What can I add to my boring salads to make them more enticing?

[SaladRoger]

I'm trying to get fitter and healthier and have started eating salads for lunch.

I generally stick to things like salad leaves, iceberg lettuce, cucumber, peppers, cooked chicken breast, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, cheddar cheese and a tiny sprinkle of salad dressing.

What can I add to make it more interesting and tasty?

I'm going to try pomegranate and some sort of seeds.

Any other suggestions, preferably ones that don't cost too much.
Thanks

Maybe, although I do eat a lot of fruit already and too much is calorific.

Chopped fruit. Crispy onions

Nuts
Roast veg - roast a big batch to last the week, mix of peppers red onions cubed aubergine courgette
Sliced apple or pear or grapes
Different cheeses - eg goats cheese goes very well with roast veg. Blue cheese works with sweet things like grapes or apple, or a sweet dressing with honey
Bacon bits
Fried potatoes
Chickpeas or cooked lentils
Avocado
Herbs - a bit of chopped dill, mint, basil or parsley makes a salad much more interesting

Basic formula for a great salad:
Include something crunchy, something creamy, something salty, something sweet. Sometimes these can be the same item eg red pepper is crunchy and sweet.

Quinoa
Chickpeas
Feta
Pickled red onion
Mint
Parsley
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Pistachios
Pine nuts

Make the chicken more interesting? You can add tonnes of different marinades and make it nicer? Honey and mustard / tikka / soy, honey and ginger / bbq / lemon and herbs.

make a tray of Mediterranean roasted veg and add that to it

think about fruit, finely sliced green apple, orange pieces, pineapple, grilled peach

nuts - toasted walnuts / hazelnuts / peanuts / almonds to sprinkle on the top

try different leaves, finely sliced cabbage and different vegetables

add a grain or pulses, cous cous, red rice, chickpeas or something else?

make sure you season your salad with salt and pepper just before serving.

try different smoked fishes or cheeses to change up the protein?

Spring onions and/or red onions. Diced avocado. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds. Thinly grated Parmesan. Roasted chickpeas.

Olives, cottage cheese, anchoives, lentils, chickpeas, grilled halloumi, pickled red cabbage, raddish, humus...

Make good dressings. Then it is a bit of green, a bit of crunch, a bit of protein and a bit of colour.

My go to dressings are a classic french (50g red / white / cider/ tarragon vinegar, 1/2 TSP of salt and of same sugar. Whisk to dissolve add 50g olive oil and whisk. Finally whisk in 100g of a neutral oil. It will emulsify and can be kept in the fridge.

Caesar - juice if half a lemon, dash of Worcester sauce or minced anchovies, celery salt, sugar, pinch dried tarragon, half a minced garlic clove, whisk to dissolve. Add 2 table spoons of yoghurt and the same of mayo. Give it a good mix

Thai - tblsp each of honey, lime juice, light soy. Half TSP of fish sauce, red Thai curry paste to taste. Give it a good mix

Curry/ Pomegranate/ balsamic - one part pomegranate molasses or curry pastry or balsamic vinegar, 3 parts oil, salt and pepper to season. If it is too strong add a spoon of water.

I love sweetcorn and grated carrot in mine.

Love ceaser dressing.

Croutons for abit crunch.

pasta.

Also, cut oranges and lemons taste really nice with a vinagrette

Olives, avocado and a slice of fresh bread with lurpak😋

roast broccoli and cauliflower sounds good.
What's a Balsamic glaze? Balsamic vinegar and oil?

Sweet chilli sauce, crispy onions, sultanas I also like chunks of pineapple in a salad

You can buy packets of seeds for salads, 'salad toppers' in places like Lidl, great for adding crunch and flavour. It's mostly sunflower and pumpkin seeds but also tiny, very crunchy dried peas. Really nice.

I'm trying to steer clear of bread!

Sesame based dressings are my favorite
make the salad greens arugula heavy or just do all arugula. Sometimes I just have a big bowl of arugula lightly dressed with sesame dressing and freshly cracked black pepper for a meal but I know that is bizarre and not balanced
quick pickled vegetables

For a treat, replace croutons with diced leftover pizza or nachos that have been popped in the oven or air fryer

Agree on the dressing comment.
Love the jalapeno suggestion.

I like herbs in a salad. I've got a big pot of basil outside at the minute, it was only one of the potted ones from lidl so cheap as chips! (But healthier)

Balsamic glaze can be bought at Great expense or made from a bottle of cheap balsamic vinegar with 100g of sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar over a low heat. Reduce the volume by a third. Bottle and drizzle over tomato and mozzarella.

Is couscous not just wheat in a different form to bread?

www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes/5358385-making-a-regular-side-salads-more-interesting?reply=145122710

Second Ottolenghi for salad recs - just wow! I’ve been working my way through these for garden dinners. You could do salad themes to mix it up, so mixed leaf base and say caprese topper or Mexican protein topper or tuna nicoise, blue cheese & walnut, Asian style tofu. Seeds are good and nuts for extra protein. I like broccoli too. Maybe some homemade dressings saves money and less calories if you are trying to reduce that

I add home grown herbs, mint/basil/parsley etc.

Toasted sunflower seeds, makes everything taste amazing. Then mix up your acids each time for a different dressing - lemon/lime/apple cider vinegar, etc. You can make nice dressings with a combo of oil, mayo and one of the acids, it makes it creamy. I love a jar of peanut rayu to add interest, but that can be a bit spendy. Add a grain, e.g. Couscous, bulgar etc and pour the dressing on while it's still hot so it soaks in the flavour. I also love tuna salads, so adding tinned fish wherever it makes sense.

Pine nuts is a good suggestion.
Raspberry vinegar, not sure