What do you put in your salads to make them not suck?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

PepePeru

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2005
3,846
0
0
fresh tomatoes diced tomatoes
mozzarella cheese
fresh basil
balsamic vinaigrette

very good.
 

preCRT

Platinum Member
Apr 12, 2000
2,340
123
106
feta, olives, onions

dried cherries

raw sunflower seeds and alfalfa sprouts

sungold cherry tomatoes


eta: not all together
 

ManyBeers

Platinum Member
Aug 30, 2004
2,519
1
81
ManyBeers's standard salad ingredients:
Garbanzo beans
cucumber
onion
bell pepper
tomato
leaf lettuce
Kraft balsamic vinaigrette or any decent flavored vinaigrette.
 

MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,122
1,594
126
Think outside the fast food box. Salads are all about texture and color. Try cellophane noodles, knori. bulgar wheat, grilled veggies, anchovies, mustard greens, pine nuts, raspberries, figs.......

Make your own dressings and croutons.
 

Snapster

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 2001
3,916
0
0
Originally posted by: CraKaJaX
Originally posted by: Snapster
feta cheese, balsamic vineger, avodaco's, peppers, beans, olives etc. The combinations are plentiful!

:laugh:

please tell me avodaco's is a mistake. :p

Yeh you know I meant avocado's, typing so fast sometings brings out mistakes and oddly enough my moz spell check didn't highlight the mistake, ho hum!

:p
 
Feb 6, 2007
16,432
1
81
Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
Think outside the fast food box. Salads are all about texture and color. Try cellophane noodles, knori. bulgar wheat, grilled veggies, anchovies, mustard greens, pine nuts, raspberries, figs.......

Make your own dressings and croutons.

I'll come over to your house for a beer, but if you dare shove that rabbit food in my face, I'd be forced to stab you on general principle.
 

LS21

Banned
Nov 27, 2007
3,745
1
0
tons of nuts (pine nuts, almonds, etc)
bacon bits

i dont use dressing - just olive oil salt pepper and balsamic vin
 

jjones

Lifer
Oct 9, 2001
15,424
2
0
I like a simple salad. Lettuce with olive oil and a little salt and pepper is my favorite and what I usually eat. Other than that, if I'm at a restaurant I'll go for a spinach salad with oil and bacon or a caesar salad. That's about it.
 

imported_Imp

Diamond Member
Dec 20, 2005
9,148
0
0
Originally posted by: Atheus
Originally posted by: Imp
- Salad dressing that actually has taste and isn't just vinegar/fat/mayo immitation.
- Grilled garlic bits (no idea where they came from, but they rock)
- Bacon bits
- Croutons (absolute must for any salad)
- Cheese

I've found that the worst thing you can do is add other vegetables, aside from lettuce, into a salad. Cucumbers, peppers and tomatos just don't blend with all that other crap I listed above.

Peppers and tomatoes don't go with bacon, garlic, bread and cheese? Someone better tell the italians that - they'll be pissed...

Now that you mention it, I hate all kinds of pizza except pepperoni, but I can get by with Hawaiian. To me (who else?), peppers are too watery and take away from the taste of a pizza. Cooked tomatos made into a paste, then covered by a layer of cheese, no problem. As a kid, I use to take off the cheese on a pizza, eat that, then scrape off the tomato sauce on the cooked dough and eat what's left of the pizza.

The other veggies in my original post also do the same to a salad (I may have confused cucumber with zuchiny though). I don't mind purple onions (?) and very thin carrot gratings in my salad.
 

dougp

Diamond Member
May 3, 2002
7,909
4
0
Originally posted by: JohnCU
fat free french dressing MMMMMMMMMMMM

You sir, are awesome.

FF French
Lettuce (Prefer the baby butter types)
Carrots
Bell Peppers (Red and Orange are best)
Cucumber
Olives (Green preferably)
Croutons
Ham
FF Cheddar
Broccoli
Tomatoes (preferably grape)
Red Onion
 
L

Lola

A better question is what I DON'T put in salad.

They options and possibilities are endless.
Hard boiled egg
mandrin orange wedges
strawberries
bleu cheese
(any kind of cheese)
peas
edamame
shrimp
salmon
olives
anchovies
beans
apples
candied pecans or walnuts
pine nuts
sesame seeds

 

OCGuy

Lifer
Jul 12, 2000
27,224
37
91
Originally posted by: EGGO
It's a salad, it's healthy no matter what you put in it!

Apparently you havent tried one of my famous Vicodin-powder salads.....
 

MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,122
1,594
126
Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
Think outside the fast food box. Salads are all about texture and color. Try cellophane noodles, knori. bulgar wheat, grilled veggies, anchovies, mustard greens, pine nuts, raspberries, figs.......

Make your own dressings and croutons.

I'll come over to your house for a beer, but if you dare shove that rabbit food in my face, I'd be forced to stab you on general principle.

Great food includes variety. Vegetable are every bit as satisfying as meat. You can even add your meat to the salad. The point is, for some reason the culinary challenged have come to believe that, protein is all that matters in food.

I currently cook for a meat and potato crowd (minus the potatoes) and often ask myself what planet they grew up on but, I have succeeded in teaching them about soup.

I'll keep trying one customer at a time.
 

waggy

No Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
68,143
10
81
Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
Think outside the fast food box. Salads are all about texture and color. Try cellophane noodles, knori. bulgar wheat, grilled veggies, anchovies, mustard greens, pine nuts, raspberries, figs.......

Make your own dressings and croutons.

I'll come over to your house for a beer, but if you dare shove that rabbit food in my face, I'd be forced to stab you on general principle.

Great food includes variety. Vegetable are every bit as satisfying as meat. You can even add your meat to the salad. The point is, for some reason the culinary challenged have come to believe that, protein is all that matters in food.

I currently cook for a meat and potato crowd (minus the potatoes) and often ask myself what planet they grew up on but, I have succeeded in teaching them about soup.

I'll keep trying one customer at a time.



i am a meat and potato type of person. but every now and then a good saled makes a steak better.

soup is only goo din the winter (gotta have a chicken/turkey sandwich with it no matter how thick the soup is!)
 

Martin

Lifer
Jan 15, 2000
29,178
1
81
The answer to this, and many other questions, is balsamic vinegar and feta cheese.
 

rivan

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2003
9,677
3
81
I think you're underestimating the value of the lettuce itself. Use different kinds - bibb, arugala, romaine and leaf lettuce can all make a huge difference in the salad experience.

Currently, we're eating lots of romaine/arugala salads. The arugala adds a very nice peppery flavor.