Let's talk SALAD!

[Iarwain]

Hit me up with your best salad additives and dressing recipes! I've been having a salad for lunch every day lately and I need more ideas to keep it interesting.

Things I've done already:

Greens: I've been buying Romaine hearts and mixing them with either pre-bagged spring green mix or else these "Artisan lettuce" packages that I've seen at the store lately. Basically it's a plastic clamshell package with four small heads of different red and green lettuce varieties.

Added protein: cottage cheese, hard boiled egg, sunflower seeds, shredded cheddar or finely diced mozzarella or pepper jack cheese. I've gotta have some kind of protein to make it more filling.

Dressing: I really need to mix this up. I've been doing a tasty homemade garlic and herb vinaigrette that's super quick and easy but it's getting old and I need variety! Homemade dressing recipes needed! Now that I've been making my own I don't think I can go back to store bought salad dressing.

[blondie]

Sometimes I do grilled chicken, black beans, avocado, salsa and cheese. SO good.

I also like to do almonds, dried cranberries, feta cheese and vinaigrette type dressings.

My favorite dressing lately is honey, with a squirt of mustard, and a squirt of EVOO. It's really easy and yummy. My daughter loves "yellow sauce"

I refuse grocery store dressings. They are so icky compared to what you can whip up at home in just a few minutes!

[Iarwain]

Ooh, yum! I need to try adding some beans and salsa! That honey mustard dressing sounds good too. I have some really good local honey to work with too!

[charla]

Greek salad is my fave - romaine, red onion, tomatoes, cukes, kalamata olives, feta, pepperonccini, sometimes chickpeas - topped with squeezed lemon juice, a drizzle of evoo and seasoned with salt, pepper, dried oregano, granulated garlic, granulated onion.

Do you like spinach strawberry salad? If you want more protein you could add chicken to it.

I like balsamic vinaigrette - balsamic vineger, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, granulated onion. That dressing is good with the salad blondie mentioned with the dried cranberries and feta. When I make that salad for us here at home, the salad bowl is always empty at the end of the meal.

Homemade ranch
1 cup of mayo
1 cup of buttermilk
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp granulated onion
1 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp dried parsley

Add to jar and shake.

LLL's Whole Foods For The Whole Family has pages of homemade dressings. I love the italian dressing from that cookbook. The ranch one above is from there as well. I've also made the caesar dressing.

I love blue cheese dressing. If you want, I can give you a couple recipes for that. One is creamy and one is a vinaigrette style.

I love wedge salad like Outback Steakhouse. Iceberg wedge, slivered red onion, halved grape tomatoes, bacon crumbles, blue cheese crumbles, topped with blue cheese dressing and drizzled with balsamic vinegar (reduced to syrup is even yummier).

[jujubnme]

My go-to dressing is Balsamic Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dark sugar, optional*
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup olive oil

I usually use just a touch of (real, grade A) maple syrup in place of the brown sugar and go light on the garlic.

Cobb salads are filling: grilled chicken, ham, bacon, tomato, avocado, blue cheese, cucumbers, hard-boiled eggs... in any combination.

For a change of pace I like pickled beets in salad with feta or blue cheese and nuts (and chicken to make it more filling).

[Iarwain]

WFWF! I don't know why I didn't think to look there for dressing recipes. It's basically my main go-to cookbook.

Peperonccini (sp?), pickled beets... This could get interesting.

[Marrae]

I like pine nuts or croutons sprinkled on salads for crunch. Dried blueberries and cranberries are good and I love fresh fruit on salads too. Epecially fresh pineapple or mango.

[Kyasmom]

My favorite recipe evolved from the ranch-type recipes. The base is equal mayonnaise and plain goat yogurt or kefir (any yogurt/ kefir/ buttermilk would obviously work and I've also used blended up cashews and water in place of the fermented dairy) herbs and spices are really flexible - I never measure, and it always tastes super yummy. Ratios are totally approximate. 2T dill, 1-2 T Parsley, 1T Chives 1/4-1/2 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning, additional salt to taste and if you feel like it - garlic powder, onion powder, and herbamare. We use that as dip and salad dressing (kefir makes a better dressing consistency and yogurt a better dip)

I also make a grain free bread with almond flour and eggs and chop it up into cubes, mix with melted coconut oil and seasonings and bake it into croutons. It adds protein without "feeling" like it. It is super easy, just takes a little time. You could do that with whatever bread you prefer to eat.

[Iarwain]

That ranch-style recipe sounds perfect. We do lots of kefir here (2 qts/day) so I'll just have to sneak some out before the kids drink it all one of these days so I can try it.

[Iarwain]

I just made ranch dressing for the first time. Um, wow. I don't know why I thought it was so complicated.

I went to the store for the ingredients I don't usually have on hand and wound up coming home with fresh herbs because they looked tastier than dried. I was thinking to myself that all that chopping and then whisking things together sounded like a pain but hopefully it'd be worth it and then...





That's why blenders were invented. WHIZ-BANG! Done. In two minutes.