Fed Up Of Boring Salad and Need Some New Ideas Please

[TwoIfBySea]

Exactly what it says on the box, or rather thread title.

I was watching Tonight with Trevor McDonald about the French way of eating and there were some really interesting things going into their salads.

I realised I am stuck in the rut of lettuce, cucumber, spring onion and tomatoes.

So any ideas appreciated, especially any you know will stay in the fridge for a couple of days at least so I can just dip in. I don't like peppers but dts do (they also like courgettes, cornichons and other things I don't, much more adventurous in their tastes) so I would just pick any out.

I await the genius of M'net cooks.

I didn't see the Tonight thing but we don't really do salads. We do a table full of cold bits and pieces, so tonight we had cold roast chicken, garlic bread, roast squash and peppers, houmous, olives, half a bag of leaves and pitta breads. Just whatever was in the fridge. All served on one big platter and pick out the bits you like. Does that count as salad? I think it's the nearest I get.

What do the French do?

(am not a MN genius cook BTW)

Right, fancy salads are one of my specialities.
Good things to include are :
Blanched mange tout
Blanched french beans
Any blanched veg like brocolli and cauliflower
red onions
black olives
Baby sweetcorn
Sun-dried tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Roasted peppers
Toasted seeds
Avocado
Chopped up bits of toasted bacon
Strips of fried chicken
Prawns

Don't forget cold noodle salads with peanuts, lime and coriander. A soy/citrus dressing is good with noodles.

You are only limited by your imagination

I tend to dip in here for salad ideas.

And don't forget cheeses! Melted goat cheese on croutons and shavings of parmesan are great as are crumbled blue cheese.

I add
capers
beetroot
small pieces of crisped up bacon
avocado
anchovies

I do...

beetroot fetta and walnut

friseeblue cheese and walnut

tomato and basil with red onions

diced peppers,cukes and tomatoes with chilli

corainder or cumin (great with curry)

cucumber yoghurt and mint (or dill)

grated carrot stirred quickly into sizzling mustard seeds in oil,followed by good squeeze of lemon and left to settle for a few hours

roasted peppers,fetta and peppers

chickpea,cherry tomatoes and green beans in vinaigrette

soybeans,poached salmon and broccoli in soy/lime/chilli /coriander

So, Carmenere, do you basically mean "cold things chopped up and put on a plate mixed in with something (lettuce, noodles, pasta,etc) as a base"?
Is that how the French do it? I'm intrigued by this idea that they have a far better way...

Peaches, basically the salads they were using alongside their meals didn't really have boring salady things that I mentioned. I did see beetroot, baby sweetcorn, sugarsnap peas and variations like that, I tried to see if they had recipes up on their site but they didn't! The school dinner (or rather 3 course meal) started with some thinly sliced beetroot with a mustard and garlic dressing which looked yummy, but I didn't catch what was in the dressing. And that was food for children age 2 1/2 up.

(And the Englishwoman lost 1stone 8lb after one month of eating like her French counterpart - who wasn't ultra skinny but healthy yet managed to eat chocolate and croissants.)

Oh I do like the idea of beetroot, feta and walnut.

I just feel sometimes it is easy to get stuck in a rut with what is comfortable and easy to make. Keep the ideas coming!

Baby spinach,Parmesan and croutons

The thing is TBS is that you don't need a recipe to make a salad. Just take a selection of cold stuff you like and add a great dressing.
Mixing 1 part balsamic vinegar and 3 parts olive oil with a teaspoon of mustard and salt and pepper is a good basic dressing.

The thing is that some things do go better than others together but if you stick to things you like and just experiment you should make some lovely combinations that you can do time and again.

I can never understand why people buy bottled dressings when it is so easy to make your own.
Nice veggies,some protein,a good dressing and Bob's yer uncle

Thanks for the dressing idea Carmenere. I am always a little wary of just throwing things together incase dts don't like it and they end up going all fussy on me! I am also embarrassed to say that there are some vegetables that I wouldn't know how to prepare or if I should prepare them in a certain way beforehand, so I tend to stick with what I know. So all advice has been taken on and I have my shopping list for tomorrow.

Great ideas Moondog!

TwoIBS ask on here if there are any veg you want to know how to prepare, no need to be embarrassed about trying to get some veg into your dc's.

My favourite salad is baby spinach leaves and cucumber with feta, avocado, chickpeas, new potatoes, sun dried tomoatoes, grated carrot, and if feeling desperately hungry, some boiled eggs too.

We often just have crudites with a dip - slices of cucumber, celery, pepper, mushroom, carrot, beetroot and cauliflower are good.

I always cook spinach leaves in cannelloni, lasagne and the like, never thought of putting them in a salad, but am liking the idea. Eating them raw, right?

Yes, they are gorgeous and have quite a distinctive taste. If your family might look at a bowl of raw spinach like this: then you could try mixing half and half with other leaves that they already like.