Allow me to introduce you to the birth of my Scrumptious Salads series…
Goal: Eat more leafy greens. Somehow.
The other day I discovered two containers of salads I prepared about 10 days prior that were going rotten in the fridge. My husband and I had brought them out with us with the best of intentions, but what did we do? We left the salads in our bags and bought something instead. So we placed the salads back in the fridge when we got home with the best of intentions yet again, and what happened? They were completely forgotten. Their presence came back with a horrific, putrid vengeance, though, when I opened the containers to put the salad in the compost bin. I gagged and my eyes were practically tearing. What a stench.
Why didn’t we eat these in the first place?
Can you say boring salads?
I grew up in a house where salad (lettuce with onion, cucumbers, and balsamic vinegar) was served after every dinner. This is not a strange occurrence for an Italian household, but after 20-something years of the same thing, this salad is bound to drive you nuts.
…or maybe not — my relatives still eat this day in and day out too…
But whatever.
It got to the point where if someone served me a plain salad with balsamic again I was going to stab them with my fork.
A couple years ago I started jazzing up my salad. I remember going a whole month eating radish salads, but, ugh, I got sick of that, too. Then I discovered croutons. But now I can’t have them because they’re made of bread. Yes, there are g-free ones, but I’m still struggling with the whole plain salad thing. I need something more than crusty bread bits to make me consider it a meal.
And, if we’re being honest here, I feel the fat Italian girl inside of me get enraged when I hear someone say they ate salad as the main part of their meal. Not to quote comedian John Pinette again, but, ‘salad isn’t food. Salad comes with the food.’
But that’s what the point of my Scrumptious Salads series is: I’m going to find some salads that can serve as the main part of my meal, the food, if it kills me.
This is because I don’t eat enough veggies. I snack on raw carrots and cucumbers at work because I like raw veggies, but I don’t get nearly as many as I should. And I loathe those vegetable drinks, so that’s certainly not an option.
So here I go. Let’s see what I can come up with…
Calling all salad-eaters: If you have an amazing salad idea, pitch it my way!
mygijourney 
AHHHH salads!!! Glorious greens!! I eat ’em almost every day. But yes, they can get boring. OK, do you like beans?!!? You should check out this recipe: http://www.onceuponachef.com/2010/08/black-bean-salad-with-corn-red-peppers-avocado-lime-cilantro-vinaigrette.html. It’s amazing! Do you like kale?? It’s different, and definitely a more hearty leaf but the good thing about it, is you can make the salad with the dressing on it, and keep it in the fridge for a few days. The dressing softens the leaves but does not make it soggy. I really like this one, it sort of tastes like Cesar salad: http://www.greenplaterule.com/recipes/raw-kale-salad/. I think I remember using less lemon juice for that one. Just make sure you remove the leaves from the stem – they are too tough to eat. I’ll try to post more salads – seeing as my only one has beets in it lol.
PS..John Penette…hilarious!
Oh I have a taco salad one too, that is literally a meal! I will actually post about it this week. Did I take over your posts on this one? haha
ahahaah nooo I love it! Keep these suggestions coming hahahaa….Ok…I like beans and my mom makes a really good bean salad but I feel it’s more of a side dish than a whole meal. That recipe looks good so I’ll likely give it a whirl 🙂 Kale…haven’t had it in a WHILE but I’m willing to be adventurous! Thanks for posting so many ideas!! This will be an interesting adventure for me to say the least lol. And yes – John Pinette makes me die every time, no matter how often I hear those gags!
Yes, the bean one is more of a side dish. With regular green salads I often add 4 oz of chicken or beans to it to make it filling and more of a meal. Almonds are good to add too! And I use a GIANT bowl and fill it with veggies!! My husband literally makes fun of the size of bowl I use, but I always feel full and satisfied!
That sounds like a good trick!!! For me, I’m a muncher, so I need to make sure I load….and I mean LOAD….my bag with healthy munchable items!!
Challenge accepted! A friend made this salad on the weekend and just sent me the instructions, so here goes: Segment 2 oranges and 2 grapefruits (do it over a bowl to catch juices). Refrigerate the segments to add to the salad just before tossing. Thinly slice some red onion (could be another sweet onion like Vidalia) and marinated it in some of the fruit juice with a squeeze of lemon. Lemon vinaigrette: a little Dijon mustard, a little sugar, fresh lemon juice remaining orange and grapefruit juices and olive oil to balance. Toss with greens, salt and pepper, and serve. Hope you like it – I found it very refreshing 🙂
Woo! I like it already, Heather — makes me think of a summer drink! Definitely going to try this, thanks 🙂
Hmmm, I guess it’s not really a meal-type salad – but you can always add chicken!!
Back near Valentine’s Day I wrote a post about salads – yeah, weird I know. But I had a similar problem – boring salad syndrome. Then I read this great article on a friend’s blog all about making salad more interesting, filling, and healthy. Check it out, I think it’s called, “Be my GF Valentine.” I still use the techniques I learned.
-Dana
Thanks for the article! I’ll check it out and hopefully be just as inspired as you were 😛