Unusual things for salads you enjoy

[jamieoneill]

I'd like to know what unconventional things you've tried putting in salads and how did it taste.

English salads are a bit conservative, I think. I've read that the Israeli salad has almost anything you can think of in it.

Please share you best recipes and tips. Low fat would be good as well.

[tipsy]

nothing is too wierd to be in a salad.

i have put any and or everything in a dish and called it a salad...

[Risker]

Not very odd but I quite like orange, avocado and watercress.

[jamieoneill]

Fruit.. cool. Orange with watercress I can't imagine!

[veggiesosage]

I like smoked tofu and artichoke hearts and, of course, the aforementioned avocado.

[Jane M]

I like to toss in either some nuts or beans. I use those instead of the croutons that a lot of people use.

[Tigerlily]

Guys, those things aren't weird! They are normal things for salads!

[spiralannie]

i lurve mandarin slices in my salads, but that isn't weird.
apple chutney, when it's thin and not gooey, goes really well as a salad dressing.
but as far as salad goes, nothing's as weird as candlestick salad. it's this old school fruit salad that involves bananas with pineapple rings around them to make them stand, and cherries or strawberries on top (the "flame") and mayo/cream cheese (vegan, in our case) as wax drippings.
bizarre.

[Risker]

Guys, those things aren't weird! They are normal things for salads!

As jjdaiquiri said there really is nothing too weird to put in salad so I think we all opted for least common.

[jamieoneill]

They're all new to me. Thanks.

[Tigerlily]

I like olives.

I like ginger.

I like lots of raw garlic.

I like beans (chickpeas especially).

[veganwitch]

mandarin oranges, avocado, faux chicken patties (cooked & cut in strips), toasted walnuts, drizzled w/ raspberry vinagrette on a bed of mixed greens....yum!

raisins are another thing you can add to regular old salads

[Seaside]

I don't know how odd it is, but grapefruit and spinach is very good, and the grapefruit will help you absorb the iron in the spinach.
Sprouted pumpkin seeds are good in salad, too. Edible flowers are very nice. I have come across recipes for rose petal salads.

[my3labs]

I don't know how odd these things might be, but:
spinach
olives
avocado
sunflower seeds
almond slivers
chick peas
cucumber (peeled)
carrots
cabbage
french fried onions (not so healthy, but yummy)
And I really like leaf (red or green) lettuce in lieu of head lettuce.
I also love the vegan versions of http://www.anniesnaturals.com dressings. "Goddess" is the best!
My husband likes mushrooms as well, but I'm not a big fan.

Anyway, makes for a really yummy salad.

[Roxy]

Mandarin segments, dried cranberries, sprouts, shredded beets - Mmmmm yum!

[Jane M]

I have thrown in corn chips and fried noodles a few times. Dried cranberries are great in slaw type salads too.

[Unseen]

I like to put tosted sunflower seeds ontop of my salad. As a dressing I like a miso/balsamic vinigar blend.

[speedylemons]

I basically add as many veggies as i can find, and then sometimes various seeds, but i really like mustard and balsamic vinegar mixed as a dressing. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mustard.

[Wildflower]

Mmm...as far as weird, sometimes I bake a potato, and cut that up and put it in a salad. Oven fries go great in salad too.

Cut up fake chicken patties, sliced up grilled portabella mushrooms, smoked tofu, veggies, beans, seeds, olives, nuts, are what I use. Pasta thrown in is good too, and torn up peices of bread.

I have seen recipes for something called souper salad, basically a vegetable soup, that has all the salad stuff in it.

Usually I eat salad with spinach, then add grape tomato, red/yellow pepper, onion, brocolli, shredded carrots, olives, croutons and an olive oil vinegar dressing - I like Newman's Own Light Itallian Dressing. avacado is great too, i do that quite a lot. Taco salads with soymeat is yummy too!

I usually eat salad with some sort of soymeat, and or a baked potato.

Mmm..salad! I eat quite a lot of that in the summertime...I may go make one right now!

[absentmindedfan]

Nasturtium flowers and leaves are good in salads, not to mention herbs, washed dandelion leaves, courgette flowers, raw baby courgettes, fresh shredded beetroot....

[Wildflower]

Mmm, herbs are good in salads. I saw Roxy here posting about an Organic Herb Salad mix, and I purchased it and it was soooo good!

[Seaside]

Lettuce, tomato, black olive, and onion with hummus thinned enough to pour, and then hot falafel crumbled on top, and eaten while the falafel is still hot, is very good.

[ukahela]

yay, i love salads!! these are some of my favourite combinations:

shredded carrot+beetroot, sweet pepper, lettuce, cucumber, asparagus (tinned), corn (tin), avo, lots of oregano. and if you like: celery and shredded courgette (though some say raw courgette is indigestible)

boiled millet or quinoa; sweet pepper, lettuce, cucumber, black olives, avo, marjoram

rice noodles, mung bean sprouts (raw or boiled), carrot sticks, celery sticks, lettuce or napa cabbage, avo, tahini & on top ground seaweed (i use wakame). optional; sweet pepper, and sesame seeds or roasted peanuts or peanut sprouts on top.

kasha or buckwheat (boiled), plenty of sauerkraut, shredded carrot, lettuce, sweet pepper, spices for example: ground ginger+black pepper OR turmeric+white pepper.

tomato, sweet pepper, cucmber, lettuce, sundried tomatoes, plenty of seeds/nuts, e.g. sunflower seeds+cashew nuts or pumpkin seeds. etc (whole or ground).

rice, avo, lettuce, tinned peas, fried mushrooms, plenty of curry

pasta (regular or buckwheat), fried or dry-fried broccoli+ carrots+sweet pepper+courgette or any other veg you fancy; a sauce of plain soya yoghurt + mustard

pepper, lettuce, cucumber, a tin of beans (or homecooked, or sprouted) such as fava, or chickpeas, or whatever sort or combination. took some getting used to beans, now i sort of like them! sprouted they should have better absorbed protein and produce less gas, some say.

a tip for variation and nutrients, is to boil quinoa/millet/rice etc with spinach or broccoli or some other green; makes it really flavoursome. just remember to throw it in at the right time, as they are done much quicker than the grains.

[speedylemons]

Today i made a salad with mixed argula greens, tomato, 1 lg yam, sauteed portobellas/green onions/garlic, and some crushed peppercorns. it was extroidinarily tasty.

[rantipole]

I'm surprised no has mentioned walnuts. Spinach, walnuts, dried cranberries and vinagraitte make a wonderful salad.

I also like pine nuts and this prepackaged seasoned baked tofu. Avocado is probably my favorite salad item. Sometimes I'll use hummus in place of dressing.

Cheers,
rant

[veganwitch]

I mentioned Latvian salad in a couple of other threads, but it's worth a mention here. Sounds weird, but it's good.

Iceberg lettuce
Cucumbers
Tomato
Scallions
Radishes
Sour Cream
Dill ( a very generous amount)
Salt & pepper (lightly sprinkled)

Just make sure the lettuce is drained really really well or the sour cream will get watered down and soupy.

[rrochester]

Not very odd but I quite like orange, avocado and watercress.

mmm..I love watercress

[rantipole]

Pistachios. Love them in a salad with some type of vinaigrette.

Seasoned baked tofu is great.

Slivered beets. Beets are one of my favorite vegetables so I look for places to incorporate them.

Those are my strangest ingredients.

Cheers,
rant

[nervine]

iceberg lettuce, peppers, raisins, hummus, almonds, sunflowerseeds, chunks of tomato, bits of apple, onion, spinach = sex

[Digital Ghost]

Lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, water cress, beetroot and tomato ketchup.

or fruit salad

Strawberries, raspberries, melon, orange, pineapple, mango, papaya, peaches and soyatoo spray cream.

[Sarah_]

You know how at the end of the month when all your veggies have to go before they get rotten you just whip up a veggie soup to clear out the fridge?
That's what I do with salads.
Anything that can go, goes. Mixed veggies, nuts, tomato, avocado, carrot, celery, potatoes, olives, cut up tofurkey-anything. I usually slather it all in Good Seasons Italian.

[FatPassionFishPoet]

You know how at the end of the month when all your veggies have to go before they get rotten you just whip up a veggie soup to clear out the fridge?
That's what I do with salads.
Anything that can go, goes. Mixed veggies, nuts, tomato, avocado, carrot, celery, potatoes, olives, cut up tofurkey-anything. I usually slather it all in Good Seasons Italian.

That's what I always do...salads with as much variety as possible is always good

Personally, I'm one of those people who likes to put grapes in salad (...though it has to be said I put grapes with a LOT of things!)

tomato ketchup.

Oh. Em. Gee. You are my new hero. Does that taste good?!?! Salad is one of the (very, very) few things I've not put tomato ketchup with yet!

....I must try this...

[xrodolfox]

I don't do anything "weird" to me on my salads.

I do enjoy "Chilean Salad", and other stuff from where I was a kid and my family.

Chilean Salad:

+ lots of round sliced fresh tomatoes
+ cut onions that were washed in boiling water, then dried
+ olive oil
+ salt

That's it. Best Salad ever.

[Sunkist]

One of my fav salads is a Parsley salad(Taboulleh)- Its loads of chopped parsley and some mint, chopped tomatoes, red onion and bulgar wheat- in a lemon dressing

[fooldramaqueen]

I'm quite fond of cold, boiled new potatoes with a little bit of salt on (doesn't sound very appetising but very nice!) and also, Sainsbury's do a tin of mixed beans in a vinaigrette which I love to mix in along with some cold sweetcorn with finely chopped salad veg.

I'm also a big fan of chopping slices of Fry's garlic veggie polony sausage onto my salads

[rulska]

I quite like roasted fennel. Other favorites include raisins and pine nuts, grated carrot and radishes. I also tried the classic apple and celeriac combination recently and it was lovely.

[Tigerlily]

I fancy crushed up chips (crisps) in my salads.

[harpy]

Mmm, a crisp salad!

Although I'm not normally keen on sweet and savoury things together, I find chunks of melon go quite well in a salad that's mostly made of leaves, esp if you add some toasted nuts or pine kernels. I thought I'd already said that but it must have been another thread.

[Tigerlily]

Mmmm. My mom doesn't like sweet and savoury together, so I never tried it until a few years ago. I LOVE IT. Fruits in salads are the bomb.

Dried, crystallized pieces of ginger or pineapple are also delicious.