Salad ideas :)

A salad I really like to make and just makes me feel good is spinach, spiced tuna and avocado. Really yummy for me. I know not every one loves avocado, but I hate salad dressing and needed something to replace to make the salad taste better.

Have you tried different kinds of lettuce? I like some better than others. Broccoli salad is one of my non-lettuce favs. For lettuce salad my fav is probably Fajita salad.

Try lettuce other than iceberg such as romaine or spinach. Add ingredients with substance that will make you feel full such as kidney or black beans, garbanzo beans (chick peas), and hearty vegetables such as broccoli, green pepper, celery, really anything if you like it. You can add mandarin oranges.

The biggest tip I can give you which really has helped me with salads, is to use cottage cheese (if you like it), in place of some or all of the salad dressing. It moistens the salad, adds protein and calcium at a lower calorie hit than dressing, and helps fill you up.

I feel the same way when I've had a consecutive run of salad leaves and am craving for crunch. My go to:

- celery stalks
- red onion
- bell pepper
- chickpeas
- kidney beans
- hard boiled egg
- meat of choice

Drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil and season with garlic salt & pepper. Yum!

Spicy Mexican Coleslaw
Makes 8 servings

1 bag coleslaw mix
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup pickled jalapenos, chopped

Whisk vinegar, oil, salt, honey and jalapenos in a large bowl. Add cilantro and coleslaw mix; toss well to coat.


Grate carrots, toast some sunflower seeds, and toss with blueberries, olive oil, lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. Sweet, sour, crunchy, soft.

Cut cherry or grape tomatoes in half; toss with soy sauce, a bit of dark sesame oil and basil or cilantro. I love this — the tomato juice-soy thing is incredible.

Cube watermelon and combine with tomato chunks, basil and basic vinaigrette. You can substitute peach for the watermelon or the tomato (but not both).

Mix wedges of tomatoes and peaches, add slivers of red onion, a few red-pepper flakes and cilantro. Dress with olive oil and lime or lemon juice. Astonishing.


Zucchini Apple Salad
Source: Taste of Home
6 Servings

Ingredients

2 medium red apples, chopped
2 small zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2/3 cup Italian salad dressing

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the apples, zucchini and walnuts. Add salad dressing; toss to coat. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 2/3 cup (prepared with fat-free salad dressing) equals 114 calories, 6 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 1 mg cholesterol, 383 mg sodium, 13 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1 fat, 1/2 fruit.


Marinated Mushroom Salad
Adapted from: Taste of Home
Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

2-1/2 quarts water
3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 lbs small fresh mushrooms
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery ribs, sliced
1/2 medium green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
1/2 cup sliced stuffed olives
1 can (2-1/4 oz) sliced black olives, drained
Salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste

For dressing:
1/2 cup fat free Italian dressing
1/2 cup red or white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano

Directions

In a large saucepan, bring water and lemon juice to a boil. Add mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and cool. Place mushrooms in a large bowl with carrots, celery, green pepper, onion, parsley and olives. Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl or jar with tight fitting lid; shake or mix well. Pour over salad. Cover and refrigerate overnight, stirring occasionally.

My favorite salad is super simple.

1 large tomato
1 medium cucumber
A few sprigs of cilantro
Salt
Pepper
1TBS of favorite oil

Chop it. Mix it. Eat it.

Spinach. Green apple chunks. Chopped pecans. Crumbled blue cheese. Some kind of vinaigrette.

I personally LOVE Ken's Italian dressing.

Just saw this post. I'm right there with you on lettuce and tomatoes. I do like cucumbers, but not very often, and not really on a salad, but plain.

My favorite go-to for work lunches: Spinach salad. I like the fruit vinagrettes made by Maple Grove Farms. They are super tasty and don't take much. I would say that I usually use less than 1/2 of what I measure out.

I like Feta Cheese, dried cranberries, and walnuts or pecans on top. Simple to throw together, and I can usually get pretty full on less than the suggested serving size. Total calories for the one I brought tonight was 344. 210 of that was the pecans. I'm sure you could use chicken or turkey in place of the nuts for protein and to lower the calories.

I was out this weekend and the restaurant had a good spinach salad that I may try to reproduce: spinach, purple onion, strawberries, and bacon bits with a poppyseed dressing (it was sweet and I'm sure the vinagrette will work well on it instead).

Sometimes, I'll just make a quick tuna salad and eat it on fresh spinach without anything else. Hope you find somthing that you like!!!