Tastiest salad recipes? Lettuce 'ave 'em

[nugget]

My work lunch these days usually consists of a load of beans of some kind (butter, black, cannellini) mixed with cherry tomatoes, olives, and whatever else is in the fridge, with chunks of feta cheese or mozzarella, and dressed with a vinaigrette (the usual 3 parts olive oil with one part balsamic/lemon juice or whatever, maybe with a little mustard and/or honey). If I have sandwiches I find I get really tired and have trouble concentrating in the afternoon (I guess the carbs in the bread cause me to crash) but that doesn't happen with the beans.

I should definitely start having more salads in the evenings, especially during a heat wave (will be 35 C here at the weekend) when the last thing you need is to have the oven or hob on and heating up the flat even more.

[DrGreggles]

I had a salad for lunch - on purpose!
A combination of me being on a diet and it being too fucking hot.
Bought all the basics and some chargrilled chicken, but forgot to get any dressing.
Luckily I had some Pizza Express dressing in the cupboard, but there must be better (and lower calorie) options out there.

Your dressing recommendations please!

[touchingcloth]

Lentils of your choice (puy would be mine) cooked and mixed with raw onion, garlic, chopped tomato and grated carrot, mixed up with olive oil and lemon juice and served in chicory leaves.

[touchingcloth]

If I have sandwiches I find I get really tired and have trouble concentrating in the afternoon (I guess the carbs in the bread cause me to crash) but that doesn't happen with the beans.

The carbs raise your blood sugar, which causes your insulin to spike, which mops up your blood sugar and which paradoxically results in you having lower blood sugar levels than before the sandwich, hence the crash.

[touchingcloth]

I had a salad for lunch - on purpose!
A combination of me being on a diet and it being too fucking hot.
Bought all the basics and some chargrilled chicken, but forgot to get any dressing.
Luckily I had some Pizza Express dressing in the cupboard, but there must be better (and lower calorie) options out there.

Your dressing recommendations please!

If you're dieting, the best thing is to avoid adding sugar (so no honey and mustard). I love Thai dressings - chop garlic, ginger and chilli, and mix them up with fish sauce and vinegar. Works really well with protein-y salads.

[nugget]

The carbs raise your blood sugar, which causes your insulin to spike, which mops up your blood sugar and which paradoxically results in you having lower blood sugar levels than before the sandwich, hence the crash.

That's what I figured, but I don't think it's normal, I can barely hold a conversation, and don't remember feeling that bad when I was younger. I went through an ultra-low carb/keto diet phase a couple of years back and maybe that's permanently fucked up the way my body deals with carbs.

[touchingcloth]

That's what I figured, but I don't think it's normal, I can barely hold a conversation, and don't remember feeling that bad when I was younger. I went through an ultra-low carb/keto diet phase a couple of years back and maybe that's permanently fucked up the way my body deals with carbs.

I'm not a doctor, but I guess it's possible that hardcore keto could have long term effects on your insulin response. Though I've seen keto-type diets suggested as ways to reverse or stave off type 2 diabetes, presumably because it would result in improved rather than lessened insulin levels.

Actually, I guess that's a plausible explanation for your crashes? Keto led to you having high levels of insulin, which means that spikes in blood sugar are followed with deeper troughs than they used to be pre-keto. If you're generally eating a low carb/sugar diet then maybe there's less in the tank so to speak and so when your blood sugar levels crash they *really* crash. Be interesting to see what happens if you eat, say, a stick of celery alongside a sandwich and whether it's more slowly released glucose keeps you from crashing after the ones from the carbs have worn off.

But like I say, I'm not a doctor.

[JaDanketies]

People often say my salads are the best. Don't feel like you need all of the ingredients on every line, just use what you fancy.
1 - get all the salad vegetables and leaves you own out of the fridge
2 - get your food processor out
3 - use the grater for the carrot, cucumber, beetroot, pickled cabbage
4 - use the chopper for the celery, red onion, tomatoes, olives, spring onion, radishes
5 - manually tear any bigger salad leaves with your hands
6 - put everything in a bowl
7 - drizzle with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, mixed herbs, lemon juice, lime juice
8 - toss the salad
9 - eat with croutons, nuts, (vegan) mayonnaise, hummus, kebab pieces, tofu, whatever

[Cold Meat Platter]

Stick a lettuce up your arsehole.

[mothman]

MrsMoth's potato salad is lovely. Freshly boiled new potatoes, still cooling, chopped red onion, mayonnaise. Maybe some chopped chives on top.

[bakabaka]

MrsMoth's potato salad is lovely. Freshly boiled new potatoes, still cooling, chopped red onion, mayonnaise. Maybe some chopped chives on top.

and capers, obviously.

[Fr.Bigley]

Meat salad. Aka a mixed tandoori "Kebab"..it's a weird dish from abroad. Try it.

[Dex Sawash]

Bunch of red onion sliced into strings, little bit of jalapeño or other fresh not so hot pepper, squeeze 2 or 3 limes over it and scoop out any fleshy bits remaining, add a bjt of vinegar if it isn't enough lime juice. Leave in sealed container in refrigerator for a while/tomorrow, shake it now and then. Can add leaf cilantro or other herbs, maybe some garlic.
Salsa Criolla.

[willpurry]

Lettuce
Cornetto

[Catalogue of ills]

Meat salad. Aka a mixed tandoori "Kebab"..it's a weird dish from abroad. Try it.

A simultaneously repellant yet strangely beguiling pairing of words, surely destined for a life of their own, e.g. "He's made a right meat salad of that", "Have you seen GB News? What a meat salad". Or on another track, "cunnilingus enthusiast talks about their love of noshing a meat salad"

[Fr.Bigley]

A simultaneously repellant yet strangely beguiling pairing of words, surely destined for a life of their own, e.g. "He's made a right meat salad of that", "Have you seen GB News? What a meat salad". Or on another track, "cunnilingus enthusiast talks about their love of noshing a meat salad"

You know in hindsight, it really is, I never thought of it in that way. Yes, you're correct, I AM the best person on CaB.

[beanheadmcginty]

Meat salad. Aka a mixed tandoori "Kebab"..it's a weird dish from abroad. Try it.

Funnily enough, I think the reason I really enjoy salad is down to the thousands upon thousands of large doners "with all the shit please boss" I've consumed over the years. The mere taste of salad tricks my brain into thinking it's getting a greasy treat even when it isn't.

[mothman]

and capers, obviously.

Good God, no. Well, I'm sure it'd be lovely, if you like them. But I don't.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Meat salad. Aka a mixed tandoori "Kebab"..it's a weird dish from abroad. Try it.

got big into Lebanese kebabs since moving to somewhere with a place within walking distance. Big step up from elephant leg shavings.

[TrenterPercenter]

Two salads I had recently that were unusual but great.

Avocado and rum-soaked pineapple - excellent nicely pairs with something smokey and spicy - so jerk chicken or jackfruit

also

Watermelon, feta, cucumber, tomato and fresh mint - also excellent watermelon is great in salads it's crisp and not overly sweet can stick some rocket in there also if you like with just a bit olive oil for dressing.  Will actually go with most things.


That's all I've got.

[touchingcloth]

Funnily enough, I think the reason I really enjoy salad is down to the thousands upon thousands of large doners "with all the shit please boss" I've consumed over the years. The mere taste of salad tricks my brain into thinking it's getting a greasy treat even when it isn't.

I think I'm a bit the same, especially when it comes to grated carrot, grated cabbage, and thinly sliced onions. I put those things in just about every salad I make, and I can probably trace that back to them being fucking amazing in kebabs.

[mothman]

I've become slightly obsessed with sliced red onion in a salad, ever since I had it in a, er, McDonalds salad.

I once had something called a Primavera salad in France - all the usuals, but also grated carrot, ham, cheese and a Dijon mustard dressing. Rather nice and we've recreated it often since. I don't know if it's a real thing, I guess I could Google it...

[touchingcloth]

I've become slightly obsessed with sliced red onion in a salad, ever since I had it in a, er, McDonalds salad.

I once had something called a Primavera salad in France - all the usuals, but also grated carrot, ham, cheese and a Dijon mustard dressing. Rather nice and we've recreated it often since. I don't know if it's a real thing, I guess I could Google it...

"Primavera" is the word for spring in a lot of Romance languages, so it gets added to the names of lots of dishes which include green spring vegetables. It's one of those frequently-used but nonspecific terms, like "four seasons" pizzas where the ingredients will vary from place to place. Normally I'd expect something with primavera in its name to have a shit ton of peas in it.

[phes]

I really enjoy finely chopped salads. A quick bit of googling suggests Arabic salads such as Shepherd's salad are often presented this way. The usual veg, parsley, olive oil etc. Easy way to put a different spin on the chunky stuff

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arab_salads

[touchingcloth]

I can't abide salads which can't be easily eaten with a fork. I know they look attractive, but round slices of tomato in a salad piss me right off, especially if they're on top of unchopped leaves of lettuce. C'mon, chef, use your knife so I don't have to.

[steve98]

You know in hindsight, it really is, I never thought of it in that way. Yes, you're correct, I AM the best person on CaB.

I thought of a Beef Dripping salad earlier, long before you thought of a donner kebab salad. (Not that it matters two hoots of course who's "the best".)

[Retinend]

I spread mayonaise onto the plate before adding the leaves (I used lamb's lettuce, rocket, and purple leaves, and I snip them onto to plate to make them finer), then I chop one shallot finely, sprinkle on, then chop around 5 cherry tomatoes, expressing the fluid out of them before adding to the plate (the fluid is the bitter-tasting part). My favourite salad "topping" is crispy bacon and egg, but I also like smoked salmon.

edit: I'm not a salad pleb for using mayonaise instead of a dressing - I'm BUSY

[touchingcloth]

I like to eat a mayon-egg.

[thenoise]

Young spinach leaves in a bag that says "wash before use"


Scoff 'em without washing 'em lad.  Taste like balloons



= SALAD

Yeah can't be arsed to wash shit. Plus it makes it all wet, and I certainly can't be arsed to dry shit. Just search each leaf individually for bugs before inserting in pie hole. If I find one,throw the entire bag away and have a pizza instead.

[JaDanketies]

Yeah can't be arsed to wash shit. Plus it makes it all wet, and I certainly can't be arsed to dry shit. Just search each leaf individually for bugs before inserting in pie hole. If I find one,throw the entire bag away and have a pizza instead.

Dead and dehydrated fly in my 2kg bag of porridge oats yesterday. Apparently nobody else in my household will eat any more oats from that bag, but if I chuck it out then it's also apparently inexcusable food waste.