Seeking New Ideas for Cold Main Meals – Beyond Pasta Salad!

[alexanderdeliyannis]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been eating a lot of cold pasta salads lately, and while I love them, I'm getting a bit tired of them. I'm looking for fresh ideas for proper main meals that can be eaten cold (think substantial meals, not just snacks or sides).
I think pasta salad is like a cold pasta bake, with salad dressing instead of cheese, so it feels like a proper main meal. But now I'm looking for alternatives to shake things up. Any suggestions for meals that meet this cold criteria but aren't pasta salad?

I'd love to hear your favorite cold meals, or any other ideas that might fit the bill!
I appreciate any help you can provide.

I had a lovely salad yesterday.

Cold roast chicken, rocket, spinach tabbouleh, diced cucumber, pomegranate all mixed up and drizzled with tahini.

Frittata

If you’re looking for stooge then learn to make a really nice Spanish omelette with onion eggs and potato’s.
Cool it and you have nice big slabs for a few days

Stodge*

I made Spanokorizo for DS17 lunches for a couple of days this week. I added roast chicken one day from the previous night's supper and feta today. It's delicious!

American-style chicken salad (i.e. shredded or finely chopped cold cooked chicken mixed with mayonnaise or another dressing and any other extras you fancy) is a favourite of mine. I do lots of different versions and never get tired of it

I don’t mind eating pizza cold.
Quiche with green salad
Spanakopita
Salmon en croute
Tuna potato salad https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/recipes/tuna-and-potato-salad/
Peanut noodles https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/peanut-herb-noodle-salad
Chicken pilaf
Feta couscous

A German dish.
Roast leftovers - pork or beef.
With a potato salad involving a dressing of chopped onions, chopped gherkins, and mayonaisse.

Salade Niçoise is a very filling and satisfying meal. It's traditional to use tinned tuna, rather than the recent trend for using fresh tuna steaks.

Chicken Caesar salad.

Waldorf salad on a bed of mixed leaves topped with flakes of smoked mackerel fillets. If you make the Waldorf salad yourself, you can add extras like black grapes, chopped apricots, sultanas for added interest.

Coronation Chicken served with green salad, add extra sultanas, chopped apricots and flaked almonds for extra interest.

Polish potato salad with chunks of sausage, cubes of ham or salami, hard boiled eggs, chopped celery.

Yum! Lots of lovely suggestions above!

Spatchcock chicken marinaded in olive oil, cumin, garlic and lemon. With couscous and tatziki.

Fillet of beef, new potatoes, salads of some sort or asparagus you could have cold. You could also make a ham..both suggestions hopefully would last for lots of meals.

Prawn, Avocado, Smoked salmon salad

Tomato tart; or a quiche

Sashimi or sushi

German potato salad is the best.

Couscous with roasted veg, feta cheese and a lemony dressing. You could have some cold chicken with it to make it more substantial.

Sounds like its the carb element you're getting bored with, so change it around using pearl barley, rice, couscous (which is pasta), bulgar wheat, potato

Then mix around your proteins, fish, prawns, tofu, feta etc etc as well as chicken. I tend to eat too much chicken to be honest

Spanakopita, tabbouleh, big Greek salads. Roast veg and couscous with harissa.
I made veggie poke bowls the other day, delicious, you can do them with salmon too. I used sticky rice, avocado, sweetcorn, mango, cucumber, sesame seeds and chilli flakes and a dressing made of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, maple syrup, garlic, ginger and a dash of sriracha. Loads of recipe ideas online

Stuff vegetables such as aubergine, tomatoes, peppers, courgettes with rice or couscous plus flavourings such as tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic etc, top with cheese if liked. Bake, then eat at room temperature with salad.

Quinoa salad with pomegranate seeds etc

Also puff pastry tarts, I usually just do a rectangle one using ready rolled pastry, but heard this one on the Dish podcast, puttanesca flavours but cooked like a tarte rating, I'd do it without the anchovies (vegetarian) for me

Tarte tatin lol

Vitello tonnato with a side (salad) of your choice.