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Healthy yet not boring salads


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I'm looking for ingredients in tossed green salads. I need to have a salad per day to increase my vegetables. Adding protein would be stellar, because I don't get enough of that either.

 

My standard fare:

 

baby spinach (I don't like regular lettuces)

carrots

tomatoes

 

Things I've used before:

 

boiled egg whites (I avoid yolks)

celery

green pepper

ham

turkey

 

I don't eat salad much because it's so boring to eat the same thing all the time. What else is good with baby spinach?

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Feta cheese

grapes

apples

sunflower seeds

green onion

pomegranates

pears

walnuts and almonds

oranges

yellow and orange bell peppers

green or black olives

albacore tuna

crushed red pepper

Dh puts pepperoni in his, but I don't care for pepperoni

shredded mozz cheese

 

Anything you like, really.

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Quinoa!

 

It is awesome. Super tasty, high fiber, high protein, low fat, and super easy to prepare (like rice but faster). Mmmm. Toss it in any salad. Mmmm. Really, try it, it is shockingly tasty in a salad or in place of rice in any dish.

 

Other thoughts:

 

Roasted red peppers. Mmmm.

 

Shredded almost any vegetable (carrot, broccoli, etc, etc.)

 

Pecans, almonds, walnuts, pine nuts, etc. Mmmmm.

 

Really, almost any veggie will go in a salad. Mmmm.

 

I love cheese, so feta, goat cheese, parm, romano, etc are all good bets.

 

How about a ceasar salad (romaine, croutons, romano cheese, etc) for a change of pace?

 

Grilled meat or fish can be great. I love a steak salad. If I weren't allergic to chicken, I'd put it in lots of salads. Great way to use leftovers.

 

I read recently about having salad for breakfast, and I think I am going to try it sometime soon for a month, just to see how it works for me. (It's a running, thing, lol, but could also be good for overall health.)

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I am feeling really hungry now. Gee, thanks, it's almost midnight. LOL

 

I know, right? :tongue_smilie:

 

Gosh, you people make it sound so easy! I'm going to make a long list and try everything! I'm not familiar with some of these things. And I don't know if I've ever even tasted feta cheese.

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I know, right? :tongue_smilie:

 

Gosh, you people make it sound so easy! I'm going to make a long list and try everything! I'm not familiar with some of these things. And I don't know if I've ever even tasted feta cheese.

 

Feta is wonderful. It's a strong flavor, imo, so you might want to start out sparingly. And, imo, it's not so good by itself. Don't just take a spoonful. Put it in the salad.:001_smile:

 

Oh! I forgot: corn! Inspired by Chipotle, we sometimes throw a can of corn in our salads now!:001_smile:

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Todays salad:

roast pumpkin ( just cubes)

Lots of flat leaf parsley

red onion- diced

red capsicum-diced

few celery stalks- diced

tin of chick peas (drained)

good drizzle of olive oil and a generous squeeze of lemon juice

If there is any left in the fridge, I tend to dollop a little natural yoghurt and sprinkle a little sweet paprika on top, when i make this salad.

 

Another similar one I tend to make

Tin 4 bean mix - (kidney,chick peas,baby lima beans, great northern beans)

corn kernels ( about 2 cooked cobs cut off)

red capsicum- diced

spring onions-diced

fresh mint leaves

Again, I drizzle olive oil and lemon juice on it, but Italian dressing is also nice

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Dried fruit, especially dried cranberries since they're soaked in sugar, is not good for you. I'm not an anti-fruit person but I would avoid dried fruit with added sugar/ HFCS like the plague. It would be better just to cut up some fresh fruit and toss it in.

 

I often put beans and lentils in my salads. Why don't you like regular lettuce? Have you tried different varieties? There are so many types of lettuces out there. For me the main component is the dressing-- I have a dressing that makes anything taste good.

 

1 cup lowfat or nonfat plain yogurt

2 tbs non-hydrogenated peanut putter

1 tbs maple syrup

 

(mix well until blended)

 

It comes out tasting like a rich, almost sesame-tasting dressing. Often I'll have salads just to taste this dressing! It's addictive.

 

Happy salad eating! :001_smile:

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The only lettuces I've tried are iceberg and romaine. While romaine is passable, iceberg is just gross. I've never tried the mixed baby greens type. I'll have to try that because that can also add variety to my salads. :)

 

Butterflymommy - that dressing sounds so incredibly sweet!

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Chick peas

Almonds

 

Use salsa as your dressing.

 

ETA: Even though you are getting lots of tasty options to top a salad, remember that a healthy salad can quickly turn into a high calorie, high fat salad if you pile too much of the non-veggie type things on.

Edited by MissKNG
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My favorite salad right now is one I got at Wendy's and now make myself!

 

Spring mix salad, or spinach, plus dried cranberries, chopped apple, chopped pecans, grilled chicken, and blue cheese crumbles, topped with Marzetti's Pomegranate Vinaigrette salad dressing (find it refrigerated in the produce section).

 

YUMMMMMM!

 

Great thread, btw :001_smile:

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I'm looking for ingredients in tossed green salads. I need to have a salad per day to increase my vegetables. Adding protein would be stellar, because I don't get enough of that either.

 

My standard fare:

 

baby spinach (I don't like regular lettuces)

carrots

tomatoes

 

Things I've used before:

 

boiled egg whites (I avoid yolks)

celery

green pepper

ham

turkey

 

I don't eat salad much because it's so boring to eat the same thing all the time. What else is good with baby spinach?

 

Do you avoid egg yolks because you don't like them or because they're bad for you? The egg yolk's bad rep is undeserved - they actually increase GOOD cholesterol. My bil told me that for years, and not too long ago (a year or two?), a study came out saying the same thing.

 

In addition to the things already mentioned, a little taco meat, black beans and picante sauce is really good. Tuna and chopped apple is one of my favorite combos. Salmon and mandarin orange sections go well together, too.

Edited by LizzyBee
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Similar to another poster, my "easy salad" includes

 

One "green" (spinach, lettuce of some sort, or spring mix)

A fruit (strawberry, mandarin orange, red grapes)

A nut (pine nut, walnut, sugared almond)

A cheese (feta, cheddar, bleu) just a little goes a long way

A dressing (balsamic, etc.)

 

Some great combos include

 

Spinach, sliced strawberries, pine nuts, feta with balsamic dressing

 

Lettuce (romain or bibb, here, your choice of whatever), sugared almonds, mandarin oranges and cukes, with homemade dressing (use the juice from a small can of mandarin oranges, blended with 2T oil and 3T vinegars, plus 1T sugar or sugar substitute, shake and use--you won't use all of it, probably)

 

Spring mix, red grapes, walnuts, bleu cheese

 

Have fun! Salad can get very creative.

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