It's summer and I love salads... but admit.. I get into a rut and get boring with them. I love what restaurants do with salads and try to replicate them at home, but admit, they seem to taste better in the restaurants. (Love Panera salads!)
Anyway... there is a great restaurant near me that makes a salad using iceberg lettuce, avacado, a few slivers of white onion, cilantro sprigs, and tomatillos on their salad. Their dressing is lemon and olive oil, and oddly enough the salad is garnished with lime wedges. The salad is fantastic. Since trying it, I've actually tried using tomatillos in a few other recipes and they are really good for flavor (great with refried beans!)
I have one limitation in that about the only kind of salad dressing I like are oil based, Italian ones. My fav is Seven Seas Italian and I know that doesn't help me. I keep trying other dressings but always come back to this one and have done since I was a little girl.
Best thing I did was to get a mandolin slicer. I use it to make wafer thin cuts of other flavorful veggies like fennel, scallions, radish, cucumber, zuchinni to add to my salad.
My favorite so far is a shaved fennel & arugla salad with seared scallops. I just deglaze the pan with some lime juice & white wine and use it as a warm salad dressing.
My fave drssing is just to blend up some olive oil, balsamic and a bit of honey. Its simple and so yummy. You could add some herbs for flavor too, like oregano or basil.
I've been eating alot of spinach salads lately. If I need a little more protein I'll add a hard boiled egg, or some pre cooked baby shrimp. But I really love it plain and simple with just spinach and red onion and some diced sweet peppers.
Greek Salad!
Romaine lettuce, thinly sliced cucumber (I like English) and plum tomatoes, diced red onion, kalamata olives, and lower fat, crumbled feta.
I use a bit of the olive juice for the dressing or make a dressing with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, granulated garlic, salt, pepper, finely chopped red onion. Sometimes I add finely chopped cilantro because I'm a cilantro freak.
Sprinkle a couple of chicken breasts with a good chicken seasoning then bake them, covered, till done.
Chop cooled chicken into small cubes, add chopped English cucumber, chopped apple, halved grapes, and some toasted walnut pieces. Mix in light sour cream, and add salt and/or additional chicken seasoning to taste. Serve over the lettuce of your choice.
Sometimes I use a bit of fat free vegetable broth to make the sour cream go farther.
I am obsessed with fruit in salads - any berries, mandarin oranges, and my new personal favourite is cut up apples! I usually just do spinach and add the fruit and I absolutely love the calorie wise 3 cheese ranch - its 40 calories per tablespoon but I justify it by knowing I'm eating a healthy salad! Haha. I also love throwing in a few nuts - walnuts, pecans, almonds... Soooo yummy!
I totally get where you're coming from with boring salads though.... I always find that they taste sooo good at restaurants but I can never replicate it! The apples is a secret weapon though I tell ya!
My new obsession is homemade salad dressing. I've been buying infused olive oil and flavored balsamic vinegars - add a little salt & pepper, and it's salad dressing!
Hearts of palm, bamboo shoots, capers, giardinera, sun dried tomatoes are all fun and different additions.
I love a salad with romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, tomato, and roasted red peppers. I don't use any dressing—I find that the peppers and tomato add enough flavor
I use very little dressing if there is any and usually I just use a little bit of balsamic vinegar if I'm having cherry tomatoes, olives, feta cheese and lettuce/spinach. Yum yum.
Another salad I absolutely love is grated raw carrots with a grated apple (or half, whatever) and a few raisins. I could eat that all day and I love it in the Summer as something sweet to the side!
I also started added some raw brocolli to my salads and it is soo goood. I had a really great grilled chicken salad in a restaurant recently. There was spinach leaves, sliced brocolli and pomegranate seeds. So good.
edit: I find crumbling even a tiny tiny amount of feta adds loads of flavour so that's probably why I don't use much dressing.
Lately I'm fascinated with using packages of broccoli slaw as a base for my salads in addition to or substituting for the leafy greens. Also I go to the bulk food section and get toasted sliced or slivered almonds to add to it. I have also been known to cook a package of turkey bacon in the microwave on paper towels, and then crumble that and use that as a topping, rather sparingly.
Some might consider my salads boring since I go with the usuals- lettuce, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach, black olives and sometimes shredded cheese. For "dressing", I use some red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar along with some jalapeno/peperoncini/pepper brine (basically juice from the jars.)
I also use "pan-fried" lunch meat with same consistency of bacon (add water to skillet, put in lunch meat and cook until all dried out like bacon then crumble on your salad. Smoked ham and turkey is good.
I love cottage cheese on my salads, especially if I've added some vinegar or brine in it. Good protein too.
I love greens with spicy grilled chicken (Penzey's Northwoods Fire) with craisins and lite ranch dressing.
A family favorite is greens mixed with chopped cilantro, black beans, roasted corn, grilled chicken and cubed mango with lime juice for dressing. (The kids add tortilla strips and shredded cheese) When I make it for lunch there are NEVER any leftovers.
spruce up your salad ideas?
