What do you put in your salads?

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amyers2891
amyers2891 Posts: 30 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I want to start eating more salads, especially at work. I'm planning on doing a lot of meal prep to save time, but I'm worried about food going bad and having a lot of waste - especially with the greens. I want to have a variety of ingredients. What are some salad choices that work best for you?

I'm going to stay away from cheese, bacon and croutons (although I will probably put a glob of cottage cheese on my salad most days)

Replies

  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    My salad ingredients vary wildly but I usually add either boiled egg or beans, sometimes both. And quite often some type of meat.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    I like beets, radishes, berries, cucumber, carrots, cabbage, jicama, corn, black beans, garbanzo beans, broccoli, cauliflower, and red onions, marinated tofu, and pickles (kinda weird, but good).
  • hlc302
    hlc302 Posts: 10 Member
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    ive started using those green keep food fresh for longer bags (think you can also buy keep fresh discs) if stored /wrapped correctly the salad greens really do keep a lot longer . For a simple dressing I mix a little olive or avocado oil with balsamic & lemon . egg & meats or tuna for protein . : )
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
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    Some weeks it depends on what came in the organic farm box that week, but spinach and arugula are usually the base greens, then I go one of two ways, either sweet or savory.
    Sweet? Almonds, orange or mandarin slices, cucumbers, carrots, green onions, maybe garbanzo beans or red beans, maybe a little bit of goat cheese.
    Another 'sweet' fav is to chop up an apple or pear and braise it really fast in basalmic vinegar instead of the citrus.

    Savory? Tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, snap peas, garbanzo or white beans, celery, red onion, yellow or red bell pepper, maybe a dash of feta. I'm big on nuts in the salads, like walnuts or almond slices, but my husband is usually really close to his calorie goal, so lately I skip it.

    I make my own poppyseed dressing from nonfat plain yogurt, lemon juice, cider vinegar, poppy & celery seeds, or we just have a little basalmic on them. (I keep about five varieties of basalmic in the house at any given time.)
  • Rabidrunner
    Rabidrunner Posts: 117 Member
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    Today's included baby kale, grape tomatoes, snow peas, carrots, cucumber, beets, yellow bell pepper, avacado, chickpeas, quinoa, turkey breast, plus an olive oil/balsamic dressing.

    Lunch is my biggest meal of the day, so I'm not shy with the cals, usually clocking in between 500 and 600. Could easily adapt to fewer calories if needed by omitting or reducing items like avacado, olive oil, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, etc.
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
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    taco salads are my fave or.... greens lemon garlic tessemaes dressing with cranberries candied pecans and goat cheese.
  • rhtexasgal
    rhtexasgal Posts: 572 Member
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    Make it as colorful as possible and avoid iceberg lettuce because it has no nutritional value at all. I have all the colors of the rainbow in my salads ...

    Red - peppers, red leaf lettuce, radish
    Orange - peppers, oranges/cutie sections, carrots
    Yellow - squash, peppers, corn
    Green - green leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, arugula
    Blue/purple - blueberries, cabbage, radicchio

    I will also add nuts, seeds, etc. I avoid bottled dressing and spritz my salads with a flavored olive oil or some other kind like avocado or truffle oil and then splash flavored vinegar, sprinkle seasonings and drizzle with honey and then toss. A little cheese never hurt anyone :smile: I add freshly shredded parmesan/asiago mix because it is strong and flavorful and it transforms a salad with just a few calories.

    Research salad in a jar ... a friend of mine will make 5 salads in a jar on Sunday for the work week. She says that the salad by Friday is still fresh and crisp with no discoloration. It seems the glass ball/mason jars with the lid will keep the salad air tight and tasty.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    whatever i want....

    baby spinach is almost always my base

    sometimes i do fruits and poppyseed or rasp.vinaigrette
    sometimes i do a chef salad
    sometimes i do a tex mex style salad
    sometimes i do grilled chicken
    sometimes i do taco
    sometimes i do scallops

    just depends on what im feeling like and what i have readily on hand ...
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
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    ElizabethOakes2 wrote: »
    Some weeks it depends on what came in the organic farm box that week, but spinach and arugula are usually the base greens, then I go one of two ways, either sweet or savory.
    Sweet? Almonds, orange or mandarin slices, cucumbers, carrots, green onions, maybe garbanzo beans or red beans, maybe a little bit of goat cheese.
    Another 'sweet' fav is to chop up an apple or pear and braise it really fast in basalmic vinegar instead of the citrus.

    Savory? Tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, snap peas, garbanzo or white beans, celery, red onion, yellow or red bell pepper, maybe a dash of feta. I'm big on nuts in the salads, like walnuts or almond slices, but my husband is usually really close to his calorie goal, so lately I skip it.

    I make my own poppyseed dressing from nonfat plain yogurt, lemon juice, cider vinegar, poppy & celery seeds, or we just have a little basalmic on them. (I keep about five varieties of basalmic in the house at any given time.)

    This is a great idea that I plan to steal.

    In addition to all the stuff people have mentioned already (my particular favourites are a bit of light goat cheese, cucumber, bell pepper, snap peas, grape tomatoes, and spiralised carrot or squash) I like to put fresh herbs in with the greens in my salad - torn-up handfuls of basil, dill, oregano, etc etc etc. So good and then I can dress the salad with just balsamic or lemon juice or whatever and there's tons of flavour.

    I also like to make dressing from light sour cream and a ton of hot sauce, which is not everyone's taste but I like it, especially with that faux-ground-beef lentil mix from the vegetarian section, jalapenos, and green onion added to my usual vegetable mix.
  • KellieTru
    KellieTru Posts: 285 Member
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    I like some sort of protein...for example sliced chicken breast or sliced steak. I also love fruit in my tossed salads...black berries are especially nice. I also put fresh herbs if I have any on hand--mint, basil, dill or cilantro.
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
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    I'm basic when it comes to salad. I usually opt for spinach topped with tuna, celery, shredded carrots, broccoli and a balsalmic viniagrette. Or tomatoes, broccoli, hard boiled eggs, chicken and ranch.
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    edited February 2016
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    A mixture of baby spinach, romaine and/or iceberg lettuce, celery, grated carrot, are the core. Add-ins are dependent on mood, what's in the house and could be any one or a combination of: chick peas or black beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, onions, hard boiled egg, tuna fish, anchovies, left over chicken breast, cheese cubes, sunflower seeds, chili, roasted beets, cut up fresh or roasted broccoli or cauliflower, radishes, olives, pepperchinis, pears and dried cranberries or fresh blueberries (with just spinach) ... pretty much anything that will round it out. Dressing is always just olive oil and cider vinegar or lemon juice and a sprinkling of black pepper. Sometimes I add salt, minced dill, parsley or mint. Very rarely I'll toast a piece of bread and break that up into the salad as a sort of plain crouton, I like rye or sourdough bread the best for this purpose.

    Basically, I make certain every salad has some protein and or nuts in it and vegetables equal to 3 servings. That would be, like 2-3 cups greens and 1 cup cut up raw veggies or 1/2 cup roasted veggies. By the time the meat is added in; it's a very filling bowl. Got to have the protein and oil or will be hungry too soon after eating it though.

    I usually prep my veggies on Sunday for the week, put them into zip lock bags in the crisper and just pull out whatever I want and the add-ins as I make the salad. I don't work any longer, but when I did, I never dressed the salad or combined the protein, nuts, bread with the veggies until it was time to eat. Everything was in it's own plastic pouch/container. I kept a really nice big bowl in my desk drawer to mix the salad in, and a real knife and fork.

    PS ... and I was thinner in the days I had a big salad for lunch almost every day.

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