Talk to me about salads

[popcorn]

I love salads, but I'm looking to mix things up since I always have the same salad (which I love!).

My regular salad is lettuce/spinach with onion, bell pepper, carrots, feta cheese, with olive oil and lemon juice dressing. Somtimes it's oil and vinegar.

What's your go-to salad?

[pittpurple]

For a while I would do lettuce, blue cheese, apples and walnuts with whatever random stuff I had around. I like adding beans (chick-peas mostly) for protein to random salads. My mom would make Israeli salad for us a lot which is tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion cut up small with hummus.

[travelingturtle]

I watched this video of Jamie Oliver making a chopped salad: www.jamieoliver.com/videos/tv/ministry_of_food/5haTAxMzo8PCmaib_Hw2S-K3a5453q2t/v

Then that night, I made a chopped salad with a bunch of things and it was one of my favorite salads ever. I never make the same salad twice since I just use what I have on hand, but typically I like them to have at least:

lettuce, green onions, pear or apple, walnuts, a cheese (depends on my mood), tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, and a balsamic vinegar with garlic and dijon mustard dressing. I'll put carrots, radish, green peppers, chick-peas (or kidney beans), chicken, croutons (espcially homemade - yum) and hard boiled egg if I can.

[dorothyinAus]

I don't like lettuce, so my go-to salad has always been a Caprese salad, but I make a layered panzanella with cornbread and grilled chicken.

Other than that, I do either fruit salads or carrots, bell peppers and tomatoes with a quick splash of balsamic vinegar/oil; sometimes I add fresh or frozen corn or peas for variety. DH doesn't like raw tomatoes or fruit, so we generally skip homemade salads.

[popcorn]

Mmmm, some good things to try!

DorothyinAus, I am not a huge fan of lettuce either, but for some odd reason a salad is not a salad to me without it. Obviously there are all kinds of salads (potato salad, caprese like you mentioned, fruit salad) but I always think lettuce+something when I think of salad. Must be how I grew up or something.

[rhiannonsage]

NEEPS: How do you make your vinaigrette?

I guess I'm pretty boring (or lazy) usually when I make my own salad. It's just lettuce, tamatoes, cheese (whatever is around) and cruetons(sp?) if we have them, and whatever dressing I have.

[Waffles]

Jun 14, 2012 5:41:15 GMT -5 neeps said:

Really my only hard rules are no fruit or nuts in my salad. Ick. And I make my own dressing - cheap, easy, taste better and doesn't have all the preservatives.

Totally agree re dressing and fruit - I cannot get behind a salad with feta & strawberries (keep seeing this posted on the boards).

I'll ok some apple in a bacon/goat cheese salad but that's it!

I tend to use mixed leaves as a base for my salads & almost always add rocket. As for the rest, anything that's in the fridge can work. If making it a meal, I'll include some sort of meat for H (bacon and/or chicken) and cheese.

I recently added some shaved fennel bits in my chicken/halloumi/peppers/tomatoes/leaves salad and it was delish. Definitely doing that again.

[cricketwife]

My good to salad is spinach, tomato, avocado, and red bell pepper because I almost always have those ingredients on hand. But I dump in whatever other veggies I happen to have around.

[clogged]

shredded carrot and mayo. Or large-diced apple and mayo. Handful of raisins in either one if I am feeling generous.

I love salads, but those are my go-to ones. Easy, fast, aways have ingredients available.

[potatopie]

Jun 14, 2012 7:08:36 GMT -5 Waffles said:

I tend to use mixed leaves as a base for my salads & almost always add rocket.

Love love love rocket (arugula). I have it growing on our balcony.

I also love making a grated carrot, pine nut, and caper salad with a vinegar and oil. Very refreshing.

[crimsonandclover]

I like making a fresh herb salad -- lettuce and then a bunch of fresh herbs chopped up with a light vinegrette dressing (I'm horrible at making dressings, so I usually just go pre-made). I'll often use some combination of chives, basil, cilantro, and dill along with a mixed lettuce combo. Then you can add whatever you want. I'm a big fan of feta, but with all of the herb tastes it's interesting enough as is, as well.

[ktkl09]

I use whatever ingredients we have!

But I do LOVE fruit on a salad. I had an amazing salad a couple weeks ago with mango, kiwi, papaya, lichi and avocado. MMM!

[elenetxu]

Back home, I'd make a salad with lettuce fresh out of the garden (mmmmmmmmm), blue cheese, fresh onion, and my uncle's salad dressing (vinegar, salad oil, maple syrup and onion blended together).

[glitterfart]

I love spinach with strawberries, feta or goat cheese, cucumbers, apple chunks soaked in champagne vinegar and then whatever other veggies I feel like adding and a simple dressing of pureed strawberries. Or Salad Nicoise. Yum! The Julia Child version is pretty good or the one in the Joy of Cooking.

[Wanderista]

I love Caesar salads (which is why I learned about their origin). I also love arugula. I am very picky about salads and how I eat vegetables. Weirdly enough, SO and I enjoy eating veggies in a pretty similar way. I love lettuce in salads, particularly romaine. I also like Thousand Island dressing. I have not tried making my own dressing. I am generally someone who slathers my salad in lots of dressing and cheese.

I do love feta on a salad. I really don't like cucumbers unless they are chopped up in small pieces.

Oh, I've had an amazing "seafood salad" in Japanese restaurant but that was more of a sushi appetizer.