What do you put in your Salads?

So for whatever reason I am super picky about salads. If the type and balance of ingredients are not just right I have very hard time eating it. : )

But after some experimentation I have finally crafted a healthy salad I could eat every single day:

Romaine Lettuce

Endless Shredded Carrots and Red Pepper Slices

1/4 cup Chickpeas, or some form of bean like soy or black beans

A lot of Green Olives, 20 or so

1 oz. of Feta

Sprinkle of Sesame seed bits

Dash of Vinegar, and tablespoon of Red Pepper Vinagrette dressing

So what do you put in your salads?

My salads are very pared down, just the bare essentials:

• Brussels sprouts
• Tomatoes
• Red peppers
• Broccoli
• Sweet potatoes
• Leek
• Spinach

Another absolute staple is pineapple-cabbage. It's a match made in heaven, I tell you! So simple, so light, so fresh.

Romaine (4 big leaves), Tomato (1 medium), Cucumber (1 small), half a green pepper, a radish or two, 1/3 of an avocado, 80 grams (or so) of tuna or chicken, tsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 tsp balsamic vinegar

I also like the beans if no meat in the house (chick peas, or kidneys) and olives sometimes if no avocado (though I am more 5 or 6 cut up rather than 20).

About 320 calories of goodness :)

Someday I will add back in cheese, but not quite yet. The seeds are a nice touch as well, and will be added when I get to maintenance mode.

SOOOO YUMMMY. I AM KNOWN FOR MY GIANT SALADS:

mix of romaine and baby spinach leaves

onion

tomato

cucumber

sprouts

KIDNEY BEANS (they make the salad)

hard boiled egg

broccoli or cauliflower

edamame

shredded carrots

yellow pepper

peas

corn

sesame seeds

AND FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS: sweet potatoes or avocado

Mixed baby (spring) greens and spinach.

red onions

mushroom slices (portabellas are my faves)

tomatoes

red and green or yellow peppers

artichoke hearts (rinsed or fresh)

avocado

some kind of slivered or chopped nuts (walnuts or almonds)

some kind of fruit (sliced granny smith apples, blueberries, etc)

dressing (either homemade with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon or orange juice, basil, black pepper, and garlic OR a low fat Annie's dressing)

Sometimes, I add some of these things:

chinese pea pods

broccoli

chopped hardboiled egg

black olive slices

feta cheese

YUM!

If the salad is a meal, I try to put in as many of the food groups as possible to make it balanced.

Dark leafy greens
yellow, orange vegetable, or vegetables of a different color
fruit or dried fruit (optional)
cheese or tofu
beans, poultry or fish
whole grains (such as croutons croutons), seeds, nuts
small amount of a good fat (avocado, olive oil, walnut oil, etc)

There are endless possibilities when you do it like this.

Tuna, egg whites (boiled), lettuce, low fat cottage cheese, jalapenos (optional)

I usually put about an ounce of cut up grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, oh, romaine lettuce about 2 cups (bagged kind), and cut up cucumbers.  I love fat free zesty italian dressing too!! :) YUM!!


Clarice

mixed greens, sliced baby carrots, green onion, tomato, a tablespoon or so of balsamic vinegar and my splurge and favorite part: 2 tbsp of crumbled blue cheese.

I really can't resist the cheese and balsamic.

half a cup each of

- chopped carrot

- chopped cucumber

- chopped celery

- chopped radishe

1 medium / large tomato

2-3 green onions cut up with scissors

1 tablespoon Kroger Zesty Italian dressing

1 tablespoor red wine vinegar

crazy mixed up salt and cracked black pepper to taste

I eat this every day for lunch at work.  I make five containers of it on a Sunday night but add the chopped tomato,  dressing, vinegar, salt & pepper on the day I take it.  This is very filling and hardly any calories.  Sometimes I add half a cup of chopped avocado, (again only added in the morning).  This can be accompanied by a pita bread if you want.

 

My salads are super plain. I was browsing around trying to find some threads regarding good suggestions for fixer-uppers. Just wanted to say thanks and great ideas you guys!

Have to admit I haven't read through previous posts but here are a few that have made my salads a little more exciting:

herbs: my faves are basil, cilantro, sometimes parsley
chopped up veggie patties like Gardenburgers (the ones that are made of beans/grains/etc, not the ones that are trying to taste like meat)

I've also done steamed veggies (or microwaved frozen veggies: carrots, broccoli, red pepper, chestnuts, etc) with soy sauce and a few peanuts over lettuce. Throw a sweet italian flavor chicken sausage in too for extra yum :)

I always include at least several raw veggies -- tomato a must, often a fruit or berry, always a cheese and a nut.

When I first decided to try to lose weight I thought that a nice healthy salad was the way to go, so I filled a big bowl with iceburg lettuce, diced tomatoes and crushed garden salsa Sun Chips, then smothered the whole works in salsa ranch dressing. And I wondered why I wasn't losing any weight! haha

But boy did it ever taste good!

I work in a hospital and the cafetieria has something called the Harvest salad I LOVE. Its mixed greens, granny smith apple, blue cheese crumbles, pecans and dried cheeries or dried cranberries!  This may sound like an odd mix but it is absoulutely delicious!  I use a fat free sweet and sour dressing and its really good.  This is especially nice on those days when you are craving sweet too.

Hope you try it out!

spring mix, apple/pear, cucumber, carrot, onion, walnuts, a little goat cheese and a drizzle of balsamic.  made it at work today and it was yum.  when the cheese is room temp it coats the ingredients like dressing, but with some protein and a lot less fat.  it came out to 400 calories, mostly from the walnuts (1 oz.) and cheese (2 oz.) with 12 g protein and 28 g fat.

I just had the most delicious salad: Romaine lettuce, half a can of white meat chicken packed in water, chopped asparagus, cooked broccoli florets, and a handful of almonds.