Curious about salad. Yes, really.

13

Replies

  • blackcatfitness
    blackcatfitness Posts: 57 Member
    Growing up in my southern American home, we did not eat salad with our meals. Nearly never, actually.

    When I met my husband in junior high, his Italian-American family always ate salad. So, all these years later, we have a salad prob 3-4x a week with our food or just by itself
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,551 Member
    gothchiq wrote: »
    Lately I have found a homemade ranch recipe that I dig. It has sour cream, mayo, milk (equal parts) and chives, dill, garlic, and lemon juice. It has fewer calories than typical bottled ranch and no sugar, so it's beetus-friendly. If people have other recipes to share that don't involve sugar or that I can substitute monkfruit or something I'm interested bc I don't want only ranch forever lol. Vinaigrette is ok sometimes but Im not big on it.

    I love this ranch recipe. I use the lower quantities of sour cream and mayo.
    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ranch-dressing-recipe_n_3769342?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMFhWSQzD2X3UKUaqvOVyYpAp-HUSemLvJneqP4v8H7PTOvdiEo9lVL4XX5snLhwTsciIQoGZNgIUNYWezD7m67IH_4AMbIlHrHkc-Z4FjKouI8Bznk_KpDjHS9PVdnOXvqxJP03_F4ZjlI-NLSJ6-_qRHpZowk8OszXkoSfk6oI
  • MaintainInTheMembrane
    MaintainInTheMembrane Posts: 63 Member
    edited February 2020
    We always had veggies of some sort at every meal, unless it was takeout night, which wasn’t often. Salads were served every night in every season except winter, just with the meal.

    Most of our veggies were home grown. I’m in Australia.

    Veggies have always been a priority to us, and I drum that into my kids now. My daughter grows some veggies at our place.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,253 Member
    Growing up in Scotland in the 80s (with parents from two different parts of England) salads were just not a thing.

    Sometimes, on warm days in the summer, we would sit down to a meal of iceberg lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, carrot sticks, boiled eggs, pickled onions and mayonnaise, and my parents would make noises about 'a nice salad'. I was... unenthused.

    Down in southern England in the early 2000s, I was introduced to the concepts of rocket, feta cheese, olives, and vinaigrette.

    Mind. Blown.
  • xelsoo
    xelsoo Posts: 194 Member
    Growing up we had salad almost every day. Usually some type of in-season lettuce, tomatoes and spring onion as the base. "Bonito in olive oil" which is a form of tuna, and avocados often, but I didn't like the avocado's texture as a kid (I LOVE it now). Up to this day, my brother and me will scarf down any salad that comes near us.

    We usually had it as a starter, or accompanying the main dish but always served on its own, in a big bowl to share.

    We are from Spain, from the North coast, but still a very Mediterranean diet.
  • Antiopelle
    Antiopelle Posts: 1,184 Member
    1. yes, all dinners
    2. after dinner
    3. I grew up in Belgium, but it is a northern French habit from my mom's side.

    The salads that were served after dinner were very simple, usually simply lettuce or frisée (curly endive) with occasionally cucumber and/or tomatoes when in season. The dressing was always a freshly made vinagrette made from olive oil, any kind of vinegar, mustard and s&p.
    When I started to live with hubby he was very surprised with this habit as they only had chopped raw veggies on the side with dinner - and then only occasionally.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    edited February 2020
    1. Nope, cooked veg each day with meat/fishrather than salads, never enjoyed a salad when I was a young un.
    2. Was it served before, with, or after dinner? n/a
    3. What country did you grow up in? Northern Ireland, where the humble potato is king LOL

    I enjoy salads now for lunch most days and will serve them as an accompaniment if we're having something like chicken goujons, pizza or pie. Salad goes great with that kind of thing whereas other meals are better with cooked veggies.
    I would never think of having salad with something like spag bol or carbonara though...... but thats probably just a cultural thing....
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    1. We had salad with virtually every dinner.
    2. It was served with dinner.
    3. Grew up in the American South.

    Our salads were typically romaine lettuce with carrots, celery, and any other vegetables that were at hand. Dressings were typically homemade vinaigrette or blue cheese dressing, although we sometimes had store-bought French or Thousand Island.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,950 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    gremloBBPT wrote: »
    My curiosity is probably odd, lol, but I'm genuinely curious about this...

    1. Growing up, did you have a lettuce-based salad with your dinners at home on most/all days?
    2. Was it served before, with, or after dinner?
    3. What country did you grow up in? (And if your ancestors were from a different country, were your salad-eating habits from that culture?)

    1. No. We had it regularly, but not with every dinner. We had non starchy veg as a substantial part of all dinners (about half the plate) and sometimes it was salad (salad was served in a separate bowl, however), and sometimes we had a cooked veg + salad also, but we often had just the cooked veg. (We also always had a starch of some sort -- corn, bread, rice, potato -- and meat.)
    2. It was served with dinner. (Unless at a restaurant, in which case it would be before.)
    3. The US, and my family has been midwestern Americans for a long time.

    ^^This pretty much describes my experience except

    1. While we had it frequently, we had it more frequently in warm weather when salad veggies were in season. But similar on the rest of what lemurcat2 said about the overall composition of dinners.
    2. Served with dinner in a separate bowl, but most of ate at least part of our salad before digging into the rest of the meal.
    3. The US, one side German-descent Americans from the midwest for about three generations, and on the other Irish-descent from the mid-Atlantic for at least three generations. Not sure to what extent they were influenced by "old country" traditions, except that my German/midwestern grandmother almost always served salad for dinner (which was the mid-day meal for them), in a serving bowl on the table with all the other food, and you dished it up on your dinner plate with whatever else you were eating (at least one meat protein + at least one starch + at least one non-starchy vegetable).
  • relativehunter
    relativehunter Posts: 15 Member
    German heritage - We had salad served with most meals and always had to have bread and butter with the meal as well (Wonder Bread, of course). I don't do salads as much and will sub another non starchy vegetable with the meal on most nights.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,899 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    gremloBBPT wrote: »
    My curiosity is probably odd, lol, but I'm genuinely curious about this...

    1. Growing up, did you have a lettuce-based salad with your dinners at home on most/all days?
    2. Was it served before, with, or after dinner?
    3. What country did you grow up in? (And if your ancestors were from a different country, were your salad-eating habits from that culture?)

    1. No. We had it regularly, but not with every dinner. We had non starchy veg as a substantial part of all dinners (about half the plate) and sometimes it was salad (salad was served in a separate bowl, however), and sometimes we had a cooked veg + salad also, but we often had just the cooked veg. (We also always had a starch of some sort -- corn, bread, rice, potato -- and meat.)
    2. It was served with dinner. (Unless at a restaurant, in which case it would be before.)
    3. The US, and my family has been midwestern Americans for a long time.

    ^^This pretty much describes my experience except

    1. While we had it frequently, we had it more frequently in warm weather when salad veggies were in season. But similar on the rest of what lemurcat2 said about the overall composition of dinners.
    2. Served with dinner in a separate bowl, but most of ate at least part of our salad before digging into the rest of the meal.
    3. The US, one side German-descent Americans from the midwest for about three generations, and on the other Irish-descent from the mid-Atlantic for at least three generations. Not sure to what extent they were influenced by "old country" traditions, except that my German/midwestern grandmother almost always served salad for dinner (which was the mid-day meal for them), in a serving bowl on the table with all the other food, and you dished it up on your dinner plate with whatever else you were eating (at least one meat protein + at least one starch + at least one non-starchy vegetable).

    I was thinking about this after I posted, and we also had it more in the summer, and I know I'd usually eat most of the salad before the rest of the meal, but I'm not sure what the rest of my family did.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    German heritage - We had salad served with most meals and always had to have bread and butter with the meal as well (Wonder Bread, of course). I don't do salads as much and will sub another non starchy vegetable with the meal on most nights.

    My ex-in laws were of German heritage and had Wonder Bread and butter with each meal. They lived in Iowa.

    No doubt part of the Wonder Bread aspect was due to him working for them and getting discounts.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    German heritage - We had salad served with most meals and always had to have bread and butter with the meal as well (Wonder Bread, of course). I don't do salads as much and will sub another non starchy vegetable with the meal on most nights.

    My ex-in laws were of German heritage and had Wonder Bread and butter with each meal. They lived in Iowa.

    No doubt part of the Wonder Bread aspect was due to him working for them and getting discounts.

    We were a Gardner's Sof-Twist family. Can't say I have ever had Wonder Bread and I am in my 60's.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,899 Member
    edited February 2020
    I had Wonder at friends' houses occasionally, and even as a kid I thought the texture was really weird.
  • Allgaun
    Allgaun Posts: 221 Member
    I'm 66 and I never had salad as a kid. Except tuna, egg, potato or macaroni salad...something with mayo.

    We always had 2 vegetables and a potato with our meat at dinner.

    I rarely fed my kids salad, it's just not something I ever ate.

    Now I will eat salad but the only kind I really enjoy are chopped salads, I like the lettuces and veggies cut up small.

    I'm a New Yorker, at least 4th generation though my DNA says 98% Irish
  • Urun4me
    Urun4me Posts: 37 Member
    Basically never ate salad. When we did it was the whole meal (throwing a bunch of stuff in there). I hated salad, and still do. There's just something about it. Even when I really like all the ingredients, I'm never particularly pleased eating the salad.

    Also, most of the salad we would have growing up when we did have it was made with romaine or iceberg lettuce, which I really disliked. Ever since I've learned that they both have minimal to no nutritional value I've avoided them entirely (and been upset about how it was forced upon me in the guise of being healthy).

    My family is Swedish, Scottish, Norwegian, and Russian. But no one is particularly tied to those roots.

    It reminds me of the west wing episode where Toby is eating a salad and everyone is asking him questions about what kind it is and he says something to the effect of "no matter how much bbq sauce I smother this with it still tastes like the ground."

    Whenever we went to my grandmother's house for dinner we would have a salad at the beginning with beets and I did like that salad a lot, and didn't really know what beets were for a very long time. She's part Russian.
  • wwwtheselion11
    wwwtheselion11 Posts: 422 Member
    I grew up eating salads with meals. Now i make a salad, as a meal. I call it a naked burrito. Onions , peppers, corn, chicken. Black beans an 2 eggs with spinach an romaine lettuce. No dressing the flavor. Makeup for the taste. An the eggs yumminess
  • nuzziek
    nuzziek Posts: 69 Member
    Almost never. I grew up on mac and cheese, frozen pizza, hot pockets, and ramen noodles. For breakfast, a pop-tart with a flinstone vitamin on the side.

    Luckily, I went polar opposite and am a huge veggie lover as an adult.

    Oddly enough my mother came from a traditional Italian family with home-cooking. I ate well when we visited my Grandma.
  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
    I am in the US. Growing up, I don't remember eating a lot of salads. But definitely as I got older, my mom started preparing salads with dinner. They were served with dinner and eaten like a side dish. I

    I try to serve a salad with every meal. My husband doesn't like roasted veggies, only raw. My 14 year old daughter regularly orders salads in restaurants, which makes me so happy. I serve the salad with the main course. My husband eats his before his entree, but I always eat mine last.

  • eryn0x
    eryn0x Posts: 138 Member
    gremloBBPT wrote: »
    My curiosity is probably odd, lol, but I'm genuinely curious about this...

    1. Growing up, did you have a lettuce-based salad with your dinners at home on most/all days?
    2. Was it served before, with, or after dinner?
    3. What country did you grow up in? (And if your ancestors were from a different country, were your salad-eating habits from that culture?)

    Salad quite often for us. With dinner. Same plate, I believe. When I eat salad with my Italian family and they have a separate bowl and eat it after... so werid to me lol. However, my mom's salads were disgusting to me as a kid... big shunks of mushrooms, onions, other raw and offensive things in the eyes of a child.

    Basically third gen Canadian, my grandparents came over when they were young from England/Ireland/Scottland.