What do you eat with salads?

I eat salad almost every day for lunch. Here are some things I add to mixed greens:
1. deli meat and cheese, tomatoes
2. Leftover taco filling, salsa
3. Leftover fajitas, salsa
4. cooked beans (usually with Rotel)
5. chopped crunchy vegetables (carrot, celery, cucumber) with hummus
6. cottage cheese and oranges
I don't usually use salad dressing, but sometimes add balsamic vinegar or hummus mixed with salsa. I like to have a small Greek yogurt on the side.

Grilled Turkey Breast fillets and Piri Piri Chicken thighs, I really like with a salad and some sweet potato wedges that have been roasted in the actifryer with no oil just a couple of squirts of frylight.

Try parmesan, dried cranberries, apples, pecans with Dijon mustard mixed with olive oil,and cinnamon.

I'm on a red onion and feta cheese streak at the moment - I'm putting that alllllll over my salads lol

I absolutely love salad! I love to put green peppers in it lol. I could seriously eat green peppers with everything though, and raw. I also like to put different kinds of meat in it, chicken or deli meat. I'm not one to put fruits in my salads though. That's just me. I like ton of different veggies too. Mushrooms, peppers, different kinds of lettuce, everything!

I've been back on the bandwagon for a couple of weeks now, and as a mum of a 4 year old and with a partner who likes a big filling meal, a lot of our meals were things like spaghetti bolognese, meatballs and mash, steak and chips.. (all with other veggies too) basically meals with a fair chunk of carbs! Not that there is anything wrong with those meals, they just make it hard to stay within calories for the day.

So I have been eating a lot of salads lately, which I love. I just need some new ways of making them filling and things to eat with them. I've been having salad with grilled chicken breast, in wraps with ham or chicken, baked fish and steak.

I was thinking maybe of still eating small portions of the meals my family loves, and filling up on salad with those small portions.

Any other ideas?

Instead of having a dressing on my salad, I use Apple Cider Vinegar as it is supposed to curb your appetite. There's lots of controversy as to whether it works but I figured its worth a go!

Just because there isn't alot of research on it, doesn't meant it doesn't work. Here's some info:

"Weight loss. For thousands of years, vinegar has been used for weight loss, but evidence is limited. It’s possible, but not proven, that white vinegar (and perhaps other types) might help people feel full. A 2005 study of 12 people found that those who ate a piece of bread along with small amounts of white vinegar felt fuller and more satisfied than those who just ate the bread. The EFSA rejected a health claim for apple cider vinegar that it helps control and normalise body weight.

While the results of the studies above may seem promising, they are all preliminary. Many were done on animals or on cells in a laboratory. Human studies have been small. Before we will truly know whether vinegar has any health benefits, much larger studies are needed."

A few alternative ideas to making your family meals fit into your calories -

Have bolognaise with courgette/zucchini spirals (get a julienne peeler or a spiralizer). You can either have them raw or drop the courgette/zucchini into boiling water for 1 minute
Switch mash to cauliflower mash. Steam the cauliflower and then blitz in the blender until smooth
Switch chips to sweet potato chips. Bake them in the oven

I do the above so I can eat the same meals as my partner and actually prefer it now!

I do what you suggested about having whatever the family has but adding a huge side salad.
Chilli & rice and spag bol are particularly good with salad.
If we're having something that really doesn't go with salad like a casserole, apart from putting loads of veg in there in the first place, I do myself a try of roast vegetable (whatever is in the fridge with a couple of squirts of fry light and lots of black pepper). This is the the 'warm' salad component.
It's working a treat so far. I work full time and really don't have the time to be cooking seperate meals for myself.
On the plus side everything I do cook is as healthy and low calorie as I can make it and nobody is complaining!

I eat boiled and herbed new potatoes with my salad - I boil them in the morning or night before and dump a load of mixed herbs, oregano, salt and pepper on them and put them into the salad along with whichever protein im having. I find potatoes really filling and they're good for potassium levels too

Heres a veggi option:

Halloumi cheese & Chick pea salad (for one)

Lettuce
Spring onions
Tomatoes
Chick peas 1/2 a can
1/2 a block Halloumi cheese

For dressing:

1 tbls olive oil
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
dijon mustard (or any you prefer)

Method:

mix salad ingredients and put in about half of the salad dressing

chop up salad ingredients and arrange flat on a plate

pour 1/2 a can of drained chick peas over the salad ingredients

cut the the Halloumi into three thick slices and grill till the cheese isslightly brown and place on top of salad

used the rest of the dressing to sprinkle over the cheese.

There you have it! quick, easy and delicious!

I find cous cous, quinoa and beans are all filling and tasty things to add to salads.

My favorite salad is salad with grilled chicken, blueberries, strawberries, parmesan cheese, toasted slivered almonds, and raspberry vinaigrette. Wendy's had a salad just like it called "Berry Almond Chicken Salad", I loved it so much, I make it at home.

Or salad with feta cheese, roasted red bell peppers, onion, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. Olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the dressing.

I like to throw all the extra "leftover" veggies I have for the week in my salads. Several kinds of lettuce, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli (both raw), cucumbers, corn, etc. Then I add chicken, roasted almonds, sunflower/pumkin seeds, a little cheddar cheese, apples, cranberries, cut up fresh dill... lol pretty much anything. Then top with my favourite salad dressing (I make my own with apple cider vinegar, olive oil a little salt & pepper and some soy sauce and garlic powder)

Instead of having a dressing on my salad, I use Apple Cider Vinegar as it is supposed to curb your appetite. There's lots of controversy as to whether it works but I figured its worth a go!
Just because there isn't a lot of research on it, doesn't meant it doesn't work.

Here's where you can search for studies: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

While there are very few studies, and many of those are in lesser animals, I did find one saying that mice fed vinegar did show less weight gain than mice in the control group ... but they also showed liver & stomach problems.

And here's a case study talking about tooth erosion in a girl who drank a glass of cider vinegar (ICK!) every day for "weight loss".
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23373303

Prawns sautéed in olive oil and lime or lemon juice seasoned with garlic powder, paprika, new mex chile and turmeric, served warm over a chilled salad with vinaigrette.

Cold poached salmon also works well. Blackened ahi and avocado slices too.