Making a regular side salads more interesting

[OMGitsnotgood]

By ‘side salad’ I mean something light you’d have alongside something like a burger, quiche, or pizza.i appreciate you might still serve potato, rice or pasta salad, and I’d usually make a coleslaw to go with tbe above but I want to focus what you would add to a ‘regular’salqd to make it more interesting, as we’ll be having quite a few over the next few days.

Base is usually somethitng leafy (lettuce/rocket/spinach/chopped fresh herbs); cucumber; peppers; tomatoes; spring or red onions.; olives.

if not having coleslaw, will add grated carrot (I actually like that mixed with sultanas and a little French dressing but DH not so keen on fruit in salads, althougb I might add some grapes or chopped apple to one side of the salad for me).

i might add other lightly cooked veg eg green beans, asparagus , courgettes .

Possibly cubes of feta or cheese if it works with the main.

i tend not to make dressings, other
than a little to bind the grated carrot & sultanas, I know dressings can add variety but am trying to leave out unnecessary calories.

What else do you add to side salads to make them more interesting?

I like a bit of crunch - some nuts or seeds. Lightly toasted pumpkin seeds or toasted flaked almonds or sesame seeds?

gotta say though that the real flavour game changer would be dressing. Different mustards and vinegars etc. my vinegar of the year is an English raspberry vinegar - delicious. Apple cider vinegar, nut vinegar, pomegranate molasses and garlic is great too with oil and maybe a little light spicing.

Herbs and olives etc add punch but you already do that. I particularly love mint, dill or basil in salads - not together though.

Looking forward to seeing other suggestions.

Radishes
Celery
beetroot
lentil/bean sprouts
chives
chickpeas

extra calories…
Bacon sprinkles
Crispy onion
croutons

fruit…
watermelon is nice with feta

pear or figs lovely with a bit of goats cheese

pomegranate seeds are nice sprinkled over anything - lovely with roasted sweet potato

I like some chopped apple and a few dried cranberries. Pomegranate also good in a salad, and some mixed seeds.

Balsamic vinegar as a dressing is not high calorie. You can buy it as a spray which makes it dead easy.

Quick pickled onions - thin sliced red onions left in vinegar for 20 mins or more, and added as a topper. I make a jar and keep in the fridge for a few days.

Ditto radishes and/or cucumber. Especially in summer.

Olives and/or capers.

Some great suggestions here.

Toasted walnuts (roughly chopped) are a regular addition for us - or toasted pumpkin seeds. Agree with a previous poster about mixing up textures.

Grilled halloumi bits another favourite!

Edited to add - Must admit I wouldn’t enjoy my salad half as much without a good dressing. I make a Delia one with garlic, mustard powder, vinegar and olive oil.

Squeeze of lemon juice. Like a dressing but less calorific.

Edamame beans

I am eating salads almost continuously here and the only thing that I add to my leaves and toms now is soy sauce. Not as calorific as dressing (unless someone is about to come on here and tell me it's got a million calories per tablespoon), but it peps up my lettuce a treat.

I make a 'red salad'.

Red onion, radishes, beetroot, tomatoes, peppers, grated carrot and finely sliced red cabbage, radicchio.

I might add a couple of orange segments - but leave out if you don't want fruit.

Raw sliced mushrooms are nice
Cress

@Thesoundofmusic23 where did you buy the raspberry vinegar from? It’s one of my favourites, but haven’t seen it in the shops for, literally, years!

Avocado
Lardons - if you add a bit of olive oil to the pan in which you’re frying them, you can use this to make a dressing. Just add a sloosh (technical term) of white/red wine vinegar and stir it in.

Garlic salt, Lemon juice and a very tiny drizzle of honey is a good way to add more taste without calories.

i also put Asian style poke bowl dressing on mine sometimes, depending on what they have in them. It has soy sauce, lime, rice vinegar, minced garlic and minced ginger in it, all of which are low calorie. Also usually sesame oil but you could leave this out if you wanted it lower calorie. I make a jam jar of this and keep it in the fridge so I’m not making from scratch each time. It will keep for at least a couple of weeks, likely longer.

of course adding things like feta, croutons, grilled houllumi, fried onion bits etc etc will make it taste amazing too without the dressing, but will contain more calories than dressings even those that contain an oil. Sometimes the taste of a dressing can help keep the whole salad healthier as it makes even plain stuff like lettuce taste good.

nuts and seeds also good to sprinkle on, but probably more calories than a dressing (not sure)

My go to is red pepper, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, chickpeas and coriander. The dressing is literally the juice of 1 lemon and salt.

Absolutely delicious in this weather.

chopped or sliced gherkins
radishes
steamed green beans
asparagus

I often add sauted onions, peppers or courgettes (especially during the summer when I have loads) or any other random veg I grow which have been seasoned or spiced depending on what I can be bothered to add. I mainly use what I have to hand. And I make a salad almost every 2 days to last 2 meals.

I like all of the above and I also make use of jars - depending on what's the main , pickled walnuts, sun dried tomatoes , borettane onions, roasted peppers etc

And even though I do watch my weight, I cant resist a wee sprinkle of Kewpie Sesame dressing - its so flavoursome a tiny amount does the job

Loving all the suggestions, thank you. I’ve watched enough cookery programmes to know a salad should always be dressed, love the idea of balsamic or lemon juice as a low cal option, thank you

Agree that the dressingss are key. When DH was doing Slimming World, we did a lot of salads with lemon juice, fat free greek yoghurt, some mustard, salt, mixed herbs. If I could justify the syns, we'd add a little honey too - not much goes a long way in a dressing like this.

Natural yoghurt with a little oil and vinegar is a great dressing for coleslaw.

Watermelon, rocket, red chilli, feta and mint makes a great salad.

I add roasted vegetables. Aubergine baked with teriyaki marinade, cauliflower roasted with whatever spice mix i have in the cupboard, shallots with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, sweet potato, mushrooms. I aim to have a piece of roasted veg in every mouthful.

I add lots of herbs to salads, not just a sprinkling.

I also have started using teriyaki marinade and Vietnamese dipping sauce instead of salad dressings.

Radishes, cucumber, capers, olives, pink onions (sold in jars in Aldi) or sliced gherkins as zero/low calorie extras. Also toasted seeds or cubes of blue cheese.

Agree with raw mushrooms, game changer for me! Also raw chopped babycorn is nice. Fresh herbs really add a lot to a salad, i like basil best.

Dressings don’t have to be high calorie. I use lime juice a lot with chilli and fresh coriander. Or do a yoghurt and mint dressing.

I like tossing in some roasted chickpeas—basically healthy croutons! 😄 A few crunchy seeds, maybe a splash of lemon juice, and if I’m feeling fancy, some pickled onions. My salads are still simple, just not sleep-inducing anymore!