and sometimes a pinch or two of sugar helps if you find it too tangy). Adding citrus juice or mushed frozen raspberries to a dressing change things up too. I also sometimes use a blender to combine roasted peppers or sun-dried tomatoes with the oil/vinegar bases.

Chickpeas & feta -- and if I've got the calories to spare (or just don't care), pecans! Lovely with rosemary & a raspberry balsamic. Yum!

1 cup strawberries
1/2 small avocado
8 leafs spinach
6 oz chicken

dressing:
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon Worchestire sauce

Spinach...tis lovely.
Cheese is a must, but not the nasty Velveeta. More along feta or blue cheese.
I prefer Romaine, but crisp Ice berg is yummy too.
Also a crunch...right now I'm using a tablespoon of fried onions. yummy
Red onions are a requirement no matter what!

my new favorite base for salads is kale! I like romaine/spinach mix also
artichoke hearts, banana peppers, green peppers, yogurt basil EVOO mix (for dressing--adds protien and calcium), over toasted whole wheat bread thins crumbled, tomatoes, green onion, sauteed onions

To cube avocadoes, slice the avocado in half lengthwise and remove the pit. take a paring knife and slice about 4-5 leghtwise slices, being careful not to cut through the outer skin. Then do the same crosswise, creating a grid. Take a spoon and scoop out the avocado. It should form cubes.