What do you put in your salads?

[tracey67]

Okay - here's my question for the day... what do you put on (in?) your salad. I'm not looking for any special salad recipes, just - when you make a basic salad for an every-day kind of meal - what do you put in it?

For me it's: mixed greens, cucumber, grape tomatoes, and cauliflower. Occasionally, I'll also add sunflower seeds or some other nut, carrots, red onions, and olives (but only on mine, DH hates olives).

tracey :D

[Leanne]

My most common salad is mixed greens with hard boiled egg, parmeasan cheese, grape tomatoes, and a red-wine vinaigrette. I also love cucumber in a salad, but hardly ever keep it around b/c my DH hates them.

[KValley]

Salad always at dinner, often at lunch:

Mixed greens or spinach; sliced mushrooms; sometimes grape tomatoes; always red or orange bell pepper; sometimes red onion; sliced almonds, walnuts, soy nuts or sunflower seeds; often craisins or golden raisins; always cheese of some sort- grated parmesan, cheddar, crumbled feta. Little or no dressing- I like my own vinaigrette or a Seeds of Change brand dressing, or plain.

[emilycat]

Except for the Greek salad I posted about on my Greek dinner thread, my salad staple is quite basic -- although I enjoy it so much and it goes with everything, so I make it constantly.

Trimmed watercress or arugula with shredded radicchio or endive, or julienned yellow bell pepper. I use a vinaigrette I make with red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil and impossibly strong dijon mustard.

I believe I'll be making one tonight. :)

[Beth H]

Almost always black olives, grape or cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, a bit of grated cheese -- yum. Sometimes radishes, green, red or yellow peppers, green onions, or mushrooms.

[Anne]

Usually we have whatever is growing well in the garden - chard, kale, collards, pak choi, mustard, green onions, snap peas, snow peas, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, a few eddible flowers, and maybe even lettuce. This year the lettuce is a maybe due to slugs.

[luv2cook]

Mixed greens, red onion, red/green bell pepper, cucumber, tom., croutons, reduced fat bacon bits, feta, hearts of palm not all at the same time...

[AndreaU]

For everyday side salad with dinner, I use leaf lettuce and/or romaine, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded carrots, chopped green pepper and lots of croutons!

[Mamasue]

All depends what mood I am in and who is going to eat it. If I am making a salad just for myself then I like to add fruit, such as orange slices and walnuts with mixed greens. A salad that is part of our every night dinner, then it is a normal mixed green salad with feta cheese, grape tomatoes and cucumbers and maybe some black olives if I have them on hand.

[funnybone]

I love vegetables in my salad - red, green, orange,yellow peppers; red / green onions, mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchinni, mushrooms - anything really. My MIL only has iceberg lettuce in her salad - and that is the ONLY vegetable she serves (UGH!):mad:

Oh, and NO bottled dressing!

[HARRYET]

Always mixed greens and various veggies, and crumbled feta cheese, but for lunch I always add some grilled chicken, and I love to top this all with a raspberry vinegrette! Yummy, I think maybe this will be dinner tonight.

Ann

[Deedy]

Salad every night at our house - usually leaf, romaine or red lettuce, cucumbers (seedless), tomatoes, Vidalia onion sliced thin, peppers of all colors and mango is really good with this- a wonderful balsamic dressing from T. J.'s is our latest choice.

[Jodi]

I can't believe how many of us have salad every night! We do, too. Ours is pretty basic for everyday, usually romaine and leaf lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pepper (normally red or yellow for the color), carrot, and LOTS of chickpeas -- my favorite!! -- with a vinaigrette.

[Melman]

Favorite ingredients: spring mix (mesclun? that leafy, colorful stuff), grape tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese, seedless grapes, walnuts, rotisserie turkey, and raspberry walnut dressing. Why Snob Salad? Almost all the ingredients have a first and last name. Nothing no-name about this one. YUMM!!!

[Mindy]

Our favorite salad is mixed greens, toasted sugared pecans, dried cranberries, and crumbled goat cheese with balsamic vinagarette!!

[JAtelsek]

I use romaine lettuce (including, lately, a variety called Spreckels that I get at the farmer's market), cucumbers, tomatoes (if in season), red onion, and chunks of smoked tofu -- and no low-fat or no-fat dressings for me, just less of the regular stuff.

That's also my best diet secret: to eat a green salad as the main course for lunch or dinner every day.

[lanie]

Just bringing this back up again - do you 'dress' your salad before serving or let - whoever - dress at the table. Seems that I usually 'dress' before serving - hence, so much thrown out with soggy dressing soaked salad - just curious......looked at the vac-pak salads in a thread today - seems like not a good idea....I find that I make way too much for 2-3 of us but can't seem to make a salad for small amounts without looking peuny (word?)......

lanie :D

[DmOrtega]

I like mixed greens, sliced cooked potato (warm), Ranch dressing and cracked black pepper. I never heard anyone else making a similar type until we went thru Pittsburgh, where my husband and I ate a grilled chicken salad. In it was mixed greens, tomato, hard boiled egg, french fries and grilled chicken. It was really good with Ranch dressing.

[LeighAnne]

Our latest favorite salad is green leaf lettuce, tomato, walnuts, mandarin oranges, and raspberry vinagrette dressing.

[HARRYET]

Lanie,

I like to let people dress their own salads, as I have found some people like more/less dressing then others. I also like to have a variety of dressings for people to choose from. Also the left over salad undressed is great for lunch with some added luncheon meats/cheeses or grilled chicken.

Ann :)

[kwormann]

It depends on what else we are having. Always somekind of green and always tomatoes! After that, choices are peppers of all colors, zucchini, mushrooms, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, cheese (feta, goat, parmesan, pepperjack---again depends on main course). Then I make a dressing. I like to use pesto sometimes, the other night we had spicy shrimp boil and I took the boil spice and mixed it with sour cream to have a complementary dressing. I have also been known to do that with salsa.

I think I received the ultimate compliment from DH last night (over a salad, of all things). He's not very gushy with food compliments. He said it was a great salad and he is proud of my creativity! I about fell over!

[beejayw1]

Ooh, Salads!

Well, in addition to the standard mixed greens, I put in:

green olives, sliced or chopped fine
tomatoes
croutons if I have them
white cheese (like swiss or provolone) slivered
sometimes finely minced onion


If available, I also put in cucumbers (if the seeds are too big, I cut them out)
avocado, diced (don't do this often, though)

I thicken my vinaigrette with freshly grated parm or romano cheese, too, and for some of the vinegar I substitute a little olive juice.

Heck, while I'm at it, I also put in fresh oregano and basil in the vinaigrette.

JAtelsek said no low-fat or no-fat dressings for me, just less of the regular stuff.

A person I know who's lost a lot of weight said that she puts the dressing in a container beside the plate, dips her fork in the dressing, then spears the greens, etc. She gets the taste right up front without using a lot of dressing. I tried it and it works very well.

Incidentally, has any of the Phila Area folks had the Fountain Room's tomato salad?

* One large New Jersey tomato, vine-ripened, peeled and cored.
* Sit it on a bed of julienned red, yellow and green peppers and mixed greens.
* Pour a killer vinaigrette right into the core of the tomato and let it drizzle over the greens.
* Hand happy diner a fork and a knife and a bib.

Now I want a salad for lunch!

[critikid]

I read every reply fully expected one of the "famiiars" here to mention pine nuts....
If you've never indulged - do so....lightly toasted (like 2-3 careful minutes in a toaster oven)...they are to die for when mixed with feta or goat cheese or any other of the terrific salad suggestions listed....

[NydiaC]

...green leaf lettuce and/or spinich, with strawberries instead of tomatoes, feta cheese, maybe some toasted nuts, and a balsamic vinegrette. Yum!

[gertdog]

We don't eat salad every night, but when we do have it, I put in scallions, cherry tomatoes, garbanzo beans, kalamata olives, grated carrot, cucumber, and grated or crumbled cheese of some kind. If it's a main dish salad, I'll add croutons, steamed broccoli, tofu kan, corn, red pepper etc.

[Little Bit]

Noone seems to have mentioned beets? Hmmm ... .

Pickled (or spiced or just plain) beets, hearts of palm and celery on a bed of good quality lettuce.



My dad's favorite salad involves nothing fancier (or more fabulous and sometimes hard to find) than a sliced tomato with a splash of vinegar and a bit of homemade mayo. His salads only spring into existance if he's managed not to eat the tomatoes in a midnight sandwich created standing in front of the icebox. :D