So here's the thing - I hate lettuce.

kissoffools
kissoffools Posts: 108
edited October 2024 in Food and Nutrition
And also spinach... which unfortunately kind of leaves salad off the menu for me. And man, it is HARD to get creative and come up with healthy meals that don't involve that leafy green stuff! Anyone have any lunch tips? Portable food suggestions (ie stuff I can take to work for lunch and don't have to cook right then) would be doubly awesome!

Replies

  • EroseT23
    EroseT23 Posts: 74 Member
    I enjoy having large salads as meals a few times a week, but it is very easy to get bored with them, at least for me. I'm always looking for new and interesting flavor combos. I'm not overly fond of spinach, but I'll throw a handful into my bowl of lettuce or in a wrap or sandwich for the nutrients it provides.

    I recently (today) found this site, and I've been browsing through her recipes all evening. Here's the link to her salads:

    http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/category/recipes-3/salads-recipes-3

    Good luck and enjoy! Be brave and experiment with food. You might like what you find. :)
  • mmhenry28
    mmhenry28 Posts: 163 Member
    I have salads all teh time that done have lettuce in them.

    My favourites are:
    asparagus
    snow peas
    cherry tomatos
    red onion
    avocado
    Balsamic vinegarette

    Or Brocolli Salad
    Brocolli
    cherry tomatos
    red onion
    Light mayo

    Add protein to those, chicken, egg, tuna, ham, turkey

    I also add chickpeas or cannelloni beans to salads as well. YUM
  • kissoffools
    kissoffools Posts: 108
    Thanks you guys! That link looks great, I can't wait to browse through it. And I love things like cherry tomatoes, broccoli, etc, so maybe I'll be able to make this alterna-salad thing work after all. :)
  • vjrose
    vjrose Posts: 809 Member
    Yup, salads do not require lettuce. I do use spinach but I really like it and hate lettuce. But a lot of times I skip the leafy and just throw a bunch of veggies - steamed, raw, whatever together with whatever protein is left from the night before, adjust the dressing to match the protein.
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    SLAW!

    I like shredded cabbage or shredded broccoli as a salad base
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
    If you're into smoothies or protein shakes, throw the spinach in there. You'll get all of the benefits of leafy greens with absolutely none of the taste. I promise!
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    Kachumber.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    What about romaine? That's my go-to salad...
  • timingsands
    timingsands Posts: 83
    SLAW!

    I like shredded cabbage or shredded broccoli as a salad base

    I agree with the shredded cabbage as a salad base. I love that raw cabbage has a bit of a kick, and you can use non-fat yogurt instead of mayo to make coleslaw.

    I prefer my vegetables cooked, though. Raw veggies tend to give me stomach problems.
  • Kksd605
    Kksd605 Posts: 74 Member
    And also spinach... which unfortunately kind of leaves salad off the menu for me. And man, it is HARD to get creative and come up with healthy meals that don't involve that leafy green stuff! Anyone have any lunch tips? Portable food suggestions (ie stuff I can take to work for lunch and don't have to cook right then) would be doubly awesome!

    I like to mix raw veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onion, cherry tomato...) and a little rotini pasta with low fat Italian dressing.
  • ilookthetype
    ilookthetype Posts: 3,021 Member
    Ohsheglows.com has some great "salad" ideas as well as smoothies that have spinach that you can't even taste. Super yum.
  • CaptainMFP
    CaptainMFP Posts: 440 Member
    Our lettuce was bad today and I was counting on a lunch salad. Mixed 4.75 oz. diced chicken, 1 oz. shredded Swiss cheese, with diced veggies (half a tomato, half a cucumber, and half a red pepper). A very filling "vegetable salad" as my son called it. Who says you have to eat leafy greens in a salad?

    At the same time (and I'm being quite serious and not nasty here), we don't need to love everything we eat and we sometimes need to eat things we "hate." Just had a broccoli-cauliflower chowder for dinner tonight (also yummy and filling) which contained cooked carrots. Try as I might, I hate cooked carrots. It is the foulest taste I can imagine. I still eat it every couple of weeks though, because it's good for me and when mixed with other ingredients I can get past my issue. Food for thought.
  • timingsands
    timingsands Posts: 83
    ...Try as I might, I hate cooked carrots. It is the foulest taste I can imagine. ...

    I agree with this wholeheartedly. I don't know what the cooking process does to it but I hate the taste! I'm not that fond of carrots in general (except in cake, where I can't taste it, or in some sort of juice cocktail, where I also can't taste it) but eating cooked carrots is a punishment.
  • noblesseoblige
    noblesseoblige Posts: 31
    Same here, although I like spinach it is not always available to me. So I usually just make a "vegetable salad". Just through all the veggies you would put in a salad on a plate or in a bowl and voila your done. I usually use cucumbers as a base, so I go through a lot of them quickly.
  • kissoffools
    kissoffools Posts: 108
    Thanks guys! I really appreciate all the tips, I'll definitely be looking into them.

    And I know what you mean about eating foods you don't necessarily like - that's how I get around my aversion to any type of dressing, haha. Unfortunately, eating stuff that tastes bad has to be done! I just like to avoid it if I can. :p And I feel you about cooked carrots - I quite like them raw, but cooked? Awful.
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