Interesting Salads

[RavenVonChaos]

Okay, going to try and eat more salad in 2013, but always revert to the basic lettuce tomato cucumber....

Would like some interesting ideas for salads please that would be a whole meal or as a side.

Anybody......

This is a regular favourite in our family:
Green beans, boiled and cooled
New potatoes, boiled and cooled, with or without skins
Red onion, raw, finely sliced into rings/half rings
Toss together in a bowl with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

It always goes down well with guests!

cooked beetroot, cooked potatoe, watercress and.....i think walnuts.

I like avocado and orange salad, with smoked salmon trimmings, creme fraiche and some toasted pine nuts sprinkled on top, served with fresh crusty bread and thick butter. My mum used to make the salad you describe above, and as I hate cucumber and find lettuce tasteless and dull, I was an adult before I realised salads could be tasty and interesting.

Gado Gado
Panzanella

I love boiled egg and ham salad with lots of salad cream.

I have just had mixed leaves, beetroot, feta, chicken, cherry tomatoes and a drizzle of balsamic, it was vair naice :)

Disclaimer - I am 22 weeks pregnant and thought a chorizo and coldslaw sandwich was yum

Roast butternut squash with rocket, pine nuts and feta
Watercress, blue cheese, pear and walnut
Smoked mackerel, spinach, new potatoes, spring onion, beetroot and a creamy horseradish dressing
Sweetcorn, diced tomato, jalapeños, black beans, diced red onion, avocado and finely chopped chilli. Dressed with oil and lime juice.
Spinach, roast peppers, olives, tomatoes with balsamic
Roast mushrooms, mozzarella, roast chicken, sundried tomatoes, lettuce and ranch dressing

Home made coleslaw with red cabbage, carrots and celeriac, and low fat mayo. Tomato salad with basil leaves and a balsamic and olive oil dressing.

Insalata della Nonna. green beans, potatoes, tomatoes + dressing. You can add crusty bread or some mozarella.

The following are useful to add to brighten up a salad;

grilled red / orange / yellow peppers.
Walnuts / pine-nuts.
Goats cheese.
Steamed long stem broccolli.

Thanks so much for your replies. These are great ideas. I hope that I will eventually win the kids round, but I am definitely going to have a least one of the suggestions every week until they are a fixture.

I have found pine nuts to be vair expensive tho and haven't found any in Aldi....any ideas where to buy them cheaply?

We buy our sun Tesco's...they are expensive but I find you only need a tablespoon per person, oh and don't forget to lightly toast them under the grill to bring out the flavour!!!!
They really are worth the expense if you can afford it!

Sun= pine nuts!!! Not sure what auto correct was up to there!!!

Liven up any salad by serving in a tortilla basket. Put a flour tortilla inside a wire sieve and press the tortilla into the shape of the sieve. Put into the oven at 180 deg until it begins to brown.

I like bunging some cous cous into salads.

Mango salad/salsa - great with qaesadillas or a chilli, or fajitas etc -
Dice a mango and a red onion and a red pepper.
Put into a bowl and add chopped red chilli and lots of chopped coriander.
Add lime or lemon juice plus s&p.
Can add other coloured peppers and/or halved cherry tomatoes too.

Side salad for a curry - diced red onion/diced cucumber/half a teaspoon mint sauce/teaspoon mango chutney/s&p/lemon juice/ chopped tomato if wished.

Roasted beetroot and feta with rocket and anything else you fancy.

Greek salad - soak the red onion briefly in a spoon of red wine and add a few capers to the mix as well. So - cucumber / red pepper if wished / red onion soaked in wine (use the wine too) / tomatoes if wished (I prefer it without), cos lettuce, a few capers, feta and dried oregano

Tuna and flageolet bean salad. Serves 4
Drain 2 tins of tuna and a tin of flageolet beans. Chop red onions into thin slices. Mix all together in serving dish, add lots of chopped flat leaf parsley and black pepper. Combine with a dressing made of olive oil and lots of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Serve on peppery salad leaves such as rocket.
This is also
really good - and works well with frozen broad beans (peeled) or soya beans

I like a mix of 3 or 4 different lettuces, whichever are available, with grated raw carrot and beetroot. Peel carrots and beets, grate in a processor. Dress with oil and a nice vinegar of your choice. Serve with grilled chicken/fish/cold meats.

Ensalada Chilena is nice as a side dish, sliced tomatoes and thinly sliced onion with coriander usually, or sometimes parsley. It probably goes under a different name in different countries, but that's the name I know.

Valentina Harris has some nice looking salads in one of her books, have you seen her recipes?

Thai salad dressing.