Salad toppings

[ecodork]

What are some of your favorite salad toppings? I'm trying to think of ways to make salads more interesting/entertaining.

We usually have lettuce, carrots, sunflower seeds, and raisins as the base. Other things that get thrown in, depending on availability, are celery, croutons, feta, blue cheese, roasted beets. If we're looking for some protein, we might add a sliced hard-boiled egg.

What fun ingredients do you like?

[wherestheportojohn]

Mmmm, garden salads!
My typical toppings, most, but not all at once ....
broccoli, baby peppers, baby cukes, slivered (toasted almonds), cooked/chilled lentils, black beans, shaved Parmesan cheese, home-grown sprouts, pepperoncini.
I also like to toss in a handful of fruit such as blueberries, raspberries, etc.

[mango]

a big scoop of potato salad

eta: on top of mixed greens

[wherestheportojohn]

D'oh....forgot: little grape tomatoes, all colors, straight off the plant. num!

[cgraz]

My signature salad is topped with goat cheese crumbles, craisins, and pecans. With balsamic dressing. And optional grilled chicken.

I am truly addicted to it.

[ecodork]

These are all tasty suggestions! I'm thinking some grilled cheese (like haloumi or skillet cheese), would be a nice addition too.

[nadra24]

My garden salads are very veggie-heavy, with about 2 cups of lettuce and then 2 cups of chopped veggies such as shredded carrots, cucumbers, red bell peppers, grape tomatoes, mushrooms, or green peas.  I also always have some protein, usually garbanzo or black beans but sometimes diced ham, shredded chicken, or a scoop of cottage cheese.  I like hard cooked eggs on my salads, but I rarely make those at home so I only get them if I'm at a salad bar.  Sometimes I add something for crunch, either croutons or sunflower seeds if I have them around.  That's for a salad that I eat as a main course.  For side salads, I usually just do the lettuce/carrots/cucumbers/tomatoes.

Other combos that are good:

Spinach, strawberries, feta, slivered almonds with balsamic vinaigrette or poppyseed dressing

Green leaf lettuce, black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, and tortilla strips with salsa and a squeeze of lime for dressing

[Run Amok]

I tend to like a simpler salad. Not everything has to go in the bow all the time. Sometimes I skip the lettuce.

Roasted pears, roasted hazlenuts and goat cheese.
Avocado, grapefruit, shaved fennel.
cuke, tomato, avocado- dressed with lemon juice, garlic, a little olive oil
Just mixed greens, a light lemon vin, and a little chevre
finely chopped romaine, cuke, green pepper, feta- dressed with lime and olive oil. If I'm feeing fancy I throw in some mint,dill, and green onion.

[witchypoo]

roasted sweet potato or butternut squash or beet
goat cheese or manchego or parmesan or ricotta salata
grapefruit or lemon or orange sections
raisins or dried cranberries or dried apricots or dried figs
grapes or strawberries or blueberries or cherries
thinly sliced red onion
walnuts or pecans or pine nuts or macadamias

toss w/spinach or arugula or bibb or kale or dandelion greens

[merigayle]

diced avocado
salsa

particularly mango salsa!!!

sunflower seeds are good for crunch.

[seattlegirl]

I made this one last night, and it was awesome!  Arugula with oranges, red onions, gorgonzola, and homemade dressing.




When I am having mixed greens, my usual toppings are carrots, sugar snap peas, grape tomatoes, often also lowfat cottage cheese.

Other things I like are craisins, sunflower seeds, hard-boiled egg, tuna, kidney beans, shelled cooked peas, celery.

[triciaflower]

I make a copycat version of an addicting kale salad I get at our grocery store fresh foods counter.

Kale, pumpkin seeds, craisins, slivered almonds in a deessing made with the juice of fresh oranges, crystallized ginger, shallots, soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil, and rice vinegar.

It's best made a day ahead so the kale can soften and the flavors can meld.

Another salad I like is: fresh greens, avocado, grilled chicken, marinated artichokes, tomatoes in a lemon juice/olive oil dressing.

[witchypoo]

today was grilled peaches and goat cheese

[Courtney]

I can't get into fruit on salads.  I don't know why.

But a salad without feta or goat cheese is a salad not worth eating, IMHO.   

Sun dried tomatoes are a fave of mine right now. 

I love grilled onions on salads, too.

[ecodork]

This weekend we had a bunch of watermelon leftover so we mixed with some feta, basil, cherry tomatoes from the garden and drizzled it with reduced balsamic vinegar. Yum!

[omega lambda]

I can't get into fruit on salads. I don't know why.

But a salad without feta or goat cheese is a salad not worth eating, IMHO.   

Sun dried tomatoes are a fave of mine right now. 

I love grilled onions on salads, too.

And I LOVE fruit on salad!  I like to add apples, pears, oranges, craisins, and raisins.  Not all at once though!  I also love toasted pine nuts on a salad.

[caribougrrl]

I was thinking about this thread today when one of my coworkers was complaining that the salad she bought for lunch had too much lettuce.  I said, surely the point of salad is the lettuce, and she said, no way, the point of salad is the toppings.

[Magic Microbe]

I was thinking about this thread today when one of my coworkers was complaining that the salad she bought for lunch had too much lettuce.  I said, surely the point of salad is the lettuce, and she said, no way, the point of salad is the toppings.

I agree with your coworker. I hate when salads consist mostly of lettuce.

[onawhim]

I was thinking about this thread today when one of my coworkers was complaining that the salad she bought for lunch had too much lettuce.  I said, surely the point of salad is the lettuce, and she said, no way, the point of salad is the toppings.

I guess the lettuce is kind of a topping delivery system.  Like leafy toast 

[OldBaldHippie]

A taco...