Salad - what's your favourite combination of ingredients

Zelda247

I like:

Rocket
Spring Onions
Beetroot
Sweetcorn
Coleslaw

Shenshen

My favourite is

Lettuce
Red pepper
Radishes
Spring Onion
Cucumber
Tomato
Sweetcorn
Cubed cheese
Boiled egg

Best with a yoghurt and herb dressing.

pwurple

Walnut
Pear
Blue cheese
Any lettuce at all, but add loads of pepper if it's not rocket.

MissFlitworth

Baby spinach
feta
red, red tomatoes
toasted walnuts
olive oil

(possibly not quite 100% a salad but..)

Tomatoes
salt
mozzarella
olive oil

and I love a nicoise

Tuna
Hard boiled egg
Green Beans
Olives (kalamata for pref.)
Tomatoes
leaf of some kind
french dressing

I think I should probably have anchovy in there but never do

Speedwell

The old Jewish deli classic, "health salad". Finely shredded cabbage, onions, carrots, and green bell peppers (and sometimes celery), tossed in a sweet-and-sour vinegar/sugar/oil/salt/pepper dressing (use spirit vinegar or wine vinegar, and never olive oil). Much more than the sum of its parts, and lasts for a couple weeks tightly covered in the fridge. It's much safer than a mayonnaise cole slaw for picnics in hot weather. Everyone likes it. Good for stuffing those little ripe vine tomatoes you buy at Lidl.

The Hill Billy

My favourite salad is cucumber, tomato & scallion dressed with just red wine vinegar & white pepper. Sometimes I go mad & add a few rocket leaves for the hell of it.

Next in line is a slaw of shredded sugar snaps, scallions, Chinese cabbage & cucumber. I dress this with oil, soy, lime juice, grated ginger & chillies.

IvyTheTerrible

I like a fairly simple salad - batavia or oakleaf lettuce in a sauce (dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a bit of finely chopped garlic). Sometimes I'll add a chopped button mushroom, or chopped apple or a bit of goats cheese.

Shenshen

Speedwell wrote: »

The old Jewish deli classic, "health salad". Finely shredded cabbage, onions, carrots, and green bell peppers (and sometimes celery), tossed in a sweet-and-sour vinegar/sugar/oil/salt/pepper dressing (use spirit vinegar or wine vinegar, and never olive oil). Much more than the sum of its parts, and lasts for a couple weeks tightly covered in the fridge. It's much safer than a mayonnaise cole slaw for picnics in hot weather. Everyone likes it. Good for stuffing those little ripe vine tomatoes you buy at Lidl.

Sounds very similar to German coleslaw, only you'd add carraway seeds to that.
It's the one thing my mom makes much better than I do

Malari

MissFlitworth wrote: »

(possibly not quite 100% a salad but..)

Tomatoes
salt
mozzarella
olive oil

The caprese! My favourite starter when I'm in Italy

I love salads that are light on lettuce.

Rocket
Spinach
Grilled haloumi
Avocado
Artichoke
Sesame seeds
Pine nuts

With a squeeze of lemon juice, a splash of good olive oil and a sprinkle of pepper.

chuckles30

Glad I came across this thread - looking for ideas to liven up my salads - I've very unadventurous with salad, but want to start eating more of them. But because I haven't experimented much, I tend to do the same thing and then get bored after a week or two.

My standard is;
Lettuce
Rocket
Chives
Spring onion/scallions
Sliced peppers
Tomatoes
Egg
Ham
Coleslaw (if I have it in)
Yesterday I added pickled cucumber & beetroot as I didn't have coleslaw

stimpson

Sort of Greek salad:

Spinach
Rocket
Cherry Tomatoes
Olives (Kalamata)
Feta

Dressing:
3 parts olive oil
1 part Balsamic Vinegar
1 part wholegrain mustard
1 part honey
salt & pepper

Zelda247

Does anyone like cold pasta salads or cold rice salads, i often thought about trying these?

Speedwell

Zelda247 wrote: »

Does anyone like cold pasta salads or cold rice salads, i often thought about trying these?

I can deal with cold Israeli couscous (the big balls, not the fine grains) salads, and cold salads with rice sticks (the translucent Asian noodles) if the rest of the salad consists of marinated veg with perhaps a bit of cheese. I don't like starchy carbs in my cold poultry/fish/meat salads. I really have gone off cold salads that use Italian style pastas or "noodles", or that use rice or ricelike pasta or grains. Especially and particularly if they contain mayonnaise.

chuckles30

Zelda247 wrote: »

Does anyone like cold pasta salads or cold rice salads, i often thought about trying these?

Potatoes, pasta & rice have to be hot in my world....I just can't get my head around eating them cold...but they seem to be popular enough.

Although saying that, I've had cold noodles in salads at work in a balsamic dressing and that was lovely

Shenshen

Zelda247 wrote: »

Does anyone like cold pasta salads or cold rice salads, i often thought about trying these?

I love a good pasta salad - provided there's no mayonnaise.

I'd usually make it with tomatoes, sweetcorn, peas, peppers, olives and possibly cubed cheese (feta works nice, or a strong cheddar). For the dressing, I'd use some passata, balsamic, olive oil, salt, sugar, pepper and a good tablespoon of Worcester sauce.

Lady is a tramp

I keep mine pretty simple ... something like

Iceberg lettuce
Baby spinach leaves
Cucumber
Red onion
Peppers
Mozzarella or Feta
Tomatoes
Toasted pine nuts
Sliced chicken fillet, maybe marinated in lemon and garlic etc before cooking

Served with maybe Ballymaloe relish, or else a yoghurt and chive dressing.

livinsane

Zelda247 wrote: »

Does anyone like cold pasta salads or cold rice salads, i often thought about trying these?

Yesterday I mixed cold fusilli pasta, sardines, unpickled beetroot, onion and yellow pepper with a tiny bit of mayo and salad cream. Lovely.

Speedwell

I believe that I like beetroot. This is a completely unfounded belief. Every time I eat beetroot, I think, "I don't know if I really like this". I don't hate it, I eat it, but I'm surprised I don't like it as much as I expected to. And yet I often buy and eat beetroot on the ground that I think I actually like the flavor. Somewhere in my history, I must have had really good beetroot and the idea that it was something I liked must have stuck in my head. Does that sort of thing ever happen to you?

Shenshen

Speedwell wrote: »

I believe that I like beetroot. This is a completely unfounded belief. Every time I eat beetroot, I think, "I don't know if I really like this". I don't hate it, I eat it, but I'm surprised I don't like it as much as I expected to. And yet I often buy and eat beetroot on the ground that I think I actually like the flavor. Somewhere in my history, I must have had really good beetroot and the idea that it was something I liked must have stuck in my head. Does that sort of thing ever happen to you?

Happened to me with fennel - I don't like fennel (or anything with an anis-seedy taste), but I once had shaved and slightly pickled fennel in a salad in a restaurant. I could have eaten a barrel of that, it was so good.

Ever since then, I will try things containing fennel only to be severely disappointed each time

Dizzyblonde

I make rice salad that can be eaten hot or cold:
Sauté diced onion and peppers in a little olive oil, add the rice and stir until it's coated with oil, then add twice as much chicken stock as rice and a handful of frozen peas. Season with salt & pepper, add some turmeric for colour and a pinch of chilli powder if you like it spicy. Cover and simmer until the rice had absorbed all the stock, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick to the pot.

I also make noodle salad:
Stir fry some mangetout, green beans, sliced peppers and sliced onions for a few minutes. Add crushed garlic and grated carrot and stir in for a minute, then add a good dash of soy sauce, a small amount of sesame oil and a dash of lemon juice. Stir in some cooked medium egg noodles and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds (I toast them in a the dry pan before frying the veg).

I love couscous & chickpea salad too, it's just a matter of cooking the couscous in stock, adding a drained can of chickpeas and stirring in roasted veg and/or any raw veg you like and a dash of olive oil and lemon juice.

stimpson

Speedwell wrote: »

I believe that I like beetroot. This is a completely unfounded belief. Every time I eat beetroot, I think, "I don't know if I really like this". I don't hate it, I eat it, but I'm surprised I don't like it as much as I expected to. And yet I often buy and eat beetroot on the ground that I think I actually like the flavor. Somewhere in my history, I must have had really good beetroot and the idea that it was something I liked must have stuck in my head. Does that sort of thing ever happen to you?

I like cooked beetroot Juliened, with goats cheese, toasted walnuts on chopped spinach.

Dress with lemon juice, olive oil and dijon mustard. Nom.

dudara

Classic Caesar salad with chicken, anchovies, egg and parmesan

Any mix of rocket/watercress with balsamic vinegar, oil, parmesan/mozzarella and cherry tomatoes

Smashed cucumbers with a chinese dressing of soy, Shaoxing wine and vinegar

Shredded white cabbage, carrots, mangetout and other crispy veg in an asian style dressing

A good Cobb salad

Speedwell

Tomatoes, just fresh ripe tomatoes, sliced on a platter with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and a vinegar (white balsamic or tarragon), and maybe a few sprigs of garden basil.

Guacamole in the late summer, with chopped jalapeno and red onion, cumin, and lime.

Whispered

Cucumber, red onion, olives, feta, spinach and an oregano and lemon dressing.

Beetroot, avocado, goats cheese and walnuts with a honey dressing.

I often leave the dressing out though and still like both.

You know the boxes of "loose and lively" leaves? You get them in tesco and Aldi for €1. I think they're brilliant. So much better than the bags.

fussyonion

I love a varied salad so I don't get bored eating it.

Iceberg lettuce
Italian Style Leaves (the bagged leaves from Tesco)
Red onion
Cucumber
Gherkins
Peppers
Sweetcorn
Cherry tomatoes
Radishes

I'll either have that as a side-salad or if it's a lunch I'll add a tin of tuna or chicken fillet.

I hate creamy dressings so I usually drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Oh and to the person who mentioned not being sure they liked beetroot..I'm the same!
I don't hate it but I don't love it. I tend to eat it separately from a salad as I hate when it bleeds into the lettuce turning it all gunky and pink.

The Hill Billy

Take a punnet of strawberries, hulled & halved.
A half a cucumber, deseeded & sliced.
A small red onion, halved & thinly sliced.
75g of crumbled semi-soft goats cheese.
Bunch of basil leaves torn.

For the dressing...
1 tbsp Olive oil
Juice of half lemon
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp honey
Loads of black peppe

Mexican salad

This makes 3 hearty servings or 4-6 sides.

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 large can sweetcorn, drained
1 red onion, finely chopped
4 firm, medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
4 scallions (green/spring onions) chopped
A handful of green pickled jalapenos (available in jars in most supermarkets)
The juice of 2 limes
Salt and pepper

Optional - some chopped avocado if you can get nice ripe ones!

Stir everything together and eat face first from a communal trough. Tortilla chips optional.

You can also add rice to this however it changes the texture a lot, and I prefer it without.