Does anyone have a salad they find tasty? I'm trying to eat healty but I'm new to the whole salad thing. My usual salad is just lettuce, carrots, cheese, and radishes, but that's getting kind of boring. Any suggestions? I don't like tomatos, olives or onions. any ideas?
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Positive diagnosis January 2005 PCO and IR.
Treated with 1000 MG Metfromin, Apri (BCP).
Diagnosed with Hidradenitis Suppurativa on 3/19/07 treated with antibiotic and home remedies.
Started my WLS journey on 9/15/07. Appointment with surgeon on 10/31/07.
Most of the time I get sick of iceberg lettuce so I get the muscelin (sp) mix. Or the baby spinch and baby arugula mixes. Then to spice things up I like to add a few dried cranberries or manderin oranges. You can make a really simple summer salad with dark green baby lettuce mixes, cut up strawberries and slivered almonds. Make a dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and either Tbsp strawberry jam or mash up a couple berries (less sugar that way). Drizzle the strawberry dressing over the salad. Peppercorn dressings go well with the cranberries and manderin oranges salads. Sometimes I get several types of lettuce mixes and have a salad with that, croutons, and chopped almonds and walnuts.
If you have an average garden salad you could add some chic peas for protein. (i don't eat meat but you could marinate chicken breast in italian dressing for an hour and then grill it, slice it up and put it on a bed of greens with cesar salad dressing and parmasan cheese.) my husband makes that salad.
I don't put fruit on salad a LOT but it is nice to spice things up. Martha Stewart makes some really good salads on her show. Dressings are suprisingly easy to make yourself and have a LOT less fat and sugar. Check out her website (I think Marthastewartliving.com)
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Nice add-ins:
NSA sweet pickles
diced deli meats
spring onions
baby spinich
Seeds & Nuts
Raisens
Grapes
Mandarin oranges
Chopped egg whites
Sun dried tomatoes
Fresh chopped roma tomatoes
Cucumbers
Olives
Pickled bell peppers
Fresh bell peppers
Sprouts
Mushrooms
Broccoli
Radishes
Pickled beets
If you intend to do a lot of salads, I would recommend the 1970s book Fit For Life. It seems to me pretty PCOS friendly and you can probably get one on amazon for $1 or so. Make sure you get the older version, it seems better IMO. The newer one wasn't as great to me.
Nice salad sides:
Cottage cheese mixed with fruit or NSA jelly
Celery and carrot sticks
My salads are pretty normal--
lettuce (not iceberg)
radish
ham or turkey (chopped into squares)
cheese (chopped into squares
dressing (lite, or low carb)
and occasionally, a sliced hard boiled egg.
This isn't exactly a lettuce based salad, but it's still a salad and great for summer time and/or pot lucks!
Marinated Vegetable Salad 1 lg. can LeSuer Peas (~15 oz. can) 1 can Shoe Peg corn (~11 oz. can) 1 can French Style green beans (~14.5 oz. Can) 1 small jar diced pimentos (~2 oz) 1 Cup finely chopped celery 1 Cup finely chopped onion red and/or yellow 1 Cup finely chopped green and/or red/yellow/orange bell pepper Drain vegetables and mix them (Add pimentos and red peppers last so they won’t distribute their red too much) Then mix the following ingredients well in a separate bowl before pouring over the vegetables… ¾ Cup sugar 1/3 Cup Vegetable/Canola Oil/Olive Oil (If you double the recipe use ¾ cup) 1 tsp. Salt 1 tsp. Pepper ¾ Cup White Vinegar Stir/fold several times then marinate overnight for best flavor
I find that just playing with the dressings that I make gives me good variety. I have about a dozen vinegars, a few mustards, lots of spices and a couple of oils. I use them to make a wide variety of dressings.
I also like to add cheese, leftover steak, bacon, etc to my salads to make them a meal.
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Dressing:
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup salad oil (vegetable oil, like Crisco)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup tarragon vinegar
2 tsp. minced parsley
1 red onion, thinly sliced
**Mix these ingredients together and refrigerate for at least two hours.
Salad:
4 heads of Bibb lettuce
(you may also use Boston, Romaine or greenleaf lettuce if you choose)
2-11oz. cans mandarin oranges
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
Toss together above ingredients and serve in a beautiful large salad bowl. Put dressing in separate bowl so guests can use the amount they prefer.
Layered BLT Salad
1 (8 oz.) container of sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 Tblsp. Lemon juice
1 tsp. Dried basil
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Pepper
¼ tsp. Garlic powder
1 large head of iceburg lettuce, torn (about 4 cups) *
1 (32 oz.) pkg. Thick bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
6 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
3 cups large croutons
Stir together first 7 ingredients until well blended. Layer lettuce, bacon and tomato. Spread mayonnaise mixture evenly over tomato, sealing to edge of dish. Cover and chill salad at least 2 hours. Sprinkle with croutons and serve immediately. * Another type of lettuce, such as Red Leaf, also would work great in this salad.
Layered Southwestern Salad
2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup lime juice
½ cup olive oil
1 tsp. Sugar
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Pepper
1 (16 oz.) pkg. Romaine lettuce, shredded
5 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 (15 oz.) pkg. Can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 small purple onion, chopped
1 (8 oz.) pkg. Shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend
1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained
1 (6 oz.) can sliced ripe olives, drained
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
Process first 7 ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth, stopping to scrap down sides. Layer lettuce and next 7 ingredients in a 3 qt. Glass bowl. Pour vinaigrette over salad just before serving, and gently toss.
Layered Vegetable Salad with Parmesan Dressing
1 (8 oz.) pkg. Sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups broccoli flowerets, chopped
1 (10 oz.) pkg. Shredded carrot
5 small yellow squash, sliced
2 large red bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 green onions, sliced
Layer half each of the ingredients in a 3 qt. Glass bowl. Spread half of Parmesan Dressing over top; repeat layers. Cover and chill 8 hours.
Parmesan Dressing:
¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup Italian dressing with balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp. Cracked pepper
Whisk together all ingredients until smooth.
Old-Fashioned Layered Salad
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup salad dressing
1 Tblsp. Milk
1 tsp. Dry mustard
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Pepper
1 head romaine or iceburg lettuce, coarsely chopped
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Swiss cheese
1 (10 oz.) pkg. Frozen peas, thawed
1 medium size purple onion, diced
6 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1½ cups chopped smoked turkey or bacon
1 large cucumber, seeded and chopped (optional)
Stir together first 6 ingredients. Layer half each of lettuce, next 5 ingredients, and, if desired, cucumber in a bowl. Spread half of dressing over top; repeat. Cover and chill 8 hours.
Also, here is a tropical dressing you might like for a basic salad:
Bahama Breeze
Island Vinaigrette (Tropical Vinaigrette)
Ingredients:
½ cup - White Wine Vinegar
¼ cup - Orange Juice, fresh squeezed
1 Tbsp - Lemon Juice, fresh squeezed
¼ cup - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp - Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp - Fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp - Fresh Oregano Leaves
1 tsp - Fresh Parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp - Brown Sugar
¼ tsp - Salt & Black Pepper, fresh ground
Preparation:
Combine all of the Ingredients in a blender and process until thoroughly blended. Can be made a day in advance and kept refrigerated.
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I don't know if you are interested, but here are a couple slaw variations for a change of pace from regular salad. Great as a side and stores well in the fridge for several days. I got the Hawaiian version off this website a couple of years ago.
Hawaiian Coleslaw
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained and liquid reserved
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1/3 cup mayonnaise
DIRECTIONS:
Place cabbage in large bowl. In small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of reserved orange juice, salt, ginger, nutmeg, and pepper. Toss with cabbage. Add the oranges and pineapple into the mixture. Stir in mayonnaise until evenly coated. Chill well before serving.
note: You can even add a little cinnamon to it. As with all slaws it's best when it sits overnight in the fridge. Great with barbecue.
Oriental Slaw
1 regular size bag of cole slaw
1 pkg. ramen soup - Oriental flavor
1 small to medium bag of sliced almonds
1 small bag of sunflower seeds
1 small bunch of green onions cut (optional)
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/4 cup of white vinegar
1/4 cup of sugar
Dressing:
In small bowl or cruet, combine the sugar, oil, vinegar and the flavor packet from the ramen soup. Mix thoroughly.
Slaw:
20 to 30 minutes prior to dinner, spread the dressing over the slaw (w/onions added) and mix thoroughly. Break up ramen noodles. Stir in “crunchy” ingredients (ramen noodles, almonds & sunflower seeds) right before serving. NOTE: If you plan on storing this salad for several days to use as needed, store "crunchy" ingredients in seperate container and spoon on with each serving.
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I make a side salad with romaine lettuce, mandarin oranges, chopped red pepper and either toasted slivered almonds or pine nuts. For dressing I use low-fat italian and mix a few drops of tobasco or hot sauce in it. I also make it a full meal with either grilled chicken or cold leftover london broil.
I like Mexican-style food, so here's one of my favorites:
Refried beans
Romaine Lettuce
Chicken fajitas (I cut up a chicken breast and cook it on the stovetop in a pan using water and McCormick Cajun powder to taste. . .sometimes I'll throw in green pepper and/or onion if I have it in)
Salsa
Mozarella cheese
Just leave off the beans if you want a lower carb version. Sometimes I'll just throw the chicken on top of some lettuce and use the remainder of the "juices" it cooked in as my dressing. I don't use any oil, so with my dressing being water and cajun spice (sounds kind of dull but tastes really good!), my salad is low fat and low carb.
Another thing I like to do is make a tuna salad with tuna, mayo, celery, salt, and pepper and put that over a bed of lettuce. It's a nice way to kind of "disguise" the lettuce when I'm getting kind of sick of it. You can also use a chicken or turkey salad by mincing up any left-over meats you might have.
IMO, many meats that are made in some type of sauce make good foods to throw on top of a salad, especially left overs! Things like Asian stir fry or chicken terriyaki, for example, add a lot of flavor to plain old lettuce!
Excellent restaurant salads. . .
My FAVORITE salad is the Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad from TGIFriday's. It's a chicken breast (chilled) that's crusted in pecans over lettuce, sun-dried cranberries, blue cheese, and glazed pecans served with a raspberry vinagrette dressing.
I'm also a fan of the TGIFriday's Cobb salad (especially once I found out the Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad raises my blood sugars ).
Applebee's has a really yummy Oriental Chicken salad too. It consists of lettuce, cabbage, and cripsy Asian noodles along with your choice of terriyaki chicken breast or a breaded chicken breast (both served warm). I can't remember if it contains carrots too. The dressing is quite tasty too!
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Yasmin Working out 4+ days/week Low(er) carbing Mama to 1 furbaby, Maya, the Toy Poodle/Maltese To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
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Spinach Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
Spinach Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
Baby spinach
Fresh, thinly sliced strawberries
Roasted almond slivers
Thinly sliced red onion optional*
Thinly sliced red bell pepper optional*
Thinly sliced raw mushrooms optional*
Grilled Chicken Breast, salmon or lean beef optional
(if serving as main course)
Red Kidney Beans, cold rinsed optional
Small slices of avocado optional
Thinly sliced tomato optional
Celery, sliced thin optional
Pecans or Walnuts optional
Unsweetened, dried cranberries optional
Salad Dressing:
Balsamic vinegar
Dark, grainy mustard (grey poupon)
Salt & pepper
Stevia or other sugar substitute to taste
(mix well)
Very Small amount of almond oil or olive oil optional*
Celestual Seasonings Razberyy Zinger – optional
1 Teabag in vinegar for a short time to flavor – prior to adding other
salad dressing ingredients
Red Wine Vinegar optional
to replace up to 1/3 of the balsamic vinegar – since it likely
contains less sugar (you might also experiment with apple cider
vinegar) - vinegar is likely good for you and the balsamic vinegar
really brings out the flavor on the strawberries and it likely worth
having in the dish.
---------------------------------
The optional items with a * are likely better to include.
Slice all sliced salad item thin - sort of like the almond slivers
Toss all salad ingredients together and add dressing right before serving.
1 head lettuce, chopped
6-8 hard boiled eggs, chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 # bacon fried and crumbled small
4 cups ) corn chips (like Fritos) (crush the chips just a bit)
Dressing:
1 cup salad dressing (not Mayo)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup vinegar
1/4 cup milk
Mix dressing ingredients and set aside. Toss lettuce, eggs, cheese, bacon in another bowl and set aside. When ready to serve, toss lettuce mixture, corn c hips and dressing. Delicious! Mmmm!
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i find salads rather dull after a while too. what i like with mine is baby sweetcorn chopped in to bite size peices, sugar snap peas, steamed or boiled just to soften them up. stir fried beansprouts can be good too so long as they arent dont in loads of oil.
Or as an alternative pittas with chicken and salad are yummy!
Tasty Salads 
).
