Friday, January 29, 2010

Still Talking About Food

Like I said yesterday, we've been eating a lot of salad lately.   I never get tired of salad.  There are so many ways to change it up and make it different.  Different dressings, different toppings, different varieties of lettuce; you could probably make a different salad every night for a year and never have the exact same thing twice.

When my daughter was in the hospital, I used to have lunch in the hospital cafeteria.  They had a really great salad bar, so I got salad pretty often.  I happened to notice one day that all of the nurses who were getting salads were putting raisins on them.  Day after day, I would see them so I asked one of them about it.  I couldn't imagine that raisins combined with any sort of dressing would taste good, but the nurse I asked assured me that it was delicious.  She suggested I add just a small spoonful and try it.  "It's surprisingly addictive" she said.   I took her advice and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. 

I would have to say the most unusual thing I like on my salad is hot, cooked rice.  Plain or flavored rice, I like to put a little over my salad before I add the dressing (I see you shaking your head at the idea of it!).  It's not usually available at salad bars, but I like to do it at home once in a while. 

I've seen a few new salad recipes I'd like to try.  One has a hot bacon dressing, grilled chicken and feta cheese (not the healthiest choice, but it sure sounds good).  Another has candied walnuts and dried cranberries.  I'd also like to perfect a classic Caesar Salad.

How about you?  Do you put anything unusual on your salad?  Do you have a favorite salad?  What about dressing, creamy style or viniagrette?  If you wouldn't eat a salad if it were the last food on earth, feel free to tell me that, too.  I want to know!


Willoughby

15 comments:

DUTA said...

You're right, but the more items you add to a salad the more calories it contains, and most people try to watch their diet.

I personally like a simple salad made of onion, cucumber, tomatoes, green pepper , lettuce and sprinkled with olive oil. I eat it with bread, the bigger the salad the more slices of bread, which is of course not dietary. But if I eat this basic salad without any bread, then it's as if I ate nothing. I'll be hungry for the rest of the day.

Betty Manousos said...

I love all kinds of salad and I prefer viniagrette dressing. I also put nuts on my green salad and a lot of different veggies.
Betty xx

ChristineM said...

Yes, those mix-ins can be dangerous! I like a lot of salads, but my favorite is probably a baby spinach, with red onion, dried cranberries, toasted pecans, goat cheese and a cranberry vinaigrette...Mmmmmm!

I must confess to something strange, though....when we have spaghetti with red sauce, I love mixing my green salad and ranch dressing with the warm pasta and sauce! It's weird, but it just tastes so good all together for some reason!

Unknown said...

nuts, goat cheese or feta, raisins, goldfish, sprouts, cottage cheese, beets, (oh I could go on forever)

My Farmhouse Kitchen said...

oh..i am trying to hold off the winter blues today...maybe i should try a salad...

i like putting in goat cheese with sunflower seeds and pea shoots...

i also like that Annies shitake mushroom salad dressing...it is great on the above salad...and with maybe some dried cranberries...

and sometimes just butter lettuce and avocado with GOOD olive oil and sea salt.....

yeah..maybe i need salad to keep the blues away.....

Meals by Misty said...

I am a huge salad fan and can easily have a low cal/fat salad, but on Sundays when I'm not counting fat, I love the traditional salad with ranch and bacon! My strange topping is dill pickle and a lot of pepper. Yummy!

Anonymous said...

I've been doing the raisins for a while and it is good! The rice sounds weird LOL. And I admit I like the creamy dressing...I don't make the healthiest salads...

5th sister, your salad sounds awesome!

Tattoos and Teething Rings said...

I like almost every kind of salad...nothing too unusual I think. Of course, when I was in high school a friend offered to go through the salad bar line for me, and she asked what I wanted. I said, "Oh, whatever, regular salad stuff." Apparently that included cottage cheese on top of everything--ewww.

Matty said...

Interesting thing about salads. I did not eat them until I was about 40 years old. Why? I don't know. I just didn't find them appealing. But once I got started, they have been a fixture in my diet ever since.

I like to have a protein in it, such as chicken, turkey, ham or shrimp. It makes it feel more like a meal to me.

I also like mandarin oranges with it.

As for toppings, it's almost always Ranch or Russian. And I love lots of pepper on top of the dressing.

Purple Flowers said...

I love goat cheese or feta cheese, almonds or walnuts, dried cranberries or raisins, sliced strawberries or orange segments all = yummy! The basis for my salad is usually romaine or red leaf lettuce or mixed spring. Sliced water chestnuts are good in it too!

Deidra said...

I'm not a raisin fan, so I use dried cranberries. And I like to put frozen peas on my salad in the winter when fresh peas are scarce. I just throw a handful on top, straight from the freezer. By the time I'm ready to eat the salad, the peas have thawed out perfectly!

Tins and Treasures said...

I love salad too. My favorite when we go downtown to eat is one with pears and pickled beets...It is sooo yummy.

I also like red onions, craisins, and walnuts...

Hmmm...now I'm hungry!
Happy Weekend ~Natalie

Gracey said...

My 3 favourite salads are: 1) Pear roquefort salad from Allrecipes (containing lettuce, pears, avocado, green onions, blue cheese, walnuts and a vinaigrette dressing) 2) Fruity curry chicken salad, again from Allrecipes and 3) my own pasta salad, containing pasta, tomatoes, onion, ham, cheese and a mayo/yoghurt dressing. Yum!

Holly Lefevre said...

My hubby and I each eat a salad at least once a day...we do cranberries, sunflower seeds, avocado, corn, apples...whatever we may have. I love rice on my salad!

Holly Lefevre said...

Oh yeah and shredded carrots and broccoli slaw!