Salads

[oobinsnaffa]

One of my favourite salads comes from Costco, but I've recreated it myself quite easily. It contains spring mix, cut up apples, pecans, cranberries, Gouda cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette.

I also add avocado to a lot of salads because it's delicious, and sometimes I'll add hemp seeds for protein.

the apples don't go brown in the Costco salad?

They get sprayed with something to keep them from going brown. I prefer to make my own salad so that I can avoid that chemical.

If you're making the salad ahead of time and want to avoid the browning, toss your apples in a mixture of lemon juice & water. I don't really measure, I add a splash of water and a squirt of lemon juice, probably 2:1 water to lemon juice, maybe 3:1? Anyway, the acid from the lemons keeps the apples from oxidizing and turning brown.

[Half-Mary]

Is there actually a reason to not eat brown apples? It doesn't bother me to cut up an apple in the morning and not eat it until afternoon, even if it's brown. I find it tastes the same. There's nothing unhealthy growing in the brown, is there? I've never really thought about this before...

[Jwolf]

Is there actually a reason to not eat brown apples? It doesn't bother me to cut up an apple in the morning and not eat it until afternoon, even if it's brown. I find it tastes the same. There's nothing unhealthy growing in the brown, is there? I've never really thought about this before...

Nothing unhealthy- just some people don't like the look of it.

If you use lemon juice or something slightly acidic in the dressing they won't go brown. Or you could use cinnamon and then it will just hide the brown and make them more yummy.

[oobinsnaffa]

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with brown apples at all, it's just for appearances really.

Interesting on the cinnamon... I once sent sliced apples tossed in cinnamon for my daughter's preschool snack for the shared snack program, and the entire room of 3-5 year olds turned their noses up at them because they were "dirty". Little brats. They were good! We had sliced cinnamon apples for snacks for two days after that.

[Kristi]

I like ground turkey, black beans and corn with taco seasoning on top of romaine lettuce. Yummy and simple. Hubby likes his with some salsa on top as well.

ANother current favourite is a yummy lentil salad that I found in the Longo's magazine. I can't find the actual recipe anymore but it had lentils, green onions, red peppers, dried cranberries, dried mangoes tossed in rice vinegar, honey, olive oil and garlic on top of mixed greens with some goat cheese. I've tried to recreate the dressing with 1 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp of rice vinegar and olive oil and a dollop of minced garlic and it works well. And then some sunflower seeds on top.

[La]

Another salad I quite like is Tabouleh (middle eastern). It's bulghur (cracked wheat, soaked in warm water until soft, then drained), chopped fresh parsley, chopped tomatoes, green onions, olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper. You want to use about 50:50 parsley and bulghur. I use flat leaf, but you could use regular/curly parsley, too. Serve it as a side dish, or with chicken or falafel balls in a pita with some hummous and tzaziki.

[oobinsnaffa]

I made another favourite salad around here. Grilled (or roasted) veg, beans, grain of choice and a vinaigrette. I made it tonight by grilling a basket full of zucchini, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, red onion and yellow pepper, adding a pile of cooked chickpeas, a couple cups of cooked quinoa, and a fig balsamic dressing. So tasty, and good warm or cool.

[n_fraser]

I make Asian cole slaw by buying a bag of sheredded cabbage and shredded carrots and/or broccoli. Then I make a dressing using soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, ginger, and whatever other Asian spices you like (not sure if you can use sesame oil, which is one of my fave seasonings). I'll also add green onions, cooked chicken, bean sprouts, red pepper, mango, or anything else I have on hand. I like cilantro, but not sure if you are a lover or a hater. Last weekend I made this with rice noodles rather than the cabbage mix. Mine had peanut butter, but you can leave that out.

ETA: the thing I like about this salad is that it lasts and stays crunchy for several days, even with the dressing on it.

I always wondered what kind of salad you were eating! So do you make more than a days worth at once?

Actually, I usually just eat plain old salad that I make each day (mixed lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red peppers, leftover chicken) and bring my salad dressing from home in a little baggie. But for this particular salad I could make 2-3 days worth at once.

Oh, I forgot in the dressing above I'll also put lime zest and lime juice.

I used your salad dressing in a baggie tip today for the first time. Love! Thank you!

[LilyRun]

I made another favourite salad around here. Grilled (or roasted) veg, beans, grain of choice and a vinaigrette. I made it tonight by grilling a basket full of zucchini, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, red onion and yellow pepper, adding a pile of cooked chickpeas, a couple cups of cooked quinoa, and a fig balsamic dressing. So tasty, and good warm or cool.

That sounds wonderful!

[Half-Mary]

My next salad is going to come from the garden out back and will be supplemented with a few items from the produce market. I love this time of year.

I look forward to implementing some of the suggestions people have made here for beefing up salads.

[QuickChick]

The past couple of weeks, I've made a salad with 1 cup quinoa (1 cup before cooking), a couple of chopped peppers, a bunch of chopped cucumber, goat cheese (i throw in half of one of the pc mini log things), olive oil, a bit of balsamic, and some random herbs- usually basil and/or oregano. I split it into 3 portions and each portion fills me up for the whole afternoon. Plus it tastes summery!

[Sandra]

Love these salad ideas.... must incorporate some into my weekday lunches.

[NewFinnLoper]

Couscous Salad (which I am eating as I type this)...

1 cup couscous (before cooking)
1 can chick peas
1/2 red onion sliced
1 red pepper chopped
1 cup cucumber chopped
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup craisins

Prepare couscous according to directions (usually 1 cup couscous + 1 cup boiling water = cover and let sit till absorbed and fluffy). Cool. Add the rest of the ingredients.

Dressing:
Whisk the following together
1/2 cup miracle whip (I know lots of people hate miracle whip but it is really good in this dressing - adds a little bit of sweetness - you could probably substitute mayo but I've never tried it that way)
1/4 cup plain yoghurt
1/2 - 1 tsp cumin
(add some milk if it's too thick)

Pour over the salad and toss.
Best served chilled...
MMMMMMMmmmm.....

[Samantha]

Couscous Salad (which I am eating as I type this)...

1 cup couscous (before cooking)
1 can chick peas
1/2 red onion sliced
1 red pepper chopped
1 cup cucumber chopped
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup craisins

Prepare couscous according to directions (usually 1 cup couscous + 1 cup boiling water = cover and let sit till absorbed and fluffy). Cool. Add the rest of the ingredients.

Dressing:
Whisk the following together
1/2 cup miracle whip (I know lots of people hate miracle whip but it is really good in this dressing - adds a little bit of sweetness - you could probably substitute mayo but I've never tried it that way)
1/4 cup plain yoghurt
1/2 - 1 tsp cumin
(add some milk if it's too thick)

Pour over the salad and toss.
Best served chilled...
MMMMMMMmmmm.....

if you sub mayo you could cut it with some pickle juice and add sugar to taste. then it wouldn't have so much of that heavy mayo taste. Another alternative I've enjoyed is adding horseradish (say a tsp or so) to the mayo. I hate horseradish but it works really well in mayo!

[Habs4ever]

Couscous Salad (which I am eating as I type this)...

1 cup couscous (before cooking)
1 can chick peas
1/2 red onion sliced
1 red pepper chopped
1 cup cucumber chopped
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup craisins

Prepare couscous according to directions (usually 1 cup couscous + 1 cup boiling water = cover and let sit till absorbed and fluffy). Cool. Add the rest of the ingredients.

Dressing:
Whisk the following together
1/2 cup miracle whip (I know lots of people hate miracle whip but it is really good in this dressing - adds a little bit of sweetness - you could probably substitute mayo but I've never tried it that way)
1/4 cup plain yoghurt
1/2 - 1 tsp cumin
(add some milk if it's too thick)

Pour over the salad and toss.
Best served chilled...
MMMMMMMmmmm.....

This sounds so yummy!

[Habs4ever]

I made this salad. ^^^
It is really super good!
For those that do WW, I figured it put to 6-7pts for 1 cup serving, using fat free miracle whip, and pumpkin seeds instead of almonds.

[NewFinnLoper]

I made this salad. ^^^
It is really super good!
For those that do WW, I figured it put to 6-7pts for 1 cup serving, using fat free miracle whip, and pumpkin seeds instead of almonds.

Oooh pumpkin seeds are yummy... Yes, this is one of our faves in the summer...

[babysteps]

This is popular with my household...

1 can black beans
1can corn
1 eng cucumber diced
Bunch of cherry toms cut in half
1 mango diced
Quinoa, or millet, or brown rice
Combine all with a dressing of olive oil, lime juice, white wine vinegar, cilantro, pinch of sugar or maple syrup, chili pepper paste, ginger paste.

delicious and lasts for a few days (except it never does because it always gets eaten right away!)

[Samantha]

Last week I had a spinach salad with strawberries and feta cheese in a balsamic dressing. I even took it to work one day - had all the ingredients separate (sliced the strawberries before hand) and just threw them together for lunch.

Tonight I had quinoa salad with avocado, feta and chopped tomatoes. The dressing was
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

It was super yummy!

[QuickChick]

OMG... I just made the BEST salad! It makes 3-4 servings, or more if I used it as a side. I kinda made it up, but it was a very serendipitous combo of things! Here's what I put in it...
1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
1 "and a bit" cups broth
1 cup water
(boil/cook quinoa)

Then I added:
2 of those flash frozen highliner salmon fillets, cooked in olive oil and lemon with salt and pepper- broken into bite size pieces
1/3 of a standard wrapped block of greek feta cheese, crumbled
about 15 kalamata olives, pitted
about 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red pepper, cut in chunks
a generous sprinkle of oregano, probably a tbsp or so
about 1/3 of one of those little jars of capers

Daaaaammmn!! Delicious and filling.