When you serve salad for supper...

[bolt.]

When you serve salad for supper, is it the main dish, a side dish or an appetizer/course of it's own?

 

If you serve a meal salad, say, something with chicken or egg so it has protein -- is that a complete meal to you? Are there tricks to make a salad-centric meal feel more like it's actually supper? Do you serve something beside the salad?

 

Do you have any meals that you *always* serve with a big salad? Like a hot-and-cold meal, like when you grill the meat but don't have cooked side dishes?

 

I like salad, but I can't seem to make it fit my mental boxes for how supper is supposed to look and feel. I'm sure some of you are just full of great ideas.

[bettyandbob]

I've done main dish salads that include a protein and side dish salads. I love main dish salads in the summer. I never thought about making it feel like supper. If mom (me) made it and says that dinner, that's what you get. 

[Mrs Mungo]

When I make a main dish salad like Cobb Salad, then I usually serve bread or something with it. I think that helps it feel more like a complete meal.

 

Otherwise, salad is most often a side dish.

[KatieJ]

When my kiddoes were home, salad for supper was either a taco salad or their plate had some mac n cheese or something on it. (they were not fond of salad). 

Now that it's just DH and I most of the time, salad is quite often the main dish if it includes protein.  Often that means some bread as a side.  If DH is still hungry, he knows where the popcorn is.   :laugh:

[Alte Veste Academy]

When I do salad as the main dish (which I do frequently), I make everyone their own individual salad, prepared as you would receive it in a restaurant. DH and I have big bowls and the kids have biggish bowls, not typical small salad bowls. Basically I make each main dish salad big, hearty, and pretty. There is no single constant other than veggies, protein, and a dressing of some kind (usually olive oil and vinegar or lemon/lime juice).

 

We eat salad almost daily as a side dish, and at least once a week for a main dish, more in our very hot, long summer.

[Erica in OR]

We have one or two that we do as main dish (e.g., greens with salmon that's been broiled and then shredded up a bit with various toppings). For those, we construct them on a big plate rather than in a bowl to help give them more of a supper feel and have room for a portion that fills you up.

 

Erica in OR

[Alte Veste Academy]

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[zoobie]

I'm in the if it's called dinner, it is dinner camp. :)

 

I do try to make sure there's some kind of fat along with the protein and leafy things. Cheese, avocado, something. I don't feel full and DH is rummaging in the pantry if it's too "lean."

[abba12]

Its usually a side dish here, most often served with steak or marinated chicken pieces. Our summers get very, very hot and no one feels like a full dinner those nights.

 

We have one salad we serve as a main, it has pork belly in it, and again it is reserved for hot nights. We do consider salad dishes a light meal but that suits us 6 months of the year here.

[Momof3littles]

Main dish regularly, especially in the summer months.  We don't really do bread. Sometimes in the winter it might be paired with soup, but in the warmer months (spring through fall) we have salad probably 2x a week as a main dish, and as a side maybe 2-3x more per week.

 

We definitely have to have some fat with it in order to not be hungry a few hrs later.  We have that  issue with super lean protein dinners even of the non salad variety though.

 

 

[nd293]

For us a meal salad will usually include carbs and protein. If the salad is Asian-inspired (think soy and fish sauce dressing, maybe fish or chicken 'meatballs'/ patties) then we'll have rice noodles with It. For a French-style salad we'll have a crusty bread. For a Middle Eastern salad meal we'll add pita bread. I also make a pasta salad with steak, sun-dried tomatoes, salad leaves and anything else that catches my fancy, and use tapenade as a dressing.

[Miss Peregrine]

My two main meal salads are Cobb and BBQ chicken.

[shanvan]

I'm like Mrs. Mungo, at least as far as serving salad goes!  I serve a meal type salad with bread.  Sometimes I also serve sliced fruit if the salad is more savory than fruity.

[Slartibartfast]

If I serve salad for dinner then it is taco salad or cobb salad. Those both have plenty of protein. I don't usually serve it with anything else.

 

Dh doesn't care for salad (except for taco salad)  if I am serving salad usually only dd and I are going to be eating it.

[TammyinTN]

I usually serve salad here as a side.    

 

If I serve it as a meal it's something like Pioneer woman's  taco salad--http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/07/chicken-taco-salad/

[MiMi 4under3]

Just about anything in my house becomes a main dish salad.  Whatever we're having goes in a big bowl on top of greens.  (Other family members of, course, are free to eat their salad separately)

 

I've done spaghetti on salad, rice and beans, stir-fry chicken and veggies, mac & cheese, chicken cutlets and potatoes, etc. Really, ANYTHING.

[J-rap]

We serve a lot of main dish salads in the summer. If it has protein in it, then it becomes the main dish.. I'll often serve it with bread, and if it still looks wimpy then some fresh fruit.

[73349]

My salads usually start with chopped baby spinach, grape tomatoes, and sliced cucumbers and carrots. If it's the main dish, I put out some nuts, shredded cheese, etc., so people can add their own. I don't if it's a side (often with crock-pot BBQ chicken thighs or something).

[LaxMom]

We do main course salads frequently in the summer. Basic formula is something leafy, protein, carb, flavory things. So, romaine with grilled chicken tossed in buffalo sauce, blue cheese dressing, green onions. Grilled skirt steak on spring mix with pecans, blue cheese or feta, raspberry vinaigrette, dried cranberries. Turkey, garbanzo beans, olives, lemon cumin vinaigrette on crunchy greens. Spinach salad with eggs, grilled chicken, avocado, hot bacon dressing.

 

The starch is almost always cubed, roasted red potatoes. If I'm feeling ambitious, I might serve gf baguettes, rolls, or focaccia.

[icollectkids]

We don't often to salad as a main dish. When we do it's chicken caeser salad complete with homemade caeser dressing.

 

I serve it as a side very often. All my people like it. When I serve it I serve lots of toppings.

 

Our faves are:

hard boiled eggs

sunflower seeds

marinated artichoke hearts

chickpeas

whatever fresh veggies I have...carrots, cukes (anything but tomatoes- major allergy!)

olives

feta

bacon

...you get the idea ;)

[mamaraby]

If it's a side, it might be something as simple as mixed greens. If it's the main course then I usually pair it with a whole grain (millet, quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, forbidden rice, etc - you get the picture) in addition to greens and lots of veggies. I actually think the vegans have some fantastic salad ideas - Isa Chandra Moskowitz has lots of really great ideas as does Nava Atlas. You can always make some substitutions if you absolutely must have meat with your salad.

[Amy in NH]

We only serve it as a main dish with chicken on top.  I know we should serve it as a side more, but for some reason we never do.

[Isabella]

Quite often a salad is a main meal here, but it's always got some protein and fat in it.  

 

I usually make 6 individual plates of salad (easy - just chuck a large handful of prepackaged baby greens on a plate and top with a diced tomato each, half an avocado sliced each, maybe a few slices of salad onion or red peppers).  Then I cook up whatever meat is going on top of it - usually one of the following: seasoned chicken strips fried in butter, tailed prawns fried in oil and chilli sauce, sliced cold steak re-fried in oil and chilli sauce, cut up left over sausages also fried in oil and chilli sauce.

 

I have usually premade my own dressing, which usually consists of either mayo, apple cider vinegar, and honey....or.... extra virgin olive oil, with balsamic vinegar and maybe some chilli sauce.

 

Everyone grabs their salad plate and loads the meat from the frying pan on top, adds a dollop of dressing, and then go to table.  I think it helps to seem like a main meal, because they see the foods separate first, even though they end up together on top of each other.  It would work also to have the salad plates on their places at the table, then help themselves to meat and dressing from the middle of the table.  I just do it from the frying pan because I'm lazy.

 

Sometimes I add extras to the salad such as honeyed walnuts (homemade), apple slices, orange slices, prunes, dates, cubed cheese.

 

Other salad meals are a tuna and brown rice salad, and a broccoli salad with bacon.

 

 

[Redeemed7]

We do main dish salads once in a while. When we do I don't usually add anything else. Fried

 

chicken salad, chef salad and my new favorite is chicken fajita salad. We usually only have a side

 

salad with something like spaghetti or lasagna. On a rare occasion, we have steak, baked potato

 

and a side salad.

[Laurie4b]

Salads are most often on the side, but during the summer, may be the main dish.

 

When I do a main dish salad (and I'm talking about a salad with greens as the base), I put a big bowl of mixed greens on the table and then smaller bowls of various ingredients: typical salad veges, fruits (berries or dried fruit), nuts, cheese (usually feta or goat cheese; sometimes blue cheese or shredded Parmesan), meat (chicken, salmon, shrimp, or leftover London broil or steak), & croutons. That way, people can put on their salad the ingredients they like and the leftovers will keep well. (Not having cukes, etc. in with the greens means they will keep several days in the fridge.)  I sometimes serve bread, but try to avoid doing so because I generally try to keep down the grain-based carbs.

[KungFuPanda]

When I do salads for dinner, they're bigger and have more stuff than our normal side-dish salad. As a side, it's crack open a bag of greens and toss in tomatoes and cucumber. For a main dish I'm chopping more veggies, breaking out the croutons, and serving with some meat on top. Last night we had spring mix with tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, avocado and grilled teriyaki salmon . It was topped with chow mein noodles and dressed in a peanut/tamari dressing.

[cjzimmer1]

While I will eat a salad as a meal, that won't work for the rest of the family.  They would never get full.  We regularly have side salads 3-4 times a week.  As a side, my kids will eat 2-3 bowls of salad (lettuce, 3-4 veggie toppings, cheese, bacon etc, probably 2 cups worth for each bowl so not exactly small salads either) and then eat a full portion of protein, starch and cooked veggies. 

 

For myself I like cold chicken strips, parmesan cheese, kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes if I have them.  I also like taco salads. 

[prairiewindmomma]

We eat salad daily. Sometimes it is the main dish if paired with a protein. It's a side dish if there's no protein. We have done it as an occasional appetizer....or we've served it after the main dish as a "dessert". My French and Italian friends also serve salad *after* the protein or pasta "main" dish of the meal.

[LisaKinVA]

Salads as a side are small probably 1-2 cups (depending upon person).  Dinner Salads are usually 1.5-2x the size, and include protein.  Usually with a side of bread.  Favorites here: Taco Salad, Chicken (there are variations on this one...Caesar, Asian, BLT), Chef, Steak, Cheeseburger, etc.  I don't usually serve a salad for dinner if we had lettuce wraps at lunch, though.  Love my dinner salads!

[scwendy]

We do both.  We have a VERY large salad as part of our dinner almost every single night. If it is a meal, I will usually also throw on some beans as well(chickpeas and/or black beans are favorites). 

[Gentlemommy]

Salad with dinner 90% of the time here.

Most of the time it's lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and red wine vinegarette.

Sometimes it's ceaser, or tomato and mozzarella with balsamic glaze, or Greek style with feta and black olives, or Asian with ginger dressing.

We do a lot of soup/salad meals, especially for lunch or when dh isn't home. We also grill chicken and have a salad alongside it with maybe a steamed vegetable, or sometimes not.

We do lots of 'salad bar' lunches, the kids help me put various items in small bowls and we build our own salad.

[gardenmom5]

When you serve salad for supper, is it the main dish, a side dish or an appetizer/course of it's own?

 

depends upon the type of salad.  usually it is a side dish.   I will eat a hearty salad (includes protein) for lunch or dinner, but my boys won't.

 

If you serve a meal salad, say, something with chicken or egg so it has protein -- is that a complete meal to you? Are there tricks to make a salad-centric meal feel more like it's actually supper? Do you serve something beside the salad?

sometimes soup or a hearty bread to the side.  it's making it filling.

 

Do you have any meals that you *always* serve with a big salad? Like a hot-and-cold meal, like when you grill the meat but don't have cooked side dishes? lasange always get's a big green salad.  grilled meat will frequently get a pasta or potato salad.

 

I like salad, but I can't seem to make it fit my mental boxes for how supper is supposed to look and feel. I'm sure some of you are just full of great ideas.

 

another thing you can do to make it feel more like a meal - do a "build your own" salad where people choose what is on it.

 

[TheAttachedMama]

We do salad as a main meal for dinner *at least* once a week.  Sometimes more in the summer. I typically do it at the end of the week and use up any and all fresh produce left in my refrigerator.  That way I waste less.  

 

Main Meal Salad Ideas: 

1)  Spinach salad with eggs, mushrooms, bacon and onions.  Then make a homemade honey mustard dressing.   Kind of like this:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/spinach-salad-with-warm-bacon-dressing-recipe.html

2)  Mexican style (grill chicken breasts outside, then topic some red leaf lettuce, green onion, bell peppers, shredded carrots, shredded cheese, black beans, corn, tomatoes, red onion, hot peppers, crunchy tortilla strips, avocado slices or anything else you like.)  Serve with ranch dressing.

3)  Greek salad (Again, grill chicken or some other protein.  And then serve with:   http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/04/greek-salad/)

4)  Asian chicken salad-  Grill chicken, then serve with red leaf lettuce, slivered almonds, shelled edamame, green onion, toasted sesame seeds, red bell pepper, shredded carrots, crispy wonton strips, and then make an asian dressing with brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice vinegar

5)  Salmon ceasar salad-  Like a normal ceaser salad except I serve it with warm grilled salmon on top

6) Caprese Salad  (Basil and Fresh Mozzeralla)--  Mix a ton of fresh basil leaves with your lettuce, and slice up some fresh tomatoes from the garden.  Then serve with fresh mozzarella and some olive oil and balsamic vinegar.   You can serve this with any type of grilled protein you like.  My husband loves this with grilled flank steak!  :) 

7)  Taco salad

8)  Cobb salad

9)  BLT salad

10)  Wedge salad served with steak

11)  Spinach salad with walnuts, goat cheese, fresh fruit of choice (raspberries, dried cranberries, strawberries) and then some sort of 'sweeter' vinegret like raspberry dressing or a balsamic dressing.  Then serve with some sort of protein. 

12)  Salad served with some sort of past over it.  (Make a pasta salad using whatever you have and a TON of veggies...I like to use pesto as a sauce)--then serve it cold over baby lettuce or spinach leaves.  You can mix in a protein as desired. 

---

We also serve salad with most all of our dinners.  Especially when we have soup or pasta or something like that.  We just typically ALWAYS have salad first while everyone is starving and whining and waiting for supper to be finished.  ;)    I keep a large one made in the fridge.  (Get a large thing of organic baby lettuce mix, and throw in a bunch of color veggies.  shredded carrots, peppers, tomatoes, celery, shredded zuchini...really ANYTHING you like!)    Then just take the lid off and bring it to the table. 

 

I also eat from this salad almost everyday for lunch.  I eat it with grilled turkey burgers, chicken breasts, or whatever protein we have in the fridge for lunch.  :)