Favorite Easy Salad Recipes

[aprilcait]

I bring salad for lunch almost every day at work. Needless to say, I am getting a bit tired of my usual salad mix: chopped romaine lettuce, tomato, and sometimes some celery or carrot, with either my olive oil, lemon, and pepper dressing or red wine vinegar. I was thinking of adding beans or something to my salads, but I''m at a bit of a loss for creativity there. So, I was hoping that you lovely PSers could help me out of my salad rut.

My question: What are some of your favorite easy salad recipes?

 

[PaulaW]

Here is one of my favs!
Chopped lettuce (I like a mix of romaine, butter, redleaf, and raddichio)
cherry tomatoes
sliced cucumber
black olives
red onion
canned & drained mandarine oranges (save the liquid for your dressing)
dried cranberries
chopped walnuts
crumbled gorgonzola or bleu cheese

You can make a vinegarette out of the reserved juice, dash of balsamic vinegar (I like trader joe''s 10 year aged), olive oil, salt, pepper, & herbs (I usually use oregano or this "greek" blend I have). Enjoy!

 

[KimberlyH]

My salads are usually made up of some combination of the following:

spring mix greens
tomatoes
chickpeas (LOVE them!)
sunflower seeds
mozerella cheese
walnuts
balsamic vinegar
cracked pepper

 

[firebirdgold]

I sometimes pack my fi a salad lunch, usually a traditional greek salad:

peeled, sliced, and cut in half cucumbers
tomatoes cut into quaters or 1/8''s
chopped green bell pepper
small amount of red onion in thin slices.
kalamata olives or a green and black greek olive mix
low-fat crumbled feta cheese
With oregeno or oregeno/mint mix liberally sprinkled on top.

The dressing is strong olive oil and italian white wine vinegar.

We found a tupperware container just for salads. It''s got a cold pack, little utensils, and a dressing holder, very handy.

Our other favorite salad, though we haven''t tried it for lunch:
spring greens
cherry tomatoes
croutons
torn bits of chicken from a fresh roasted chicken from the deli section. We''ve tried the pre-packaged chicken and sometimes it''s a bit slimy.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I like the following salad

Mixed baby greens or romaine lettuce
tomatoes (put in a bag and put on salad before eating. helps keep the salad from getting soggy)
baby carrots cut into rounds
cucumber
kidney beans
mozzarella cheese stick (1 stick= 1 oz or one serving) sliced into rounds
Chicken, salmon, shrimp, steak etc (whatever I have left over I add when I put on the tomatoes)
Good seasonings Italian dressing (the kind you make yourself)

Sometimes I add croutons if I have them in the house

I also like the following salad
baby spinach
cubed cantalope
projuitto ham (sp?)
provalone cheese
balsamic vinagrette

or

baby spinach
blueberries
feta
walnuts or candied walnuts
red onion thinly sliced
chicken
balsamic vinagrette

or
baby spinach
sliced strawberries (or mandarine oranges)
sliced toasted almonds
sliced chicken
sesame ginger vinagrette

All very yummy!!

 

[dmbfan]

You want easy?

-Roma tomatoes, sliced then cut in half
-Hard boiled eggs, sliced then cut in half
-red onion, sliced then....you know

If you are on the healthy kick, red vinager, oil and salt. If you really want to fall in love with it, use the good seasons italian dressing.
http://www.almostvegan.com/archives/2004/09/vegan_italian_d.html

TRUST ME on this one!!!!

 

[eks6426]

Tuna and White Beans
With Bitter Greens
1 bunch arugula
1 small head curly endive (8 to 10 ounces)
1 head radicchio (about 6 ounces)
2 15-ounce cans cannellini or other white beans
4 ounces red onion or sweet onion such as Vidalia
8 sprigs parsley, preferably flat-leaf
1/4 cup capers, drained
2 (6-ounce) cans albacore tuna packed in water
1 1/2 lemons
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Fill the sink with cold water while you remove any withered or yellowed leaves from the greens. Cut the arugula crosswise into 3/4-inch wide strips, discarding the stems.
Cut the endive crosswise into 3/4-inch-wide strips, discarding the bottom 1 inch.
Cut off and discard the bottom 1/2 inch from the radicchio. Halve the remainder lengthwise and, with the flat side down, cut each half lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide strips. Wash the salad greens briefly but vigorously in the sink to remove grit. Spin dry in a salad spinner. Remove any excess moisture with paper towels.
While the greens dry, open the cans of beans into a colander. Rinse and let drain. Cut off a thin slice from the top and bottom of the onion, halve lengthwise, peel each half and cut crosswise into thin half-moon slices. Chop the parsley leaves. Put the beans, onion, parsley and capers in a large mixing bowl along with salad greens.
Open the cans of tuna into the colander over a small bowl to catch the drained liquid. Flake the tuna and add to the mixing bowl.
Juice the lemons. Add the lemon juice to the drained tuna liquid along with the olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and pour over the ingredients in the salad bowl. Toss well and serve. Serves 4.

 

[monarch64]

This week''s salad was:

baby spinach
sliced pears
crumbled blue cheese
thinly sliced red onion
red wine vinaigrette
chopped walnuts

Definitely easy--the only work involved is really slicing the red onion.

If you want to incorporate beans, you could try using a couple tablespoons of some fun black bean salsa, kind of a southwestern salad thing...they have all different flavors of salsa in the jar now, I love trying them. Oh, and Trader Joe''s actually has this big can of marinated mixed beans, it''s like three different kinds of beans and you can definitely put it in salads. The marinade is not very spicy or overly flavorful so you could mix it with whatever kind of dressing you like...

 

[Mara]

Here are three of my fave salads...we have these all the time at home to supplement our dinner. Everything can be bought 'ready to go' at the store and kept on hand in your fridge or pantry.

1)
Spring Greens
Bleu Cheese/Gorgonzola
Dried Cranberries
Walnuts or Pecans
(optional: sliced fruit like pear or apple)
Balsamic Vinaigrette

2)
Just Chicken from TJ's
Romaine Chopped Lettuce
Bit of Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Multi-Grain Croutons
Blend of 1 tbl Girard's Light Caesar Dressing & 1 tbl Balsamic Vinaigrette

3)
Spring Greens
Tomato Basil Feta Cheese
Canned Black Olives
Girard's Light Champagne Dressing

 

[aljdewey]

Gorgonzola salad - six ingredients

Mixed spring greens
Paper thin sliced red onions
Thin slices (or cubes) granny smith apples
Crumbled gorgonzola cheese
Chopped walnuts, toasted
Balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Mix all and toss well.

 

[FireGoddess]

My all time fave is

any greens you like
sliced pears (bosc is my fave...love the crunch)
pecans (regular or candied)
crumbled gorgonzola cheese
sliced green onion
mustard vinaigrette (mustard, champagne or citrus vinegar, evoo, salt n pep)

another really nice one is
spinach leaves
mandarin slices
crumbled bacon
sliced green onion
vinaigrette of your choosing

 

[wifey2b]

My favorite salad is :
Romaine lettuce
cherry tomatoes
english cuke
carrots ( shredded or thinly sliced)
chicken breast ( cubed)
mandarin oranges (drained)
cheddar cheese or mozarella ( chunked)
served with raspberry vinegarette

PS I have even chopped hard boiled egg in it too

Delicious

 

[Rock Candy]

Date: 2/9/2007 6:52:09 PM
Author: FireGoddess
My all time fave is


any greens you like

sliced pears (bosc is my fave...love the crunch)

pecans (regular or candied)

crumbled gorgonzola cheese

sliced green onion

mustard vinaigrette (mustard, champagne or citrus vinegar, evoo, salt n pep)


another really nice one is

spinach leaves

mandarin slices

crumbled bacon

sliced green onion

vinaigrette of your choosing

These sound great - thanks!