How do you make salad tasty??

[CaptainWarbeck]

So following on from the halloumi thread, I fried some off, chopped it up and scattered the bits on some leaves with cucumber and a lot of creamy salad dressing (I know, totally not healthy but I'm breastfeeding, hungry and don't care ). It was delicious and actually the first salad I think I've EVER enjoyed! What else can I do/put in to make salads tasty?

This is an excellent question. My SIL is South African and always comes out with tasty salads - I've noted avocado, orange and toasted sesame seeds/pine nuts. Must resolve to expand my supermarket repertoire beyond cucumber/lettuce/peppers.

We quite like to squeeze fresh lime, a little oil & fresh chilli on ours. Gives it a fresh zing.

I used a recipe I read on here- peppery leaves, chopped up grilled portobello mushrooms, bits of chopped up grilled bacon, toasted pine nuts and cubes of feta. Delicious!

Joining the thread for inspiration

A mixture of textures, temperatures and tastes is what makes it interesting! So something warm and something cold, something soft and something crunchy, something sharp and something creamy. Obviously you don't have to do all of these at once!

E.g. -Roast squash, baby spinach, seeds, balsamic vinaigrette
-Chickpeas, tomatoes, feta, caramelised onions in vinegar, loads of herbs
-Mozzerella, tomato, basil, olive oil and pine nuts on mixed leaves

Ooh good tip chicky! I obviously nailed the crunchy and creamy elements with that halloumi effort!

Fruit like tangerine or pear/Apple

Toasted pine nuts or seeds

A good dressing! I like ones with lime or mango in.

I find leafy stuff really dull and much prefer to bulk out salads with grains like couscous, quinoa or bulgur wheat, and although this does up the calorie count quite a bit, I tend to use healthier dressings (maybe just olive oil and lemon juice) rather than the creamier dressings I like on lettuce etc.

Adding strong flavoured stuff helps, so things like radish, salad onions, beetroot or feta cheese really zhuzhes it up. Also make sure your tomatoes are the lovely ripe red ones and not the mealy pale ones.

Dd makes lovely salads. She makes dressings with oil and balsamic and adds things like avocados, seeds, nuts, and butternut squash.

She's a student and lives with vegetarians so has picked up some tasty ideas.

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar can make a simple salad less boring.

We also like dressings made with lime and chilli.

The Lean in 15 books also have some lovely salads.

i cut up sun dried tomatoes
or add feta
squeeze lemon juice.

coriander leaves,
olives

Leafy salads are great with LOTS of fresh herbs - parsley and basil are good choices.

Really lifts the flavours.

Rocket leaves
Couscous
Roasted butternut squash
Mint and yoghurt dressing

Sooooo good

Agree it's textures and temperatures - cold roasted vegetables are delicious - and I toast pine nuts or other nuts and toss them either whole, sliced or crushed. And as a previous poster said, 'salad' doesn't have to be leaf-based. I make a lot that are based around puy lentils (with cherry tomatoes, good mozzarella, a handful of spinach etc) or chickpeas, for instance. Or good tomatoes as a base. I make a tomato and red onion salad a lot when the tomatoes are good. Or make a home-made coleslaw, using grated carrot, finely sliced red and white cabbage and red onion and a mustardy-mayonnaise-y dressing.

Learn to make really good salad dressing, and use different oils and sharp elements - lemon juice or balsamic vinegar or wine vinegar etc etc. We use a lot of different mustards, too.

Brilliant ideas on this thread.

Those of you who are putting chickpeas in salads, what are you doing with the chickpeas? Are they any good straight out of the can or do you need to roast them or something?

i cook the can and then drain

I would love ideas

What dressing is nice ? I rarely make salads but bought quinoa for the first time last week as I had it out with spring onion. Lemon and tomatoes (not sure what else was in it)

A tip I have is to set beetroot in blackcurrant jelly but love more ideas

Cheese, blue cheese dressing, boiled eggs and bacon bits!

I would take the salad, move it to one side and replace it with something highly calorific and delicious like chips

My Nan makes a 'Harvester salad' inspired by the salad cart she adds blue cheese dressing, crispy onions, apple, pineapple and raisins

I just drain canned chickpeas and then let them sit in the dressing while I'm throwing the other stuff together.

Waitrose do frozen butternut squash that you can microwave for four minutes (two pieces at a time) chop and add. Really flavoursome considering they're frozen and a nice way to make it more interesting!

Salad dressings- M&S mango and lime is lovely! And Merry Berry for more traditional olive oil and vinegar combinations.

Salad sprinkles are definitely worth it- just a few pumpkin seeds are lovely.

capers
coriander
toasted sesame seeds
edamame beans
pomegranate

are a few of my favourite things to make a salad tasty.

Lentils
Capers
Olives
Sundried tomatoes and other antipasti (grilled peppers, artichoke)
Jalapeno peppers
Beetroot
Parma ham
Hard boiled egg
Nuts
Pesto
Cheese - mozerella, feta, blue cheese, goat's cheese
Chicken
Tinned tuna/anchovies/sardines

Obviously not all together!