What kinds of salads do you make?

Ronni

Ronni

Well-known Member
Location
Nashville TN
I’ve been stepping way outside the box in my salad making recently, as I work at making hearty salads that can be a low calorie but filling meal, rather than just as a side item.

Basically I mix up a bunch of ingredients, including the dressing, that I can then layer onto a bed of mixed greens or spring mix and then grate just a touch fresh parmesan or other hard cheese on to it for some added flavor.

The basic mixture consists of a grain, (my current favorites are farro, tri color quinoa or brown rice) some type of legume, (garbanzo or black beans right now) and then a hearty mix of chopped veggies like cucumber, bell pepper, tomatoes, red or green onion, parsley and cilantro, plus other leftover veggies Ive previously cooked as a side .. things like carrots, broccoli, asparagus, beets, turnips or parsnips etc

I make a dressing of fresh squeezed lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, coconut aminos, squeeze of mustard and a splash of chicken or other stock

This one turned pink because, along with other veggies, I also threw in a bunch of cooked beets I had roasted for dinner the other night! 😂 It’s the dressing I make, mixed in with rice, cucumber, tomato, black beans, green onions, bell pepper and cilantro, plus leftover beets and broccoli, on a bed of spring mix. Really tasty and very filling!
IMG_4323.jpeg
I’d love ideas! Do you make different or unusual salads? Do you have homemade dressing ideas? Please share whatever, I’m always looking for new recipes or suggestions!
 

I love very Basic hearty salads ..called open sandwich salads in this house, and everybody loves them.

Must start with a slice or 2 of soft white bread..buttered..then a thin layer of favourite sauce.. Mayo..or Honey mustard..or whatever they like.. followed by shredded..Italian baby leaf lettuce.. with thinly sliced plum or cherry tomatoes on top.. then another thin layer of sauce.. followed by grated carrot... and grated cheese of choice... then finally on top.. would be warm sliced softly boiled eggs... and topped off with salt.. and dressing..
 
Last edited:
I do love salads made with Romaine lettuce and/or arugula, grape tomatoes, red onion and a host of other things:

Included but not limited to; chick peas, quinoa, pickled beets, cabbage, bacon, spinach, olives, capers, cheese, cilantro, scallions, orange sections, peas, roasted red peppers, etc.
 

Romaine, fresh spinach, olives(black and/or stuffed green), fresh sliced mushrooms, thin sliced purple onion, and or chopped green onion. Can add grapes, slices of string cheese, small chunks of tomato. Walnuts or pecans, although I prefer them on the side. Add your choice of dressing after your serving is dished up.
 
Nathan said:
Romaine, fresh spinach, olives(black and/or stuffed green), fresh sliced mushrooms, thin sliced purple onion, and or chopped green onion. Can add grapes, slices of string cheese, small chunks of tomato. Walnuts or pecans, although I prefer them on the side. Add your choice of dressing after your serving is dished up.
Click to expand...
Really sounds good👆..one, please!😉
 
"Boar's Head" Protein Hummus Bowl:

Bite-sized Grilled Chicken, Arugula, Crumbled Feta, Cooked Red Quinoa, Pepper-Smoked-Hummus, Cucumber, Radish, Red Onions, Aged Balsamic Vinegar

Orange-Zest Dressing(made with OJ-concentrate,honey,basil,white-wine,onion powder,Dijon mustard,white-wine-vinegar,).
 
Last edited:
I've been taking a little break from salads lately......but they usually go like this.

Sometimes, no lettuce at all, just roasted red bells, kalamata olives, parsley and pomegranate seeds. Lemon and avocado oil for the dressing always.

Or, romaine, arugula, cukes, avocados, sunflower seeds, red bells, and garbanzo beans.
I'll make a crab louie w/fake crab, iceberg and homemade 1,000 island dressing once in a blue moon. 🌑
 
I buy the pre-packaged salads, mostly from Taylor Farms. Our favorites are Green Goddess, Mexican Street Corn, Avocado Ranch and Sweet Barbecue Ranch. I add cubes of cooked chicken and cherry tomatoes. Sometimes I add wonton strips, tortilla strips, croutons, crisp onion strips or Asiago cheese. The Chopped kits are great because they have all the crunchy stuff like carrots, radishes, cabbage, brussels sprouts and kale. They come with their own dressing.

My partner takes his salad to work 5 days a week and I eat mine at home. I actually look forward to eating a salad for lunch. There are so many varieties, it's a new taste every day.

Chopped Salad Kits
 
Just realized the posts refers more to salads made at home… So,,

tonight i made what we call Rough Slaw — cabagge roughly chopped, not finely grated, sliced cucumbers, onions radishes, bell pepper, carrots, tomatoes & pumpkin seeds.

dressing was a mixture of rice wine vinegar, olive oil, sesame seed oil, ponzu sauce, salt mixed together and poured over vegetables. Also added a few shakes of Everything Bagel seasoning.
 
Salads! I eat a lot of salads and most of them aren’t side dishes; they are whole meals.

- Greek salad
IMG_1763.jpeg

Absolutely Fabulous Greek Salad Dressing Recipe
- Caesar salad
Best Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing
- chef salad
- chick pea salad
IMG_1765.jpeg
Chickpea Salad with Red Onion and Tomato
- Fattoush salad
Arabic Fattoush Salad
- Niçoise salad
IMG_1760.jpeg
Salad Niçoise
- Cobb salad
IMG_1761.jpeg
Cobb Salad
- chicken salad

Best Chicken Salad
IMG_1762.jpeg
- insalata Caprese - basically an Italian salad
Insalata Caprese
- Waldorf Salad
Chef John's Waldorf Salad
- Ambrosia salad or fruit salad
Sarah's Ambrosia Fruit Salad
Pasta salad
Pasta Salad
 
MountainRa said:
Just realized the posts refers more to salads made at home… So,,

tonight i made what we call Rough Slaw — cabagge roughly chopped, not finely grated, sliced cucumbers, onions radishes, bell pepper, carrots, tomatoes & pumpkin seeds.

dressing was a mixture of rice wine vinegar, olive oil, sesame seed oil, ponzu sauce, salt mixed together and poured over vegetables. Also added a few shakes of Everything Bagel seasoning.
Click to expand...
I use ponzu in cooking but never thought to incorporate it into a dressing. Great idea! Thanks @MountainRa!
 
When I make salad for a potluck, I get several bags of salad mixes (butter bliss, spring mix, rainbow salad, etc.) and toss them together with some sliced grape tomatoes and put some Greek dressing on it. I seldom make salads for myself since the veggies go bad so quickly and I can't eat them fast enough, but I have baby cut carrots as a snack from time to time. They keep better than those bagged salad mixes.
 
Last edited:
Ronni said:
Oooh! I see a caprese mix in there, Great addition!
Click to expand...
Well spotted. This is a Caprese salad which is simply tomato and Mozzarella with basil. It takes about ten minutes and looks a million dollars!
Caprese-Salad.jpg
Like you Ronni, salads are a favourite of ours, as is fish. It all helps reduce the amount of meat that we eat and it gives a good balance to our daily diet.

salmon-salad.jpg
This salmon salad combines Romaine lettuce with tomatoes and cucumbers, add a few olives for a delicious Mediterranean style salad.
 
When I make a Greek Salad, I add chunks of new potatoes. This was based on the first time I had a Greek Salad sometime in the 70s. It really makes it a more substantial meal. This restaurant just closed a couple of years ago. They also had a unique creamy cauliflower salad in their buffet. Apparently the owner gave out the recipe in a cooking class. I never found a copy.

Another item for a special tossed salad is hearts of palm.
 
MountainRa said:
I had a peach salad this week at a restaurant. It had sliced peaches, goat cheese rolled in crystallized ginger , candied pecans, variety of lettuce and a peach dressing.
Very good!
Click to expand...
That sounds really nice. I especially like candied ginger. How unique. Thank you for the idea.
oscash said:
I love a Caesar Salad with bacon bits in it.
Click to expand...
I do too
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top