You don't win friends with salad

Bambi985 · 15-08-2017 12:22PM #1

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 · 15-08-2017 12:23PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:29PM

I love a good nicoise. Delicious.

Bambi985 · 15-08-2017 12:29PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:30PM

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?

15-08-2017 12:32PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:32PM

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

ohnonotgmail · 15-08-2017 12:33PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:33PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:38PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:39PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:39PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:41PM

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

Bambi985 · 15-08-2017 12:41PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:41PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:42PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:49PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:50PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:51PM

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 · 15-08-2017 12:58PM

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 · 15-08-2017 01:02PM

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 · 15-08-2017 01:02PM

I have onion and lettuce on my quarter pounder

15-08-2017 01:03PM

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 · 15-08-2017 01:03PM

15-08-2017 01:07PM

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 · 15-08-2017 01:08PM

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 · 15-08-2017 01:09PM

riffmongous wrote: »

Styrian?

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

Annasopra · 15-08-2017 01:12PM

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 · 15-08-2017 01:13PM

seamus · 15-08-2017 01:15PM

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 · 15-08-2017 01:18PM

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.

You don't win friends with salad

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