Can you help me avoid SBS (Salad Boredom Syndrome)?

thatgirlLeah
thatgirlLeah Posts: 44 Member
edited September 27 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all!

So, I'm not bored with my salads...yet! But, I'd like suggestions on other people's favorite low-fat or low-cal salad dressings. I'd also like to know what your favorite non-traditional salad ingredients are. I have no food allergies and am not a fussy eater, I just get into ruts and am often pressed for time. I tend to buy broccoli slaw and use a little lemon juice and vinegar, maybe a little feta cheese and a tomato if I'm being really nice to myself. Boring, huh? :ohwell: Please, suggest away!

Ps. Friend me! I'm loving the social aspect and support here on MFP. I'm not rocking and rolling yet but will be soon. Let's do this together!!!!
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Replies

  • JennLifts
    JennLifts Posts: 1,913 Member
    Bump. I find salads so boring. I'd love to hear!
  • ruffledviolet
    ruffledviolet Posts: 260
    see my diary for today!!! (it is public)
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
    Vinaigrette's
    Chicken Breast
    Cheese
    FF Italian Dressings
    Almonds
    Raisins
    Lentils
    Corn
    Romaine
    Spinach
    Crushed Nacho Chips
    Tuna
    Salmon
    Croutons
    Pistachios
    Dried Cranberries
  • georgiajuly
    georgiajuly Posts: 126
    Coincidentally, my initials are SBS, and I also suffer from Salad Boredom Syndrome. Certainly, new/varied salads are appropriate, but I decided to finesse the whole issue by stirfrying my vegetables. I think there's something about all those raw vegetables day after day that wears me down, and I get really tired of dealing with storing and prepping salad greens.
  • helloiloveukitty
    helloiloveukitty Posts: 448 Member
    I am super boring but I love spinach, pine nuts, apple, artichoke hearts, egg, olives, cucumber, mushrooms with any kind of raspberry dressing....

    also chicken, romaine, parm cheese with lots of lemon juice and pepper

    and adding avocado to any salad usually makes it so much more awesome
  • hannavasgreen
    hannavasgreen Posts: 27 Member
    My favorite salad is with spinach, sliced strawberries and balsamic vinagerette. I love to throw in some feta and walnuts if I have some extra calories to spare.

    I also like mixed greens and dried cherries with balsamic.
  • Black_Swan
    Black_Swan Posts: 770 Member
    Tuna, goat cheese, corn, yogurt, lettuce, mozzarella...garlic, onions.
  • HannahPastoor
    HannahPastoor Posts: 303
    Strawberries
    chopped almonds
  • HannahPastoor
    HannahPastoor Posts: 303
    I am super boring but I love spinach, pine nuts, apple, artichoke hearts, egg, olives, cucumber, mushrooms with any kind of raspberry dressing....

    also chicken, romaine, parm cheese with lots of lemon juice and pepper

    and adding avocado to any salad usually makes it so much more awesome

    adding avocado makes anything more awesome : )
  • DropsOJupiter
    DropsOJupiter Posts: 131
    I use a variety of salad dressings...low cal, mostly Annies and Paul Newmans. I also use salsa, cottage cheese in lieu of dressing. As for what I put in it, organic spring mix, cherry tomatoes, peppers (different kinds and colors!), onions and broccoli are my standard basic. Then I add cauliflower, different cheeses (shredded parmesan is my current bent), snow peas, green beans, onions, squash (raw is better than you might think!), any fresh veggies really that I have on hand. Mind you, I don't use all of these at the same time!

    As for protein, I use all sorts of meat, usually left over from dinner, like pork tenderloin, salmon, shrimp, broiled chicken breast, etc. I personally don't like egg on a salad.

    I have a "big bowl" for my big lunch salad. Helps with the mixing.

    Glad you posted this and I hope to get some more ideas as well.
  • muelle71
    muelle71 Posts: 7
    mesclun greens + avocado + grapefruit or mango + gorgonzola cheese + Newman's Own Light Lime dressing = AWESOME.
  • Rintin21
    Rintin21 Posts: 5
    I hate lettuce, so I usually just end up eating small amount of a variety of vegetables. Like yesterday I had shredded carrots, broccoli, green pepper, black olives, cucumber, peas, a hard boiled egg, orange slices, honey dew melon, and half a serving of grilled chicken. But, not every day is like that! I just happened to be in the supermarket, hungry, and put all those things in a salad bar tray, but not mixed up. I ended up only eating half of it, and was totally full. My favorite dressing is greek, or a non-creamy caesar dressing. And one of my favorite things to do is have a serving of the Thin N Trim Virginia Baked Ham, put baby spinach on top, and just roll it up.

    I guess I just hate lettuce because I'm always hungry an hour later, no matter how big the salad is.
  • Aviendha_RJ
    Aviendha_RJ Posts: 600 Member
    One of my favourite salads:

    Raw baby spinach
    Black Raspberries
    Strawberries
    Blueberries
    Shaved Parmesean Cheese
    Walnuts
    Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing

    I **LOVE** it!
  • carjohnson2
    carjohnson2 Posts: 8
    Mixed greens, dried cranberries (or raisins) , feta cheese, sliced sweet peppers (or red onion) avocado. I use Newman's low fat dressing.
  • Colfiii
    Colfiii Posts: 124 Member
    OMG I love salads ... :))... I m the ultimate salad lover. Ok so my favorite dressing is a home made version of something u can find at Whole Foods too - olive oil , lemon juice and some garlic. Is delicios to put over salads. If u don't find garlic olive oil and lemon juice would do. Of course u have to add salt and some pepper for taste. I usually put that over green lettuce or red lettuce and makes it great. I never use dressings excepting the ones made by myself which are usually having one of these or all of the ingredients : olive oil, lemon juice , salt and pepper.
    Typical salads that I eat ( and are around 300-400 calories and are BIG) :

    Red/green/Romanie lettuce with feta cheese and the olive oli-lemon-salt-pepper dressing

    Cabbage salad - u shread 1/4 of a cabbage and then u put salt but u smash the salad almost into your hands to mix the salt like 2 3 minutes - so that the salt goes in.U can add on that a spoon of olive oil and some pepper. Is delicios

    Tomato salad : cut tomatoes and put olive oil, salt and pepper. Is very good just like that. If u ant to make it even better u can add some feta cheese.

    Greek salad : shred cucumber and then squeeze the water very well ( squeeze the shreded cucumber as well as u can).On the shreded cucumber u can add low fat yougurth , sald and pepper. Is a very refreshing salad.

    Italian salad : Tomatoes, lettuce , mozarella olive oil salt and pepper and lemon juice.

    I many times use instead of lettuce spinach I like that too.

    Carrot and almonds salad : cut carrots small ( as many as u think u need to eat) add olive oil, salt and roasted almonds ( I forgot the brand is this brand that u can find in Giant/Shopppers/Costco etc of roasted almonds for salads ) . Is very very nice ... even if u re not a carrot lover u ll like it.

    Fish salad : Green lettuce or Romanie Lettuce + lemon juice and just very little olive oil. On this u add a can of tuna with some water left ( put away the most of it just leave a litlte) . Add salt and pepper as u wish .

    I think I could write much more :)) ... Hope u ll find any that u like
  • cfred40
    cfred40 Posts: 151 Member
    My fav

    spinach, shredded carrots, tomatoes, grilled chicken, and almonds


    blueberry dressing

    blend olive oil, red wine vinegar, a few frz blueberrries, seasoning on hand (garlic, oregano, onion powder, ect), and a tad bit of your favorite sugar sub. to slightly sweeten. YUMMY!
  • ssimons02
    ssimons02 Posts: 3 Member
    Someone probably said this already but- mukimame. Its the peas inside of edamame. I get them frozen at wegmans. 3/4 cup has 10grams of protein, which is the biggest problem with salads all the time. Also has fiber. Its literally the miracle vegetable. And tasty!
  • ReneeOfTheFae
    ReneeOfTheFae Posts: 117
    My favorite toppings:

    Sunflower seeds (unsalted)
    Slivered almonds
    Mushrooms
    Tomato and Basil Feta
    Fresh Basil
    Lemon juice
    Mandarin slices
    Strawberries
    Walnuts/Pecans
    Chow Mien noodles

    There are so many delicious toppings! Good luck!
  • angelzxy321
    angelzxy321 Posts: 1,019 Member
    Have the same problem. Loving some of the suggestions!!
  • ssimons02
    ssimons02 Posts: 3 Member
    OK so no one mentioned shelled soybeans so i'll add mroe to my original post.

    1 srving is 3/4 cup.

    90 calories, 8 grams of fiber and 10 grams of protein. You cant get that anywhere else. Bout to put in my salad tonight :)
  • borys12
    borys12 Posts: 98
    I love salads, all my meals excluding fruit snacks are salads. I mix whatever I have : tuna, chicken, radish, onion, lettuce, corn, cucumber, tomato and so on. Everytime something different , no two the same ones. I used to add low fat mayonnaise, but changed to just mixed herbs. So it ended without any dressing - and I like it !
  • brneydgrlie
    brneydgrlie Posts: 464 Member
    My lunch salad almost every workday is the following:

    Spinach
    Grilled chicken or shrimp
    cucumber
    broccoli
    black beans
    kalamata olives
    Salsa

    Salsa makes an awesome dressing replacement, BTW. Strangely enough, I have been eating this for a couple of months now, and have not gotten tired of it yet. One of my other faves is taco salad (minus the sour cream).
  • saadler
    saadler Posts: 116
    I like mixed greens with a low-fat raspberry vinaigrette, maybe some chopped pecans or something, and craisins! Tomatoes and cucumbers are good in it too.
  • thatgirlLeah
    thatgirlLeah Posts: 44 Member
    I'm LOVING all of these fun ideas! Biggest surprise so far: raw squash. Really? Wow! Now I've got to try that. Keep 'em coming! :happy:
  • hannahbaby417
    hannahbaby417 Posts: 36
    Avocado is where it's at : )
  • brneydgrlie
    brneydgrlie Posts: 464 Member
    I also love to make chickpea salad, like this:

    Canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
    Cucumber, quartered and sliced
    Grape tomatoes, halved
    Olive oil
    Balsalmic vinegar
    Basil, oregano, cumin, onion powder, black pepper, and garlic to taste
    Toss everything together in a large bowl.

    It is actually better a few hours after you make it, because all the herbs and spices blend together.
  • shufie
    shufie Posts: 11
    bump!
  • Gettinfit2
    Gettinfit2 Posts: 254 Member
    Some of my favorite combos over spinach or lettuce are as follows:

    Black beans, corn, red onion,j jalepeno peppers and Tortilla strips

    Beets, Eggs and Spinach

    Avocado, egg and red onions

    Gouda Cheese, walnuts, cranberries and spinach

    Chicken, Chinese Cabbage, bean spourts, green onions and peanuts or chinese noodles

    Cucumber, Tomato and blue cheese

    Almost any Newman's salad dressing.
  • milaxx
    milaxx Posts: 1,122 Member
    Vary your choice of greens; spinach, arugula, watercress, romaine, spring mix, cabbage, even blanched kale.
    Veg the topic is endless, peas, corn, mushrooms, cucumber, carrots......
    Nuts : walnut sunflower, almond, pecan
    Cheese ( a little goes a long way) feta, parmesan
    Pickles : ginger, gherkins, kosher dill, beets
    Protien: fish, chicken, eggs, beef, even a bit of lean pork, or tofu
    Fruit: tomato (grape, cherry, roma, beefsteak), avocado, dried cranberries, strawberries
    Beans: black beans, chickpeas, lentils, red kidney beans
    Grains, cous cous, brown rice, wild rice, quinoa

    I make my dressings with oils or fats and acids: Braggs apple cider vinegar, lime juice, lemon juice, sesame oils, walnut oil, olive oil, pickle juice, feta cheese and avocado. I also mix in berries for fruity dressings.

    The possibilities are endless

    Tip; adding avocado to a salad increases the body's ability to take in nutrients from the other veg in your salad.
  • brneydgrlie
    brneydgrlie Posts: 464 Member
    You also might like a salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, chicken, sunflower kernels, strawberries, mandarin oranges, and vinaigrette dressing.
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