Lets talk salads

1) I'm a big fan of "summer/tropical" salads. Chicken is good for a meat. Then you can try out avocado, oranges, pineapple, mangoes, cucumbers, along with some cheeses like feta or mozzarella. Nuts are good too. Try to avoid too much dressing or use light dressing or else the calories can add up.

2) For prepping, I would get a salad spinner to wash and dry your lettuce. You can store lettuce and cucumbers in there prepped. Then you can precook chicken and store it separate. Anything else you add, I would just do it when you are making the salad.

You can put just about anything in a salad. Beans, fruit, seeds/nuts, and grains are some salad ingredients that people may not consider at first glance. You can also mix different types of greens--spinach, spring mix, butter lettuce, romaine, kale, etc. Just don't get so enthusiastic that you buy more greens than you can eat in a few days I find that if I'm using kale, I like to remove the stems and knead/"massage" the dressing into the leaves, then let it sit in the refrigerator. The kale leaves soak up some dressing and soften considerably.

One of my favorite ways to eat kale is with a dressing of agave, lemon juice, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. I top it with diced apples, candied nuts, and dried fruit--the "golden berry blend" from Trader Joe's is what I usually use. After I knead the kale with the dressing, I toss it with the other ingredients and refrigerate overnight. We learned this recipe from the farm where we used to get a CSA box.

We also like to use high quality flavored balsamic vinegar instead of dressing. It's very flavorful and low calorie. I usually don't add oil.

Regarding storing your salad, I would store dressing and wet ingredients separately from the other ingredients, and add those right before eating. (That kale salad is an exception!)

I adore salads, they are the main thing I crave. I'd try lots of different options -- let your creativity run wild. I do a variety of greens (romaine, arugula, spring greens, spinach (most common), kale, watercress, butter lettuce, etc.), and then a variety of veg (what I have on hand) raw or cooked depending on how I like them. Broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, cukes, tomato (as I like it, but I never have it out of season anyway), peppers, mushrooms (I usually cook), green beans (same), brussels (same), herbs (cilantro or dill or parsley or mint, etc.), and then maybe some avocado or olives or cheese or nuts/seeds (or a couple of the above), and then maybe some fruit, and then some protein, whether it be chicken or steak or tofu or soybeans, etc.

And then a nice appropriate (for you and the salad) dressing. My favorite is a vinaigrette (I normally do a version of balsamic + olive oil with less olive oil than a standard recipe), but there are lower cal options (I like red wine vinegar + a spicy mustard) and other options (I do an Asian salad with a dressing of a bit of fish oil, soy sauce, and lime juice (from fresh limes), plus some sriracha). There are many other options with yogurt or mayo/egg bases too, and sweet dressings that I just hate.)

Raw broccoli, red bell peppers, mushrooms, baby spinach, raw carrots, avocado is my usual go-to. I have a fab recipe for avocado honey lime dressing which is heavenly.

I usually have a mixing bowl sized salad 4-5 times a week, (also a sahm, it's my go-to lunch). My current mix is-

3 cups spinach/spring mix mixture (I buy them separately at Aldi and then mix them in my fresh saver containers)
1 serving protein (1/2c canned beans or 3oz salad shrimp or 3oz canned chicken breast)
4-5 mini sweet peppers
1/2c cherry tomatoes
1/2c diced sweet onion
3/4c chopped brocoli
5 black olives
5 green olives
mild pepper rings
2tbsp sunflower seeds
2tbsp feta cheese
drizzle hot sauce
1 serving fat free French dressing

This is a meal for me, with a serving of Wheat Thins on the side

There is a salad Panera serves in the summer that I like to re-create at home. It's called strawberry poppyseed chicken salad.

romaine lettuce.
Panera® Poppyseed Dressing.
grilled chicken breast
cup blueberries, fresh.
Mandarin oranges
pineapple
strawberries
toasted pecans

When I make it, I leave off the blueberries (I don't like them) and use lemon juice instead of dressing. YUM. My other go to when making salads at home is tuna and hard boiled egg.

The best way I've found to make salads ahead of time is use big ziplock bags, but I recommend portioning the lettuce separate from any chopped fruit or veggies and then just combine them when you're ready to eat.

apullum wrote: »

You can put just about anything in a salad. Beans, fruit, seeds/nuts, and grains are some salad ingredients that people may not consider at first glance. You can also mix different types of greens--spinach, spring mix, butter lettuce, romaine, kale, etc. Just don't get so enthusiastic that you buy more greens than you can eat in a few days I find that if I'm using kale, I like to remove the stems and knead/"massage" the dressing into the leaves, then let it sit in the refrigerator. The kale leaves soak up some dressing and soften considerably.

One of my favorite ways to eat kale is with a dressing of agave, lemon juice, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. I top it with diced apples, candied nuts, and dried fruit--the "golden berry blend" from Trader Joe's is what I usually use. After I knead the kale with the dressing, I toss it with the other ingredients and refrigerate overnight. We learned this recipe from the farm where we used to get a CSA box.

We also like to use high quality flavored balsamic vinegar instead of dressing. It's very flavorful and low calorie. I usually don't add oil.

Regarding storing your salad, I would store dressing and wet ingredients separately from the other ingredients, and add those right before eating. (That kale salad is an exception!)

I use kale in Thai beef salad and also like to marinate the kale in the dressing for a few hours.

Other than that, since it just takes a few minutes to assemble a salad, I don't see the point in making it ahead of time, with the possible exception of assembling the dry ingredients the night before if one is leaving the house the next day and doesn't have time in the AM.

One could also cook any meat / mix dressing ahead of time. I make enough dressing for three Thai salads at a time.

i eat salad every day. generally spinach mixed in with arugala. toppings are either chicken/tuna for meat, always black olives, then whatever else i have handy (mushrooms, seeds, nuts, blueberries). now if only i could find a decent salad dressing!

You've got a fair share of ideas and I dont want to read them all to find out if this has been said, but you can keep your lettuce or whatever salad base you're using fresh by chopping it and storing it in a container lined with a damp paper towel. I chop lettuce, kale and spinach at the beginning of each week and store it in a large Tupperware container that way and it stays crisp.

I take a salad to work every day I prepare them a day before. A salad is easy and travels well as long as you don't add dressing
I noted that dressing and other acids containing stuff will make them go floppy (gurken, for instance). WA those last minute if at all you want them then you can keep them about 24-30 hours when cold

My salads contain just about anything that is a veggie; red beet (boiled or roasted) shredded cabbage, lettuce any variety, carrot, fennel, turnip, parsnip, cucumber, radishes, celery
During the winter I used a lot of root vegetables (in a variety of colour) and pumpkin but I used them steamed So I'd make a large batch of steamed vegetables and then added those to the salad. Also in that case the salad held for 24 hours easily.

In the morning I take my salad out fo the fridge and to work and it will hold quite nicely outside of the fridge until lunchtime At work my salads are somewhat famous mainly because of their size