I've started eating more salads for lunch. I've found in the summer they're the perfect lunch. Light yet filling and not much prep. And they are great to take at work. As long as I separate the dressing from the lettuce until I'm ready to eat.

How do you like your salads? What are some healthy additives? I'm looking for ideas to mix it up so I don't get bored with the same salad everyday.

I began adding crunched up Baked Tostitos (6-7) and sprinkling them on the salad along with Kraft Roasted red pepper Parmeson Dressing...so yummy!

I work at a Bistro that has so many different salads to choose from. the best for me is the Costa Salad.

Ingredients:
Mesclun Mix, Grilled Artichokes, Fresh Mushrooms, Toasted Pinenuts, Parmesan, Tomato, Olives, Hearts of Palm in a Balsamic Vinaigrette. Hearts of Palm are not everyone's cup of tea - it can be left out...

I love salads, either as a meal or quick easy snack. I like to add black beans and fresh corn to jazz up a regular vegetable salad.

Repost from earlier Here are my favorite salads (I make my salads on Sunday for the next week).

Mediterranean Salad (I make four of these at a time because the package of veggie burgers and the dressing have 4 servings)

* Very crisp romaine lettuce
* Roma tomato - diced
* Sliced pepperocini
* Red onion
* A few sliced kalamata olives
* Shredded purple cabbage
* I split a container of Trader Joe's tzatziki into 4 servings for dressing
* Dr. Praeger's tex mex veggie burger (heated and crumbled) on top

BBQ Chicken Salad

* some kind of green, not picky
* red onion
* A little of Trader Joe's roasted corn (I keep it in the freezer and just nuke the amount I want to put on my salad)
* A few black beans (if I have some handy, if not, I skip them)
* Grape tomatoes
* Shredded carrot
* Sliced avocado (if I have the calories for the day, if not, I skip it)
* Trader Joe's Just Chicken slices (I drizzle them with BBQ sauce and then broil them until they get hot)
* A little bit of fat free ranch dressing
* A few crunchy tortilla strips for the top

Asian Chicken Salad

* Green/red leaf lettuce
* Edamame (about a handful per salad)
* small can of mandarin oranges (split between the 5 salads)
* small can of sliced water chestnuts (split between the 5 salads)
* Bag of broccoli slaw (split between the 5 salads)
* sprinkle of cashew bits and pieces (measured, definitely under a serving per salad)
* sliced frozen chicken breast from Trader Joe's (I take it separately and nuke it at the last minute, looove hot chicken on salad)
* Spicy asian peanut dressing from Trader Joe's
* A few crispy wontons added at the last minute for crunch

The Classic
* Spinach
* Grilled chicken breast
* ¼ cup dried cranberries
* ¼ cup nuts (pepitas or almonds, usually)
* Grape tomatoes
* Carrot shreddies
* Red pepper chunks
* Red onion
* Annie's Gingerly Vinaigrette dressing

Pomegranate (like the classic, but with a twist - great for pomegranate season - Jan - spring)

* red leaf lettuce
* Grilled chicken breast
* pomegranate seeds
* ¼ cup candied walnuts
* Carrot shreddies
* Red onion
* Fried onion bits (I buy them in the salad dressing section, and measure them!)
* Trader Joe's cranberry gorganzola dressing (measured - because it's just too tasty)

Taco salad (I make this when I have leftover spicy taco filling. Either lean ground beef, turkey or veggie crumbles)

* romaine
* Leftover spicy taco filling
* red onion
* A little of Trader Joe's roasted corn (I keep it in the freezer and just nuke the amount I want to put on my salad)
* Grape tomatoes
* Shredded carrot
* Shredded red cabbage
* Salsa
* A little bit of fat free ranch dressing
* A few crunchy tortilla strips for the top

I eat salad nearly every day for lunch - I take salad very seriously!

Also, freshly grilled or roasted veggies (zucchini, carrots, onions, peppers) go great on top of a salad along with balsalmic vinagrette dressing.

oooo glory, thanks for that lovely list!


I like cubed firm tofu that has been tossed in crushed chilli flakes and pepper, just tossed on with cherry tomatoes and basil leaves.

Currently I eat spinach almost every lunch and in a separate container something like the following:

100gr (4 oz?) chicken
50gr brown rice
30gr light feta
2 to 3 roma tomatoes
Salt, pepper, tiny but of lemon juice, Balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp olive oil

1 HB egg, 2 HB egg whites, hellmans FF dijonnaise, spring onions
2 to 3 roma tomatoes
1 tsp olive oil

125gr shrimp
Lemon juice
Bit of hot sauce
30gr avocado
2 to 3 roma tomatoes

100gr cottage cheese
Salsa

I absolutely love spinach and can and do eat it all the time!

Pretty much the more traditional: live lettuce or butter lettuce with tomatoes, avocado, chicken, ranch dressing... etc.

Or Stawberry Salad: Lettuce, fresh mozzarella, strawberries, and strawberry dressing (I make it myself w. canola oil, honey, tons of strawberries, salt and pepper blended together til smooth.)

I like sunflower seeds on mine.

I love salads

There are a few staples for my salads - romaine or spinach or random greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, carrots, mushrooms, bell peppers and green onions. Those are generally items I really like in my salads and try to add them but my salad doesn't always have every one.

Then I will add other things optionally:
Chickpeas
Kidney beans
Smoked tofu (oh so good, recent discovery)
'Refried beans' (good for making a taco like salad)
Walnuts
avocado

Salad dressings:
Tonton ginger salad dressing
Galeo's miso wasabi ginger salad dressing
Salsa (Herdez is my favorite but it can vary)

Here is the menu description for my favorite right now. It is a good treat, not so good for every day.

Crisp Romaine & SpringMix Lettuce Topped with Fresh Shrimp & Avocado, Spicy Chipotle Salsa, Crumbled Bacon, Jicama & Grape Tomatoes with HoneyMustard Dressing

Blech. I wished I liked salad. I really, really try, but haven't found a salad that I like. Other than my DHs' Caesar Salad, which is just an excuse to eat croutons, bacon bits and dressing...
sigh...
I'm still trying, though...
Kira

I buy the bagged salads, so there usually is already a mix of stuff to begin with; I used to put alot of croutons on and Ken's Lite Caeser dressing.. since trying to cut down calories, I now use some chopped red bell pepper, some slices of cucumber for crunch instead of the croutons. I like to throw on a few olives also. I still use croutons sometimes, but not covering the salad in them like I did before.

I make the Good Seasonings packet dressings with a good extra virgin olive oil and currently experimenting with different vinegars...even though it has a bit more calories than the light bottled dressing, it's a bit healthier with olive oil instead of the soybean oil, high fructose corn syrup, and sugar they put in bottles dressings.

I add sliced chicken breasts if I want protein, and sometimes add feta cheese.

sometimes i get sick of lettuce, so I keep a tupperware container that has sliced cucumber, red pepper, orange pepper, cherry or grape tomatoes, red onion, and some super delish balsamic vinagrette and just have it on hand for a few days to go as a side-car to lunch and dinner