Hit me with your favourite main course veggie salads please

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Need to eat better, so plan to have at least three meals a week that are basically salad, at least whilst the weather is warmer.

What are your favourite filling salads?

I made a pasta salad yesterday. It had kidney beans, a bit of chopped onion, chopped cucumber and chopped red pepper in it, plus pasta of course and mayonnaise.

It also had tuna, but you asked for it to be veggie. The kidney beans provide the protein element.

Cold roast squash, feta and giant couscous with bit of chopped red onion and drizzle of lemon.

I only posted on here to get other ideas
That sounds delicious BellaVida

This is lovely
www.rivercottage.net/recipes/rocket-fennel-and-puy-lentil-salad
If you don't want to deal with cooking lentils from scratch, it's still pretty tasty made with decent tinned ones

I like this one: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/roasted-asparagus-pea-salad

I'm lazy so get the packets of ready cooked mixed grains for salad
Usually have those with feta, tomatoes, gherkins, spring onion, spinach and either balsamic or mix some pesto in

Thanks for these. Will check them all out properly tomorrow.

I like the lazy Merchant Gourmet sachets, so ways of sexing those up would be great!

This is one of our favourite salads, we mostly have it for picnics but at home sometimes, too. The griddled aubergines are really nice in it!

Salade Niçoise sans tuna would still be very tasty and filling.

Waldorf salad served with a slice of quiche or some cubes of cheese.

Caesar salad is very summery, I sometimes add asparagus for a change.

Cous-cous, made with vegetable stock for some flavour, is a good base to add roasted vegetables or raw salad stuff to. You can ring the changes with different chopped herbs or add some spices.
Puy lentils or chickpeas (tinned) or cold new potatoes will make any salad into something more substantial.

This is one of my favourite recipes of all time. I could eat it every day!
thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/rainbow-tabbouleh-with-avocado-radishes-and-pomegranate

A Greek salad with cucumber, peppers, red onion, feta, tomatoes, and olives is nice with a bit of skinless chicken marinated and grilled.

I make the salad dressing with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. You can use some to marinate the chicken and some on the salad.

@LoveFall that doesn't seem very vegetarian

we have roquefort, pear, rocket and walnut

Today had cheese and brocolli quiche and garden salad

Also have veg kebabs with couscous

I am posting in order to get more ideas but my favourite currently is the combo of warm french beans with unpickled steamed beetroot. Further ingredients will include some or all chosen from rocket, tomatoes, goats cheese or walnuts (v small quantities if choosing those last two). For a dressing, 5ml each of water, lime juice and expensive balsamic vinegar (cheap ones are too harsh for this dressing but the more expensive ones are milder and smoother)

My favourite ever salad is goat's cheese and pears finely diced with dried cranberries and walnut pieces on a bed of rocket and drizzled with honey and mustard dressing

This is absolutely amazing. If you don't like artichoke replace with a tin of sweetcorn, if you don't like hearts of palm use olives or cucumber.

www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/vegan-pasta-noodles/potato-artichoke-heart-pasta-salad/

The important thing with salads is to remember that just because something is a salad doesn't mean it's necessarily going to be a healthy food - you don't mention in your OP whether this is part of a weight-loss strategy specifically so forgive me if this isn't your aim but just for example, the recipe for the delicious-looking Potato and Artichoke salad posted by @KarmaViolet (which I definitely like the look of) will make a total amount of salad that is about 1250 calories ish. Now if you can eat just a quarter of the amount that was made and either share it with 3 other people or keep 3 quarters for the next day, then that is a pretty healthy meal. If you eat a third or a half of the bowl ful though then that would be a pretty hefty chunk out of a reasonable day's calorie intake and not necessarily that helpful for eating healthier.

All sorts of high cal ingredients can go into salad and stop them from being quite so helpful with the healthy eating. It's ok to use them a bit (and I do) but you do need to be careful. I call salad that is loaded with so much delicious higher-cal ingredients that it can't reall be called a healthy meal any more "sal-lard"

Thanks for all these. Not necessarily about weight loss, more about eating more fruit/veg.

I'm going to start with the one from the Roasting Tin.

I don't like creamy things like mayonnaise, creamy pasta salads etc. Sorry, should have said.

I like the idea of using roasted sweet potatoes or butternut squash for bulk. Will definitely try a couple of ideas stemming from that.

Greek salad, with no tomatoes and definitely no chicken, is one of my very favourite things!

A Sabrina Ghayour recipe

Brown rice, green lentils (tinned and packet are fine) dried apricots, parsley, preserved lemons, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, toasted almonds, sumac and dried mint.

Sorry about the chicken! Old habits die hard. My favourite change up has been using natural apple cider vinegar in my dressings. It is really a game changer.

Signed the chicken lady.

The Chicken Lady 😂😂😂

Miranda - that sounds amazing.

This one is lovely. I missed out the feta and had it with halloumi instead. www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/black-white-rice-salad-cumin-roasted-butternut-squash/amp

I love sumac. Fattoush salad is another favourite.

This butternut squash, kale and freekeh salad is a favourite! So delicious : www.wellplated.com/roasted-butternut-squash-freekeh-salad/#wprm-recipe-container-34776

For something different, this orange soy glazed rice salad is really delicious.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/a-sizzling-recipe-to-convert-the-sceptics-1.4468413%3fmode=amp

The Asian Green cookbook is really good.