A Salad...

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So, I've decided to become more of a healthy eater and to bring a salad for my lunch to work every day.

I bought a lunchbox, and last night threw a salad together. It included Iceberg Lettuce, Tomato, cubes of cheddar cheese, ham, turkey, yellow pepper, raw mushrooms and some black pepper with some Hellman's Light Mayo tossed through. I also had two small slices of brown bread.

Now, it was delicious, and I don't feel at all bloated, as I usually would eating the standard canteen food on offer.

Can you good people make some suggestions on what else I could include in this, obviously not everything would go in together every day, as I would like some kind of variety.

I'd like something to add a bit of crunch maybe.

Thanks in advance.

The Hill Billy

seansouth - I came across this site (http://www.cookingcute.com/) about Bento in Herald AM a while ago. Bento, or o-bento, refers to a packaged, single-portion, portable meal that is usually eaten at lunch. It may give you ideas for something other than a salad if you get bored with them.

The Sweeper

My favourite salad would be a mixture of fresh leaves - rocket, watercress, lamb's lettuce in particular as a base. Then I'd include - chopped into very small dice - carrot and celery for crunch. On top of that, I'd throw in some chopped, pitted black olives, toasted pine nuts or walnuts (pine nuts for preference) and some chopped semi-dried tomatoes (the kind you get in olive oil). I'd dress it with an olive oil, balsamic and garlic dressing with pepper and salt, and add some parmesan shavings.

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Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I like the carrot for crunch idea very much, and I love Olives, I don't know how I forgot about them tbh.

MAJD, you don't mention any kind of meat in there?

The suggestion for nuts in intriguing aswell. Would Cashew be ok do you think?

The Hill Billy

Here are a couple of "salads" that I do - particularly in the summer for BBQs. They'd also last a couple of days in the fridge so you can make them ahead of time.

Cous Cous Salad
1 packet of cous cous
1 medium red pepper, finely diced
1 medium red onion, finely diced
1 bunch scallions, finely diced
5 sun-dried tomatoes, finely diced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 knobs butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground chilli
½ tsp salt

Prepare the cous cous as per the packet instructions.
When done add 1 tbsp of olive oil & butter & mix thoroughly then allow to cool.
Gently fry the spices in the remaining olive oil for 2 mins.
Add the pepper, onion, garlic & salt & sweat for 10 mins.
Allow to cool & then mix into the cous cous with the sun-dried tomatoes & scallions.

Five Spice Rice Salad
250g rice
1 medium red pepper, finely diced
1 medium red onion, finely diced
1 bunch scallions, finely diced
2 medium carrots, finely diced
2 sticks celery, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 tsp chinese five spice
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground chilli
Salt & pepper to season
3 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Tabasco

On a medium gently fry the rice in 2 tbsp of oil & turmeric for 3 minutes & ensure rice is well coated.
Add water & cook as normal then allow to cool.
In small bowl mix remaining spices & oil with soy sauce, balsamic & Tabasco.
When cool transfer rice to large bowl & add diced vegetables.
Pour spice mix over rice & vegetables & mix thoroughly.

Blub2k4

You don't really need meat in a salad, if you need it then you can drain a tin of tuna and flake that in or fry up some streaky bacon until crispy then chop it small and horse that in.

The basics of my salads would be
mixed leaves
Nuts or seeds, pine or sunflower toasted
Cheese grated
Cherry tomatoes halved
Tuna or not
Red onion chopped small
Tinned sweetcorn drained.

Any combination of the above.

I never add a dressing to the salad, that way it keeps longer.
I take an old jam jar and into that I put 1/3 olive oil to 2/3 white wine vinegar
then add various things, chopped garlic, honey, salt & pepper, chopped chives, chopped parsley, a teaspoon of colmans english mustard powder, or wholegrain mustard, mix and match from that lot, changing vinegar types etc as you feel like.
Put the lid on the jar and shake it to emulsify the oil, et voila, you have a salad dressing, dress the salad before eating.

The Sweeper

yeah damn straight on teh dressing - dress leaves just before you eat them, otherwise they go sloppy and ick.

I wouldn't put meat in a salad. I might have some on the side - two or three slices of prosciutto or parma ham will give you a taste without piling on calories, if you're trying to be healthy.

Something I'm fond of is tinned red salmon. Half a tin of salmon with a big salad is a good meal.

Kolodny

seansouth wrote:

Would Cashew be ok do you think?

I love cashews with salad. They add great flavour and crunch.

If you prefer to have a bit of meat and want to keep it healthy then just stick to the lean stuff but you might find if you add in a lot of protein rich stuff like nuts, chickpeas etc, you can make a salad very filling without any meat.

r3nu4l

If you don't want tuna all the time try sardines (in brine or tomato base), drain the brine first

As well as some of the other suggestions here I also add cucumber, apple, dried apricots or strawberries. Celery is great because it helps you feel fuller longer You could change to brie cheese too for a change from the cheddar although in the summer it will be extremely mushy and hot unless you have a fridge to put your lunchbox in.

Minder

If you don't mind the anti-social element.....

Mixed leaves
Carrot batons
Smoked mackrel or trout (The vacuum packed, cooked variety)

Thai dressing as follows

Fresh lime juice from 1 lime
Thai Fish Sauce (Nam Pla) - same quantity as lime juice
Some sugar - 1 tsp or less
Chopped fresh chilli - depends on your tolerance for chilli
Chopped fresh garlic.

The dressing should be hot, sweet, sour and salty. It works very well with the oily fish. It will cause the leaves to wilt, so best applied just before eating.

Other items for the salad include cucumber, papaya, mango or pear.

Substitute shredded chicken for the fish.

Good luck