I am a total loser (but not in the good sense ) when it comes to cooking. I love salads, but only at restaurants. My salads taste horrible! I buy iceburg lettuce (I can't stand the fancy stuff), cut it into wedges, and for some reason the lettuce never tastes right. It's watery and sour.

How do you make your salads? What am I doing wrong? Should I stop buying the heads of iceburg? It is all about the extras you put on it? I try not to add too much to mine. Maybe cheese and cherry tomatoes. I love Italian dressings.

Try Romain lettuce instead of Iceberg. Romian is actually good for you while Iceberg is mostly just water. Or if you have to mix the two. Also if you can over time try adding in a bit of other lettuce and slowly work your "taster" into healthier greens. You can get used to good greens and your body will thank you. Then I'd add in cherry tomatoes, cucumber, jicama, nuts, even a granny smith apple. There's lots of great things you can add to a salad.

Check out http://www.epicurious.com/ they have great recipes and lots of great salad ideas.

I eat a lot of salads. I like large portions and salads fill out my plate without adding a lot of calories. I also am a big fan of iceberg lettuce; I don't care if it has no nutritional value, I like the way it tastes. But I'll usually do a mix of iceberg and some other healthier lettuce. I really love arugula in my salad, but it can be hard to find (although, if you have space for a garden, it's pretty easy to grow).

Here are a few tips for making good salads:

• If your salads are soggy, invest in a salad spinner. These things do a great job of getting rid of the water.
• Add a mix of veggies for variety but save the high-calorie add-ons like cheese, croutons, nuts, and bacon bits for special occasions
• Consider skipping the lettuce--try a salad with just cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and/or other veggies
• Season the salad with salt and pepper in addition to the dressing. Try sea salt; it has a lot more flavor than table salt and you don't need as much of it.
• Find a low calorie dressing that you like. There are lots out there. My favorites include a low calorie Greek dressing, low calorie Italian, a couple of fat-free vinaigrettes, a fat-free raspberry vinaigrette, fat-free ranch, and fat-free caesar. I spend a lot of time in the salad dressing aisle.
• Try adding some fruit to your salad. Raspberries, strawberries, mangos, apples, etc. are all great choices. A little goes a long way.

Here are the two salads I eat literally almost every day:
Lunch salad: 5 oz cherry tomatoes, halved; 5 oz cucumber, sliced and quartered; 1/4 cup raspberries or strawberries (sounds strange but it's really good); sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, 1 to 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar. I eat this with a spoon so that I get every last drop of vinegar.
Dinner salad: 3 oz tomatoes, 3 oz cucumbers, 1 oz radish, 1 cup pea shoots (when I can find 'em), 1 to 2 cups of lettuce, sea salt and pepper to taste, 1.5 tbsp low calorie dressing.

Here are a few more ambitious salads. I usually eat these as a meal, rather than a side dish (the above two salads are sides).

Chinese Cabbage Salad
1/2 package ramen noodles
1 tbsp slivered almonds
1 lb shredded cabbage
6 oz cooked chicken, diced or shredded
1/2 cup edamame
6 tbsp low-calorie sesame dressing (I use Trader Joe's Sesame Soy Ginger Vinaigrette)

Saute ramen noodles and almonds in saucepan with small amount of cooking spray until lightly toasted (be careful, they'll go from lightly toasted to blackened and charred in a second).

Toss ramen noodles and almonds with all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Makes two very large main-dish servings of about 410 calories each.

Greek-Italian Chopped Salad
3 tbsp olive oil
1.5 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp minced or crushed garlic (from a jar is fine)
6 cups lettuce, torn or chopped into bite-size pieces
15 oz garbanzo beans
1 cup chopped red pepper
1 cup diced fennel
2 oz light feta cheese
2 oz turkey salami

Mix olive oil, vinegar, oregano, and garlic in a small bowl and set aside. You can do this several hours in advance, if you want, to give the flavors time to mix.

Mix remaining ingredients (lettuce through salami) in large bowl. Toss with olive oil mixture.

Makes 4 main-dish servings of about 300 calories each. You can add chicken or shrimp if you want it to be a little more substantial.

Chicken Salad with Apricots and Almonds
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp minced shallots
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp fresh mint or tarragon, chopped
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt, plus more to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup non-fat yogurt
2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 lb cooked chicken, diced or shredded
8-10 dried apricots, diced
2 mangos, diced

Mix together first 7 ingredients (vinegar thru yogurt). Whisk in olive oil in a steady stream.

Combine almonds, chicken, apricots, and mangos in large bowl. Toss with the yogurt mixture and serve over lettuce.

This makes 6 main dish servings of about 235 calories each. There is plenty of dressing, so I usually add more veggies, such as cucumber, tomato, red cabbage, or green or red pepper. You can also sub avocado for the mango if you prefer (although this will increase the calories, as does adding more veggies).

I used to only eat iceburg lettuce. Then my tastes change, and now I can't stand iceburg. I like romaine, sweet baby greens, or mixed greens. For me, quality of lettuce is key. I buy bagged lettuce, and the cheap store brand, unfortunately, just doesn't do it for me. I can't stand it. I have to have the fancy lettuce that costs twice as much.

Usually I just add tomatoes, maybe some cucumber slices, perhaps bell pepper slices if I have them lying around in the drawer. I stick to lowfat or fat free Italian or, currently, I've been favoring fat free or low fat vinegarettes. There's an organic raspberry vinegarette that I really like that's just 35 calories for 2 tablespoons but I forget the brand.

Sometimes I'll put a bit of feta cheese on it. I can use a tiny bit for a lot of flavor. Chopped boiled egg, if I have it, is good. I'm not much on croutons. Oh, and fresh ground pepper is good, in moderation, for my tastes.

I also sometimes make a fresh veggie salad, I take grape tomatoes cut in half, with some thin cucumber slices, and maybe some chopped onions or chopped bell pepper, whatever is about to go bad in my fridge. Then I chop up some fresh basil and top it with some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar (usually 1 tsp oil to 2 tsp balsamic vinegar). I found that investing in a really good balsamic vinegar makes it taste better. I use a cheaper brand if I'm cooking with it.

Wow, these all sound great. I am a HUGE salad fan too. One of my favorites (I'm having for lunch tomorrow and I can't wait) is:

fresh baby spinach
(reduced fat) bleu cheese crumbles
toasted chopped walnuts
either light balsamic vinaigrette or brianna's blush wine vinaigrette

YUM!

BlueToBlue! Those are amazing ideas. Thank you for the tips. I'll definitely be trying a few of your salads!

Here is why I eat a salad every day now:

Basic Vinaigrette

• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• 2 T. fresh lemon juice
• 1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 t. Dijon mustard
• 1/2 t. minced garlic
• 1/8 t. freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients. Taste; adjust the seasonings. Whisk or shake before serving.

1 tablespoon: Calories 16 (80% from fat), Carb 0.9g, Fat 1.7g, Sodium 2mg, Calcium 1mg

From The 15-Minute Single Gourmet by Paulette Mitchell

I use lemon juice from the store; I just can't be bothered yet to squeeze my own. Same for pepper, just out of the shaker. I add a little kosher salt too. I wouldn't recommend using anything other than extra-virgin olive oil though. This is a great-tasting dressing, makes half a cup, which goes a long way. I just mix it in one of my prep bowls and use it for days. If you keep it in the fridge, you have to take it out before you make your salad, because the oil will harden in the fridge!

And 1 T. is enough for a 2-cup salad made in a normal sized bowl. It doesn't look like enough at first, but then you realize it does reach every part of the salad, and you eat all of it; there isn't a puddle of dressing left at the bottom when you're done.

Luminous,

Just a couple more tips on top of all the great ones you've already gotten -

* Try sesame seeds, dried raisins (no sugar) or dried cranberries as salad toppings (limited portions). One is chewy and nutritous, the others are sweet and go great with anything!
* I LOVE romaine hearts. Whenever I can't find them at my grocery store, I get pretty upset. *lol* I tried iceberg lettuce for awhile and almost swore off salads, but I guess everyone has differant tastes. I grew up eating lettuce fresh out of the garden - nothing will ever beat that

Luminous, that vinaigrette recipe sounds great. I'm definitely going to try it. I've already set aside bottle to store it in. I love the idea of making my own salad dressing; I always wonder about what's really in the store bought ones.

My favorite Salad is this (cause I am such a picky salad eater!)

Mixed greens (spinach, romaine, some other stuff?)
Small Sprinkling of goat cheese (not as bad as it sounds)
Dried Cranberries
Toasted Walnuts
Basalmic Vinegrette

Yum Yum! This is a great holiday salad, when I make it for company they go crazy. I started taking this to work with me to help get my veggies in during the day...

Also I know this might sound silly, but if you like Icebrrg lettuce well when you buy it smell where its been picked, if you dont smell a bitter or sour smell then its good otherwise it might have a bitter taste to it.

anyway just my thoughts

[QUOTE=ToniDMB;1500817]
Small Sprinkling of goat cheese (not as bad as it sounds)
QUOTE]

Toni,

My mom used to make goat cheese...I basically grew up on goat milk I haven't tasted it in years...I wonder how I would react to the taste now, since I'm pretty used to cheddar and other cheeses made with cow's milk. I want to try it again, though...I recently got really curious about how all those fancy cheeses would taste - like brie, etc.

Just wanted to let you know that you're not alone! *lol*