You don't win friends with salad

Bambi985

I've got a moderately healthy diet, eat my veggies and lots of protein, a fair bit of fruit. Probably too fond of the aul chocolate but I've managed to escape morbid obesity of yet so could be worse.

But I just don't *get* salad. What's the craic with it like? A hunk of meat on a bed of soggy lettuce leaves and a few tomatoes and some red onion and topped with some gross fatty dressing that defies the purpose of eating a salad in the first place. And that's supposed to be your dinner? That's not food. That's what food eats.

I see some girls at work coming in with tupperware full of sad little leaves for their lunch and I feel genuinely sad for them. Same ones will be munching on digestives half an hour later so they're probably not even fooling themselves.

When's the last time you ate a salad? And did it fill you up or did you cry your way through it? What am I missing here?

El Weirdo

Bambi985 wrote: »

I've got a moderately healthy diet, eat my veggies and lots of protein, a fair bit of fruit. Probably too fond of the aul chocolate but I've managed to escape morbid obesity of yet so could be worse.

But I just don't *get* salad. What's the craic with it like? A hunk of meat on a bed of soggy lettuce leaves and a few tomatoes and some red onion and topped with some gross fatty dressing that defies the purpose of eating a salad in the first place. And that's supposed to be your dinner? That's not food. That's what food eats.

I see some girls at work coming in with tupperware full of sad little leaves leaves for their lunch and I feel genuinely sad for them. Same ones will be munching on digestives half an hour later so they're probably not even fooling themselves.

When's the last time you ate a salad? And did it fill you up or did you cry your way through it? What am I missing here?

Spoken by someone who clearly hasn't ever had a Caesar salad.

xzanti

I love a good nicoise. Delicious.

Bambi985

El Weirdo wrote: »

Spoken by someone who clearly hasn't ever had a Caesar salad.

I've had plenty of those. Soggy creamy shyte. What's nice about them?

andekwarhola

Bambi985 wrote: »

I see some girls at work coming in with tupperware full of sad little leaves leaves for their lunch and I feel genuinely sad for them

How will they continue living after this?

Bambi985

Bambi985 wrote: »

I see some girls at work coming in with tupperware full of sad little leaves leaves for their lunch and I feel genuinely sad for them.

This makes you genuinely sad?

Chancer3001

You get a sense of satisfaction knowing you're consuming less calories than you need so you might actually lose some weight.

ohnonotgmail

Bambi985 wrote: »

I've had plenty of those. Soggy creamy shyte. What's nice about them?

you clearly haven't had one made fresh at the table in a good restaurant. Divine.

judeboy101

Grew up in the 1970's/80's no such thing as salad, same goes for pizza, pasta or mayo. It's all hipster stuff.

xzanti

judeboy101 wrote: »

Grew up in the 1970's/80's no such thing as salad, same goes for pizza, pasta or mayo. It's all hipster stuff.

I grew up in the 80s and had many a salad.

It usually consisted of the following:

A slice of corn beef
A slice of hang
A slice of cheese
Butter head lettuce
Beetroot from a jar
A boiled egg
Half a tomato
Some cucumber
Heinze Salad Cream

Did the job

Malari

I don't eat lettuce, but I like a lot of different salads.

Restaurant salads here mostly tend to be a massive pile of lettuce with a few bits of other ingredients on top.

HeidiHeidi

xzanti wrote: »

I grew up in the 80s and had many a salad.

It usually consisted of the following:

A slice of corn beef
A slice of hang
A slice of cheese
Butter head lettuce
Beetroot from a jar
A boiled egg
Half a tomato
Some cucumber
Heinze Salad Cream

Did the job

Oh my word, that's sent me on a trip down memory lane

tayto lover

I had a wee bit of salad yesterday with my steak and chips. Made me feel better.

Bambi985

Chancer3001 wrote: »

You get a sense of satisfaction knowing you're consuming less calories than you need so you might actually lose some weight.

So does everyone who eats salad do so solely to lose weight? I could eat pizza for three meals a day and still lose weight, as long as I reduced my portions and put myself at a calorie deficit.

HeidiHeidi

Malari wrote: »

Restaurant salads here mostly tend to be a massive pile of lettuce with a few bits of other ingredients on top.

This x 100!

And not even lettuce you can eat - underneath the few (relatively) nice lettuce leaves is about four inches deep of that stringy, sour, branch-y indedible stuff the name of which I don't know, but it's clearly just cheap, nasty filler. Grrrrrr!

silverharp

xzanti wrote: »

I grew up in the 80s and had many a salad.

It usually consisted of the following:

A slice of corn beef
A slice of hang
A slice of cheese
Butter head lettuce
Beetroot from a jar
A boiled egg
Half a tomato
Some cucumber
Heinze Salad Cream

Did the job

and a couple of scallions :pac:

andekwarhola

judeboy101 wrote: »

Grew up in the 1970's/80's no such thing as salad, same goes for pizza, pasta or mayo. It's all hipster stuff.

To be fair, it depended on whether or not your primary caregiver wore elasticated leggings and smoked John Player Blue.

Miss Demeanour

xzanti wrote: »

I grew up in the 80s and had many a salad.

It usually consisted of the following:

A slice of corn beef
A slice of hang
A slice of cheese
Butter head lettuce
Beetroot from a jar
A boiled egg
Half a tomato
Some cucumber
Heinze Salad Cream

Did the job

We were very posh....we had all of the above and a tin of potato salad.

LirW

There is this delicious Balkan salad called "Shopska" salad. I'm wetting my pants just thinking of it, it's sooo good.
Honestly beside the obvious Cesar what people wanna sell you as a salad here is a joke. Plenty of times I got some dry leaves with a few sprinkles of some mustardy something, I don't get it.

Back home we do our salad with pumpkin seed oil and a bit of vinegar, it's the best thing ever. I'm allowed to say that because I grew up in the epitome of pumpkin seed oil. For real people need to buy more pumpkin seed oil, it's savage.

Making a good salad is somewhat of an art form because it's easy to mess it up with too much X, too little Y, no crunch and the worst using the pre packed shredded leaves.

kylith

The trick is to eat enough salad that it fills you up. When I make salad for myself I tend to use a selection of the following:
Cos Lettuce
Spinach
Radish
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Baby corn
Cherry tomatoes
Sugarsnap peas
Asparagus
Boiled Egg
Feta

and topped off with a nice balsamic vingarette.

RoboRat

I usually have a salad for lunch, this is purely down to the fact that I suffer from chronic urticaria and IBS, both of which are linked to food. I found out about a low fodmap diet and since I started doing it, the results have been great.

Salads can be as bland or flavoursome as you make them, I like to mix it up and I have a bento lunch box which has lots of sections so I don't end up with a mushy mess.

I usually go with some fresh leaves (lettuce, rocket, baby spinach). For protein I go with slow cooked shredded pork fillet/ grilled chicken/ tuna mayo/ leftover roast and home made GF jumbo croutons for some crunch (baked GF bread drizzled in chilli oil and salt)

• Then a selection of the following:
• boiled eggs
• fresh peas
• mangetout & broccoli with feta cheese
• shredded carrot with pumpkin seeds in orange juice
• Mixed bean salad
• home made potato salad
• Home made Hummus
• Quinoa salad mix
• Curried rice

I have to say, it beats the hell out of any sandwich but they key is seasoning. Most people don't season their salads and that's why they seem bland.

SEPT 23 1989

I have onion and lettuce on my quarter pounder

Malari

Malari wrote: »

Restaurant salads here mostly tend to be a massive pile of lettuce with a few bits of other ingredients on top.

I think this is part of the problem ... this incessant adding of salad to every single feckin' main course has resulted in a race to the bottom.

If I want salad, I'll order it.

Salad is "a cold dish of various mixtures of raw or cooked vegetables, usually seasoned with oil, vinegar, or other dressing and sometimes accompanied by meat, fish, or other ingredients" and can be frickin' amazing.

Mr. CooL ICE

riffmongous

LirW wrote: »

There is this delicious Balkan salad called "Shopska" salad. I'm wetting my pants just thinking of it, it's sooo good.
Honestly beside the obvious Cesar what people wanna sell you as a salad here is a joke. Plenty of times I got some dry leaves with a few sprinkles of some mustardy something, I don't get it.

Back home we do our salad with pumpkin seed oil and a bit of vinegar, it's the best thing ever. I'm allowed to say that because I grew up in the epitome of pumpkin seed oil. For real people need to buy more pumpkin seed oil, it's savage.

Making a good salad is somewhat of an art form because it's easy to mess it up with too much X, too little Y, no crunch and the worst using the pre packed shredded leaves.

Styrian?

alberto67

My favourite is what I call the brettuce salad.
I have a few leaves of lettuce, topped with a couple of brussel sprouts. I like to have it with a home made dressing including olive oil, garlic and mustard.

You might want to add some corned beef (but it's not a salad anymore)

LirW

riffmongous wrote: »

Styrian?

Yep, I import that stuff by the barrel in my hand luggage.

Annasopra

Bambi985 wrote: »

I see some girls at work coming in with tupperware full of sad little leaves leaves for their lunch and I feel genuinely sad for them. Same ones will be munching on digestives half an hour later so they're probably not even fooling themselves.

Do they not smile or laugh like these women?


https://www.thehairpin.com/2011/01/women-laughing-alone-with-salad/


http://womenlaughingalonewithsalad.tumblr.com/

Are Am Eye

seamus

I'm with you OP, I don't "get" salad. Which makes people look at you weird when you're vegetarian.

When I see a salad, I see no substance. You may as well serve a glass of water.

I get the whole "nice dressing makes it tasty" thing, sometimes. But it's still a bowl of mostly air and a couple of leaves. I can never understand how someone only eats a salad for a main course.

But then raw/cold vegetables have never been a thing with me. So that's probably it. Give me a bowl of hot mushy vegetables boiled to within an inch of their lives, over a bowl of crunchy cold raw stuff, any day of the week.

LirW

This reminds me of some kind of German party classic, it's called the Big Mac salad.
Just the idea of it makes me shudder.

osarusan

It kind of annoys me when, in a restaurant, people go on about how they need to watch calories and order a salad, then talk enviously about what other people ordered - you're in a restaurant, perhaps you should have prepared for this calorie-wise for this over the last few days.

Otherwise though, I wouldn't even notice, and if I did, wouldn't care. As long as it doesn't stink, it's fine.

When was the last time I ate a salad? Breakfast this morning was boiled veg: carrots, broccoli, asparagus, peas, sweetcorn, and some raw veg too: radish, sugar snaps, tomato, avocado, along with some spicy chicken pieces, with some dressing.

ghostdancer

i'm not a fan of most salads, but if there's a Chopped near you, try one. they chop the f*ck out of all the ingredients so it's less boring than a regular salad
https://www.chopped.ie/

my usual is:

-spinach
-mexican chicken
-sweet peppers
-jalapenos
-avocado
-sun dried tomato
-egg
-dubliner cheese
-cajun lemon sauce

LirW

osarusan wrote: »

It kind of annoys me when, in a restaurant, people go on about how they need to watch calories and order a salad, then talk enviously about what other people ordered - you're in a restaurant, perhaps you should have prepared for this calorie-wise for this over the last few days.

Otherwise though, I wouldn't even notice, and if I did, wouldn't care. As long as it doesn't stink, it's fine.

Also the dressing has usually a trillion calories on its own.

RoboRat

seamus wrote: »

I'm with you OP, I don't "get" salad. Which makes people look at you weird when you're vegetarian.

When I see a salad, I see no substance. You may as well serve a glass of water.

I get the whole "nice dressing makes it tasty" thing, sometimes. But it's still a bowl of mostly air and a couple of leaves. I can never understand how someone only eats a salad for a main course.

But then raw/cold vegetables have never been a thing with me. So that's probably it. Give me a bowl of hot mushy vegetables boiled to within an inch of their lives, over a bowl of crunchy cold raw stuff, any day of the week.

Horses for courses, personally I despise overcooked vegetables, I like them with a bit of crunch and tasting fresh, not like a blob of congealed vegetable mix but each to their own; my parents like meat that looks like it has reentered the atmosphere, twice, whereas I prefer my meat done to a point where a good vet could resuscitate it.

Syphonax

Does the trimming that goes with a burger constitute a salad?

RoboRat

LirW wrote: »

Also the dressing has usually a trillion calories on its own.

Depends on the dressing, balsamic vinegar on a salad is lovely and has SFA calories. Bit of mustard, olive oil and vinegar is lovely, again bugger all calories.

LirW

RoboRat wrote: »

Depends on the dressing, balsamic vinegar on a salad is lovely and has SFA calories. Bit of mustard, olive oil and vinegar is lovely, again bugger all calories.

That is a skinny dressing indeed and a delicious one too. But all the pre-made ones are usually heavy, even the balsamic whatever cream ones. Don't really like the taste, I usually mix all my dressings myself.
But then again I'm a biased kitchen nazi and fret about everything that's processed while munching the Aldi egg waffles.

riffmongous

Tuna, sweetcorn, fresh lettuce mix with plenty of rucola, small bit of mayonnaise, delicious

Steak blue cheese walnut poached pear salad is lovely. Or chicken with pecan nuts and apple. Either with a bit of balsamic and honey as dressing.
Mmmm salad

_Dara_

A homemade dressing doesn't make the salad less healthy, OP. Nothing wrong with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice/vinegar.

kylith

Having an M&S salad for lunch: lentils, edamame, spinach, carrot, pomegranate, cous cous, and chickpea. Very tasty.

If you think salads are bland and boring, you're not doing them right.

Malari

kylith wrote: »

Having an M&S salad for lunch: lentils, edamame, spinach, carrot, pomegranate, cous cous, and chickpea. Very tasty.

If you think salads are bland and boring, you're not doing them right.

I think people think salad = lettuce.

And then people also think coleslaw and potato salad in loads of mayo = salad, therefore = good for you.

tayto lover

kylith wrote: »

Having an M&S salad for lunch: lentils, edamame, spinach, carrot, pomegranate, cous cous, and chickpea. Very tasty.

If you think salads are bland and boring, you're not doing them right.

The problem is that you'd be starving an hour after eating that.

Are Am Eye

tayto lover wrote: »

The problem is that you'd be starving an hour after eating that.

Not with Pasta Salad

Malari

tayto lover wrote: »

The problem is that you'd be starving an hour after eating that.

Cous cous is basically a pasta, so if you had enough of that with the other ingredients, why would you be starving?

kylith

tayto lover wrote: »

The problem is that you'd be starving an hour after eating that.

Nope, I have it with yogurt and fresh fruit. If I'm starving later I'll have a packet of popcorn which is very filling but light on calories.

Most of us eat too big portions anyway. You get used to smaller amounts if you eat them for a while. Anyway, cous cous is basically pasta and lentils are very filling.

Bambi985

kylith wrote: »

If you think salads are bland and boring, you're not doing them right.

I've tried those M&S ones, used to get their chilli chicken salad one if I was rushing to a meeting or there's another superfoods one with a bunch of nuts and edamame that's grand like, but I'd still be hungry an hour later. And I'm 5 ft 1 and about 110 pounds, I don't need a lot of food.

I think Seamus described it well - raw vegetables and nuts and seeds and leafy things in a big bowl just seems so airy and pointless as far as sustenance and satiation are concerned. Food is about energy and enjoyment to me and salad just seems so flaky on both of those grounds for me.

DoozerT6

I just treated meself to a falafal salad from Sprout. I think I may never need to eat again!

GerryDerpy

People in general have a bad understanding of what is required to lose weight.

Your body must be running on a calorie deficit for fat to go. You must expend more calories than you take in.

So, they think well I'll just eat a salad - less calories amirite?? Yes. But then you eat more food later on to make up for it.

Because us humans have biologically evolved to be great at storing energy as fat. We needed to when we were hunter gatherers because we would go days without food. We needed fat stores to chase down our prey over full days.

So, you have (on average) an inbuilt instinct to eat more calories than necessary to maintain a colorie equilibrium. This instinct would have made your ancestor more likely to survive than the 'naturally thin' person - read someone who doesn't stuff their face.

So go ahead and eat the salad. And then enjoy the digestive biscuit before bed time.

kylith

We'll have to agree to disagree so. I'm 5'6'' and 80kg and like I said, one of them, fruit, and a yogurt sees me through to dinner.