What's actually IN your (massive) salad?

[ButterflyBarista]

My regular salad is: (I eat this in one sitting)

Spinach leaves as the base two decent handfuls
A few rocket leaves
Cherry tomatoes (4) cut in half
Teaspoon of pesto
Half an avocado chopped up
One beetroot chopped up
Diced cucumber
A tin of tuna

Mix it all around. Delicious.

I like everything chopped small so I can mix everything up and get a bite of different flavours, don't want to be messing with a knife.

I'm quite traditional with the base:
Baby leaves from prepared bag or iceberg lettuce finely sliced.
Cucumber in tiny cubes
Baby plum tomatoes quartered
Red onion finely cubed (small amount or I'll be tasting it hours later)

Then I'll add anything random I spot in the fridge or cupboard but sliced small;
Silver pickled onions
Cornichons
Sweetcorn
Carrots
Sugar snap peas
Baby corn

The only 2 dressings I like are honey mustard or balsamic, just a tiny smidge.

It's usually a side to whatever meat I'm cooking, tonight it was salt and chilli pork belly, cooked it quite crispy and charred at the edges, it was delicious.

Mixed baby leaves, different coloured bright veg, toasted walnuts, seeds, avocado, grilled halloumi with thyme and home made vinaigrette. Whole thing is 10 mins.

In the first lockdown I made and ate a massive salad every lunchtime with things like tuna, beetroot, beetroot quinoa (from Aldi), hummus, avocado, homemade guacamole, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, salad leaves, raw carrot sticks, celery sticks, pumpkin seeds, and mini pickled onions and cornichons. Essentially many of my favourite foods on a plate.

I used to workout before eating and then eat while looking out of the window with a foreign language podcast on; it was great.

I'd love to have that again but it doesn't travel well (I have a long commute on public transport and no fridge at work and usually have to scoff down something speedily or have a couple of bites at one point then a bit more when there's time later on. And I don't really like the taste/vibe of food from a Tupperware type container.)

Grated red cabbage
Spinach
Edamame
Cucumber
Kale
Basil
Peppers
Carrot
Pistachio nuts
Orange
Chickpeas
Crispy dried onions.

Goodness. I think I'm pushing the boat out if I add radishes to my cucumber, lettuce and tomato

Lettuce, rocket, land cress, spring onion, all from the veggie patch
Tomatoes - but only good ones or meh ones left to ripen
Sometimes avocado
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar

I eat this every day if my dinner is western, different salads for Indian or Asian.

I’m useless at salads generally so I’m loving these ideas. My go to is always Greek salad but I will now try and diversify.

Rocket
Extra virgin olive oil
salt & black pepper
goats cheese or feta
olives
spring onion
basil leaves if l have any

I’m normally well into the salad season by now, but am still in my ‘soup for lunch’ mode. It’s so bitterly cold!

I like it simple - a whole sweet cos lettuce shredded, a lot of cucumber, sliced and then slices halved, cherry tomatoes (halved) with Sainsbury’s raspberry salad dressing, and if I have some in the fridge, green olives. Protein is either devilled eggs or burrata, or occasionally smoked salmon.

At the moment

Broccoli chopped tiny (raw)
Red pepper
Red onion
Dried cranberries
Toasted hazelnuts
Dressing- tahini, lemon juice, garlic, water
Any protein

Important to dress salad a good while before eating.

"Hot Salad"
Rocket & Baby Leaves
Avocado
Red Pepper
Chestnut mushrooms gently pan fried in either bacon fat or garlic butter
Sometimes some chopped bacon
Parmesan/ Grano Padano cheese
Balsamic Dressing

Quick Lunchbox salad - makes 2 portions
1 pack merchant gourmet tomatoey puy lentils
I pack cooked beetroot chopped small
I pack soft goats cheese chopped up
Two big handfuls of rocket.

I love the suggestions but adding fruit is my favourite suggestion on here.

Lettuce, iceberg
cherry tomatoes 4
Red pepper
Basil
Coleslaw
Fillet of smoked mackerel
Smoked salmon
Roll mop herring
Heinz salad cream

Large bowl of leaves (mixed, cos, spinach and rocket...whatever) with a teaspoon or two of balsamic vinegar. 6-8 cherry toms (must be halved, I hate that thing where you bite a whole one and it explodes). Kalmata olives. Third of a can of green lentils mixed with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice. Then some sort of protein (chicken, salmon, tinned tofu, egg , cheese esp goat or feta... whatever there is).
Sometimes some avocado, beetroot or leftover cooked brocolli if we've got any. Sprinkling of seed salad topper or about 10g of broken up walnuts

The one thing which it must not contain is any sort of raw onion. Bleugh.

Lettuce
Tomato
Cucumber
Celery
Artichoke hearts
Feta
Turkey or ham
Seeds
Ranch dressing

I’ve started snacking on regular tomatoes quartered with a sprinkle of Maldon salt, delicious! A far healthier alternative to crisps but you still get that savoury fix.

Best salad I’ve ever eaten was in a hotel in Letterkenny. Had fresh strawberries in it. Best. Meal. Ever. Roll on strawberry season.

I'm not claiming it's healthy but it's vegetable at least...

Bistro/beetroot salad bag
Gherkins
Cherry tomatoes
Sweetcorn
Sometimes grated carrot
Air fried kale
Crispy onions
Parmesan
Wagamama house dressing

Usually topped with chicken dippers I love it or I skip the Parmesan and have halloumi instead

The kale gives it a really good crunch

Last time I made it

Health issue (fatigue) means too tired to cook but I can assemble this easily with the chicken dippers

I'm a massive fan of a Thai salad. Base salad of red cabbage, lettuce, carrot, thai basil and grapefruit with a grapefruit juice / lime / chilli / garlic / soy dressing and then fry in a vv hot wok some chilli, garlic, shallot,chicken mince, soy and oyster sauce and chuck on top. Amazing (if you enjoy spicy)

Pomegranate seeds are the food of the Gods and have to be added to all salads.

Mine's a bit different each time, but tonight's was

rocket
avocado
cucumber
red pepper
radish
baby white pickled onions
baby gherkins
picalino tomatoes

a couple of ends of hard cheeses
a vegetarian (cauldron) sausage

vegan Heinz's mayo
balsamic vinegar
ground pepper

(low carb, vegetarian, no eggs)

my fav are:
romaine or rocket
very finely shaved fennel
orange segments
plenty of chopped dill
dressing with orange juice, lemon juice, orange zest, agave syrup, dijon, white wine vinegar and rapeseed oil
I can eat a whole bucket of this. its ridiculously delicious

or... a really massive waldorf salad with more cheese than salad

Fuck all because I’m a terrible vegetarian.
Give me cheese and I'm all good. Can't remember the last time I ate a fruit or vegetable because I wanted to. I live on high carb type meals once a day, have done for over a decade. I will happily eat pineapple on pizza though