So I'm at the Salad Bar with the indeterminate sized spoons (there small and shallow so I'm estimating 1/4 cup)
and I put together a decent salad
Greens
1/4 cup black beans
1/4 cup black Olives (not enough Nutritional bonus)
mushrooms
cucumber
1/4 cup Sunflower seeds
then Some FF Buttermilk ranch b/c it was the only dressing that had Nut info (it came in a package) and the oil and vin had been spirited away
What do you all put on your salad? I'm being nosy and I like new ideas!
I like a mix of spinach and romaine, and add any or all of the following -
crumbled gorgonzola or goat cheese or sometimes plain old cheddar
walnuts
grapes or apple chunks
fresh berries
mandarin oranges
edamame
onions
chick peas
I don't use a salad dressing when I add fruit to my salad, but on a "normal" salad, my favorite is Ken's Light Northern Italian.
I am a huge fan of caesar salads - my usual, which includes caesar dressing, parmesan cheese, whole wheat croutons, and black olives.
On regular/garden salads, I use a ton of different toppings, such as different cheeses, cucumbers, toasted nuts, tomatoes, green onions, white onions, different dressings (ranch/blue cheese/blue cheese viniagrette usually), mushrooms, and homemade croutons using whole wheat bread.
Looking over the last few days:
Baked, marinated tofu
Chickpeas
Edamame
Artichoke hearts
Walnuts or almonds
Sunflower seeds, if unsalted
Steamed asparagus, cut into small bites
Steamed broccoli
A dollop of hummus on the side of the plate & dipping the salad contents into it (yes, even a forkful of leaves)
Red onions
Red or yellow peppers (there's enough green without adding green peppers)
Shredded carrots
Cukes, but they need to be sliced thinly. I hate chunky cuke slices. Hate them.
Roasted vegetables (eggplant, peppers, etc.)
Little pile of sardines & then just dress the salad simply with oil & balsamic vinegar
Halved grape tomatoes
all kinds of greens!
all kinds of peppers! red, green, greek hot
baby corn(sparingly- but I don't think it has as much sugar as regular)
Olives- black and green
broccoli, carrots, cauliflower
bacos(vegetarian!)
seeds and nuts
garbanzo beans are my fave in a salad but I love all beans!
edamame
cheese, ww croutons
tofu, veggie chicken
I haven't had it in forever but will have to soon since all the strawberries are coming out- my fave is strawberries, walnuts, feta and strawberry vinegarette now I am craving it!!!!! lol
my mouth is watering right now. I gave up on the crappy grocery store salad and haven't had one in a couple of months. But my baby salads are starting to look so yummy.
I love making up salad combos at home. All my homemade salads start with a combo of spring mix greens and spinach and a handful (or more) of either Rainbow Slaw or Broccoli Slaw (pre-shredded veggies! Awesome!). I then add a mix of dried or fresh fruit, some kind of cheese, and some kind of nut. I have a ton of SBD-safe dressings, but one of my favorite brands is Organicville, because they use agave nectar to sweeten their vinaigrettes!
When I go to a salad bar (usually either Ruby Tuesday or Old Country Buffet), here are things I like to get:
most nutritional lettuce offering (spinach and spring mix first, then romaine, if no other option)
broccoli
cauliflower
bell peppers
mushrooms
onions
edamame
lean meat (especially poultry)
carrots
blue cheese
beans of any kind
sunflower seeds
tomatoes
radishes (I'm not a huge fan, but if they're shredded, I don't notice them)
cabbage
I always get bleu cheese or ranch dressing, as I've found that they were always within the SBD guidelines. Well, at least the first 20 or 30 ones that I checked. Then I stopped checking.
There's a divine salad recipe in the first SBD book (or maybe it's the SBD cookbook?). It involves cooking pears in wine, I believe. I add cooked chicken breast to it for a complete meal. It's SO good.
Another great salad is the Mexican Caesar from El Torito restaurant. It's hardly low in fat, but I think it'd be easy to make a version at home. Somewhere I have a copycat version of the recipe. Anyways, it uses cotijo cheese (try reduced fat feta) and pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds) with romaine and a divine garlicky cilantro dressing. The original also has tortilla strips...you could make your own out of WW tortillas, if you wanted. Here are some recipes online for the salad:
There are a ton of amazing salad recipes out there. My favorites include fresh fruit. I was looking online for one that I loved (still haven't found it, but it included grapefruit, mango, and avocado with a homemade grapefruit vinaigrette) and found some other ones that also looked good; just add lean meat to any of them to make it a meal. If anyone loves these, we can put them in the forum:
Two weeks ago I went to a South American buffet with girlfriends. I filled up on Jicama. I completely emptied the bucket onto my plate. A hog? Maybe. But it kept me from overeating the beans, rice and yummy chicken I also indulged in.
I like just about anything on a salad, the more vegs the better (especially grilled ones....I grill a batch on the weekends and keep them in the fridge for lunch the rest of the week...I bring a big salad for lunch every day ) but the one thing I'm fanatical about is that my "greens" have to be spinach....no wimpy lettuce that is just "filler" without any nutriants (like iceberg lettuce.)
dressings....when I make my own, different kinds of vinaigrettes, but when I buy it, I love a locally made Creole tomato no sugar dressing that is to die for, and I order Galeos by the case. When I'm out, it's some kind of vinaigrette.
Last edited by femmecreole; 04-09-2009 at 09:21 PM.