What do you put in a salad to make it interesting?

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I'm not a salad fan. I think back to salads when I was young with some lettuce leaves, tomato, a boiled egg in slices and some radish or similar!
How can I make salad tasty? I know a friend adds pine nuts which are tasty. I don't like tomatoes though.

I added sliced fresh apricot to mine yesterday

Agggh I bloody love this kind of salad. In contrast, I just took lunch to my elderly grandparents and the salad I did for them (I think of it as an Elderly Mancunian-Irish Salad) was just a platter of carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, whole radishes and whole cherry toms, with ham barms obvs - they were delighted!

I know this elderly Mancunian Irish salad well 😂

Chickpeas and a nice vinaigrette dressing can also liven up a salad, and I quite like warm ingredient too

Heart of Palm you can buy it in tins, quite common in salads in USA, I really like it. Or alternatively jarred or tinned artichoke is also nice. Chopped cubes of cooked sweet potato is nice as well. My favourite salad is homemade tabbouleh, with loads of chopped parsley & mint and just a few handfuls of the bulgur wheat (or quinoa is nice too if you prefer no gluten).

I mix and match ingredients according to what is in the fridge, but basically, our salads have a 'main' such as smoked salmon or mackerel, ham, or avocado slices with segments of satsuma.
Then I would choose from some of the following:

Iceberg lettuce
Spinach leaves
Rocket
Sliced apple
Small cheese squares
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Hard boiled egg
A few sultanas
Spring onions
Pomegranate seeds
Chopped peppers
Grated carrot

Always have garlic bread with it.

And I make a basic vinaigrette dressing.

My friend makes an amazing couscous salad - I could eat the whole bowlful! Will look up the recipe & post it later.
I also love pasta salad with tuna, mayo, sweetcorn, slices of apple & black pepper.
Raw mushrooms are good in a salad.

😂 that made me laught , thanks

watermelon is lovely in a salad

Lettuce.

Anything else is just gluttony.

😉

I love kaleslaw (no dressing though) mixed with other salad ingredients.

My base salad is baby mixed leaves with grated carrot and beetroot, red capsicum, mushroom, tomato, cucumber and avocado. Then you can add extras eg some kaleslaw, feta cheese, mango etc

I've got some 3 ingredient salads too. A really yummy one is one orange peeled and sliced across the segments (needed for texture), cucumber and capsicum. Top with a herbed chicken eg Moroccan or Tuscan seasonings. Very nice.

I think there is potential for crossover between the elderly Mancunian Irish salad and a Buddha Bowl that seem to be trending hereabouts!

Agree to artichokes and nuts, always dry toasted in a pan if time...

I like things such as marinated artichoke hearts; cooked beetroot; kalamata olives; sunflower & pumpkin seeds; pickled cabbage; sweetcorn

Oh and avocado
For dressing i mix tamari, balsamic reduction and garlic paste

some of these sound absolutely amazing, it’s really opened my eyes

my two cents’ worth: rocket, shaved Parmesan, toasted pine nuts and balsamic glaze

Love hearts of palm!

.

a platter of carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, whole radishes and whole cherry toms

OMG, I must be an elderly Mancunian, because this is literally what I prepare for DS every single day!

Crispy bacon

Roast beetroot with balsamic dressing, crispy kale and roast cloves of garlic!! Absolutely delicious if you don’t mind honking a bit.

One of my favourite salads is fattoush (I love the flavours of the sumac and mint).

Also love a good Greek salad with olives and feta.

I think the dressing makes all the difference. If you make your own it doesn’t have to be calorific and a little goes a long way. I often just mix up some olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and oregano with salt and pepper to taste.

Dukkah (a mix of nuts and spices)

I had a lush salad yesterday. Spinach, cherry tomatoes, shallots, cucumber, avocado, roasted butternut squash and sweet potato. With balsamic vinegar 🤤

thinly sliced pickled walnuts are delicious - rich and earthy

For me, a great salad is delicious because of contrasts. Having hot and cold elements, some crunchy, some softer, something creamier, something sharper something herby. Roasting sweet potatoes or chickpeas, against crunchy carrots, radishes, with a herby yogurt based dressing is delicious (and you don’t get sick of crunching through a plate of raw vegetables, like I do with many salads)

Some of my favourite salads are:
> Really basic salad with roasted butternut squash, grilled halloumi or feta on a bed of rocket. Simple and delicious
> Ottolenghi’s miso and peanut butter chickpea salad is delicious but I serve the chickpeas hot rather than letting them cook as I prefer the temperature contrast. So so good.
> This salad template with green goddess dressing is more of a template than an exact recipe, but the dressing is delicious (though I’ve only made it with yogurt rather than the yogurt mayo blend)

I love salads and never find them boring.
I don't really eat like an iceberg type lettuce I do find that a bit boring. For the base I'd usually use spinach leaves or a watercress mix. Or I might use grains like bulgar wheat. I usually roast veg in oven or airfryer with a spice mix and chilli's so butternut squash, pepper, Cougette, aubergine etc.
I think tomatoes need to have salt on.
I usually add nuts or seeds and have yoghurt with zatar on instead of a dressing.

Watermelon works well in salad. Crumbled feta.
Nectarine slices
Grapes

Basically anything but you need to mix it well, and have a blend of salty, sweet, crunchy, savoury etc