To ask what you have in your massive salad

Checking for massive salad update

Bed of rocket and baby leaf salad
2 Radish
2 cherry tomatoes
Cucumber
2 Purple sprouting Broccoli boiled for not too long and in small florets
Red pepper
Olives
Halloumi cooked in chilli olive oil
2 bits of feta came with my olives
Drizzle with balsamic vinegar

Twas yum

Funnily enough I've actually just made a massive salad for lunch.

It had rocket, tomatoes, cucumber, black olives, mozerella and pesto dressing.

White cabbage and sliced halloumi (fried in just a film of oil) among other things already mentioned)

This account on TikTok has amazing salad that will fit your food choices.

https://www.tiktok.com/@thesaladlab

Sauerkraut, chopped dried apricots, chopped walnuts.

Salad leaves, tomatoes, cucumber, pomegranate seeds, grilled halloumi drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

Shredded cabbage, grated carrot, chopped tomatoes, cucumber, olives, cubed feta light dressing of olive oil. Or substitute shredded lettuce
i don’t use iceberg lettuce as I dislike it’s bland watery nest

OMG that sounds amazing.

Making that today - thank you!!

Baby spinach leaves
Halloumi
Ready marinated tofu
Walnuts
Roasted Pistachios
Flaked Parmesan
Marinated artichoke pieces
Mini mozzarella balls
Savoury seeds

I’ve made a green goddess dressing which is delicious. Avocado, lemon juice, water, capers or jalapeños, garlic, tahini, lots of fresh herbs and spinach, you can add oil, I don’t usually bother. Usually have parsley and mint but basil or coriander is good too. Especially good on kale but over anything really.

I also like a tahini sauce - tahini, water, garlic.

Adding herbs to a basic vinaigrette dressing makes a big difference for a change. I’ve also done tamari sauce, peanut butter, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil if my salad has tofu in it.

Good old balsamic vinegar and olive oil is hard to beat on a tomato based salad.

Tuna.
Smoked salmon, poached salmon, tinned salmon?
Smoked mackerel.
Goats cheese.

Massive lettuce

Seeds, nuts, apples, chickpeas. I love sweetcorn cut from the cob and left raw in a salad as well. My favourite salad is
Tuna
Brown rice
Marrowfat peas
Celery
Spring onions
Sometimes cucumber
And crushed coriander seeds, olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. This one actually feels nice to eat (I'm not a big salad eater, probably not welcome on MN 😆! )

I like to make a salad with Merchant gourmet puy lentils with beetroot, red onion and tomatoes. White wine vinegar and olive oily and parsley.

I made chickpea, mango, avocado, chilli, tomato, red onion, parsley and carrot salad the other day. Both salads do a few days with spinach/salad leaves, cucumber, chopped pepper, olives and whatever else is lying around. I’ll sometimes put a dollop of hummus or a hard boiled egg on top. I usually have prepped crudités and hard boiled eggs in the fridge for DS snack so quick to assemble.

If I want more carbs I’ll put a whole meal wrap with it and for crunch I like those crispy onions or seeds. Key is lots of flavour, colour and texture.

I love a massive salad and for me it is usually what I call a 'chopped up' salad, that is all the ingredients are chopped and mixed in a big bowl which I then eat from.

Usually it is:
LOTS of lettuce (usually iceberg because that's what I like)
finely chopped onion/spring onion
finely chopped red pepper
Sweetcorn
chopped apple or grapes (whole apple)
small amount of grated cheese
sometimes sultanas
sometimes crispy onions
sometimes bacon flavour crispy bits
Occasionally croutons
Occasionally quartered cherry tomatoes
Occasionally some toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds
Occasionally some chopped satsuma segments

I don't use a dressing, and I stick to grated cheese because it can be mixed in with everything else and 'seasons' it. I just sit down with my massive bowl of salad and a fork and work my way through it. It is full of salad vegetables, has sufficient protein and carbohydrates and I find it delicious and filling! It is really massive though - think a family sized Christmas pudding bowlful. The 8 portion size. I use a small glass mixing bowl.

You could do similar with other leaves, although it is best with crunchy leaves rather than soft ones. Grated carrot or beetroot could be added. You could use chopped chicken or other meat but I would suggest it is 'solid' rather than mushy, or maybe use nuts?. I particularly like the freshness and sweetness of the fruit in it but if you don't like it leave it out. I don't like a dressing but you could add a very small amount of a non-creamy dressing.

Exactly. The NHS nutrition information is SO outdated. I think it still feels us we should choose margarine!

If you’re reducing carbs (which is the right thing to do) then you need good quality fat and protein to lose weight.

As another poster said, low fat substitutes will be full of crap.

I do olive oil and balsamic vinegar

You could also try feta cheese, chopped apple and walnuts or seeds (not necessarily all on the same salad)
Feta goes well with olives

Cheese and nuts keep you satiated, contain protein and are good clean real food. Low fat humus has processed crap added to replace the oil and should be avoided.

Chips.

Also if you are looking for a change there is loads of good hearty soup recipes. I love Hungarian mushroom soup, poblana corn chowder and chickpea and lentil soup. Tortellini soup is the best although more suited to a dinner as calorie content is higher.

If you want to lose weight I would cut the cheese / avoid nuts and have low fat humus

I really wouldn’t.

You need the fat to keep your blood sugar steady and keep you full.

Fat doesn’t make you fat - overeating, carbs, sugar and UPFs do.

I think you've been answered by other expert MNers but no, don't cook the kale. Remove the stalks, cut quite finely, massage with oil and salt, or just add dressing and let it sit in the fridge to soften. Works well for packed lunch because the kale doesn't go slimy if it sits in the dressing, it just gets softer and easier to eat.

Lettuce/salad leaves, tomatoes, red onion, salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Basil leaves in the summer. Land cress and broad-leaved rocket in the winter. Every day.

Depending on what the protein is in my main meal, I might add hard-boiled eggs or avocado.