Tasty Salad ideas for work

[pinkyponkyplink]

I’m trying to be healthier. Are those easy chopper tools any good? One thing that puts me off salads for work is lack of taste and all the prep and mess afterwards. Can anyone share some tasty dressings? What do you put in your salad? Has anyone got one of the easy veg choppers?

It takes a few minutes to chop cucumber. Unless you are feeding the 5000, a thing that chops veg isn't going to revolutionise your diet..
Imo the dressing is key. I don't like salads that have the kitchen sink chucked at them. Few things, good dressing, sorted. If you are taking it to work, keep the dressing separate so it doesn't go soggy.

Why do you think salads lack taste? I make up salads on a Sunday for the week, last week was cucumber olives and feta in one pot, and roasted veg with lentils in another, and some cold salmon. It was delicious. Next week involves radishes, beetroot, a potato salad and marinated artichokes. All of which taste delicious.

Do I need to cook chickpeas? I love them but never do them at home.
Any salad dressing tips including Greek yogurt?
If I want to use microwave rice, is it ok to cook the night before and then eat cold the next day??

The Salad Lab on Instagram has great salad recipes, there was also a thread on here a little while ago with lots of great ideas. I have a mini chopper (one of the ones you bang hard on the top to chop) and a mini food processor, hardly ever use either as things have to be chopped to the right size to go in them and they are more faff than they are worth!

Here https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/food_and_recipes/5356924-wow-salads?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

Chickpeas - I always buy them in a jar, pouch or tin, but you can cook your own. One of the big newspapers did a taste test and I think jars came out best for taste, followed by home-cooked. The jars are expensive but usually on offer somewhere, the Lidl ones when they have a Spanish or European week are excellent.

I’ve just got into salads my fave dressing is a big spoon of Greek yog mixed with a tablespoon of mustard! Tastes like ceaser dressing and less fat!

@LordEmsworth does it really last all week?

I’ll roast some veg a5 the beginning of the week, in olive oil, peppers, mushrooms, courgettes….then use that with tinned or pouched lentils, bit of vinegar and oil dressing, some chilli, olives and left over chicken, ham, or cheese…. It’s nicer if it’s not fridge cold. So I either don’t put in fridge at work or take out an hour before lunch.

tinned chickpeas or cannellini beans are good too.

it helps to have something crunchy, as well, seeds or nuts. A bit of apple sliced in can be nice.

If you buy them tinned, they are already cooked.

I think the tins of brown chickpeas that are sold in some Deli stores have more depth of flavour than the cheaper Supermarket ones.

I like to be adventurous with dressings and will often make them a good part of the nutritional hit of the salad.

This makes enough dressing for a week of big salads:

1 whole aubergine - stick it under the grill on high heat, just resting on the bare bars of the oven rack but with a baking tray below in case of drips - turn it occasionally and keep grilling until the skin is blackened all over and the whole thing is very floppy.

On a plate, cut the grilled aubergine in half and scoop out all the pulp, and blend with:
Half a can of chick peas (the rest can go into salads)
Juice of a whole lime
Raw garlic to taste (I love garlic and keep bags of frozen chopped garlic in the freezer at all times and will use about 1 tbsp that's about equivalent to 3 large cloves of garlic but you might use less if you prefer)
1tbsp olive oil
1 pkt fresh basil
Salt & pepper to taste.

This gives an amazing zing to salads and I'll use it generously not just drizzle on a tsp

I make loads of other flavourful dressings too and the general principle is that you can't really go wrong if you include some cotrus and garlic you can blend that with any of dozens of other things to make something delicious. Other things I have put in dressings (not all in the same one, just pick 2 or 3 to see if you like the combo:

Roasted peppers
Roasted fennel
Roasted butternut squash
(not usually done specifically for a dressing - if I make a dinner that requires a roasted vegetable I will plan ahead and pop some into a tupperware)
Various nuts
Garden peas
Rocket (whole packet)
Various other fresh herbs (not anything with a woody stem like thyme/oregano/rosemary - just things that the whole pack can be bunged into the blender)

Yes, tupperware or glass jars in the fridge. And I deliberately choose things that will last, roast veg is easy but cucumber needs a dressing to keep moist. Some things get better over 4 days!

Merchant gourmet does great pouches of things to add to a salad. I roast veg…sweet potato beetroot brocolli pepper red onion. Add it to a leaf base eg rocket and then add a protein beans, chick peas, feta, halloumi, salmon… top with some seeds, dressing key. I add this in morning before leave for work.

I like to bulk my salad with finely chopped romaine lettuce. I put in a mix of three or four of the following - good chopped tomatoes, carrots, chickpeas/meat/egg/cottage cheese/cheese/tuna - any protein basically, radishes, peas, sweetcorn, red onion, pickled onion, jalapeños, peppers and mushrooms - whatever veg is in the fridge mostly. I just have good balsamic vinegar as a dressing. I use the chopper a lot at home - probably most days - but then I put veg in everything - bolognese, chilli, curry, etc. I probably go through a bag of carrots and onions a week.

A few years ago, when I was still working, DH and I started to take salads to work every day and I wanted to keep them varied and interesting.

I got this book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Salad-Love-Lunchtime-Weekday-Minutes/dp/1849494967

Not only did it have lots of great ideas and recipes but it also had a sort of formula to follow so you could go on to create your own combinations.

Most salads were pretty quick and simple and only required a few ingredients. We kept up with the salads for ages.

Loads of herbs and spices and seasoning on your salads, I dont use leaves, just any veg and pulses/nuts/seeds/beans.

I live on Greek Salad for work, just needs good
Greek olive oil, a little bit of the liquid from
the olives and lots of Oregano. Then plenty of Feta.

I take the dressing and cheese separately to work then chuck it on. I’ll happily eat it 3 times a week.

Takes me less than 5 mins to cut cucumber, tomatoes, pepper and red onion and can do a few days worth.

Large handful or leaves, chop 2" of cucumber, chop a slice of pepper and a tomato, few herbs if knocking about, or half an avocado, twist of salt and pepper, dsp virgin olive, scant cap of red wine vinegar. Shake the box. It takes two minutes. Then add:

Small tin tuna, few capers, black olives;
Feta, black olives and a bit of chpped red onion;
Cottage cheese and beetroot;
Chicken and a spoon of coleslaw;
Sardines in tomato sauce (good for your bones);
Salmon fillet;
Smoked salmon and prawns.

Bought a large jar in Lidl yesterday, the Sol Y Mar range. £1.19 or 79p with the Lidl plus card. They should be available until Wednesday when the Med week finishes.
Made them into a 5 portions of pasta sauce with some veg stock and a big handful of coriander and pulsed with a stick blender so it retained some texture. Very nice.