Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with salads

Help Me Make My Salads Less Lame

jason's_planet — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:34:17 -0800

How do I make my salads less lame? Hello. My name is Jason and my salads are painfully dull. Every day, usually with dinner, I throw together some spinach, a tomato and half of an avocado.

Ho-fucking-hum.

I attribute my utter lack of salad inspiration to my utilitarian view of the dish -- that they're just vitamin pills that you eat with a fork. But I know that there's more to making salads than that, that they can be bona fide examples of culinary artistry as well.

So what are some good salad recipes -- or salad-making principles -- that would help me get out of this rut? Bonus points for salads that draw upon a wide range of vegetables, as I've heard that such variety is not only pleasing to the palate but also great for one's health.

Many thanks in advance.

Sommersalaten Bitte Schön!

foxy_hedgehog — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:09:57 -0800

Your favorite summer salads, please! All variations and ingredients welcome. Bonus for anything that uses white asparagus. Summer's finally here and I'm trying to beef up the vegetable content in my diet (sorry, bad pun) and not spending too much time doing the proverbial slaving over a hot stove. What are your favorite salads that are also a meal? I eat every kind of fish and flesh so if that's part of the recipe it's fine by me.

And the bonus is for the use of asparagus. The white stuff is a special thing in the German springtime and I want to figure out some fun ways to use it.

Thanks saladeers!

Join me in the Quest for the Mexican Salad Dressing!

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:30:16 -0800

Help me recreate an awesome Mexican salad dressing! So I just had one of those pre-packaged salad kits, and it came with an awesome dressing. It was a Mexican chicken salad, and the dressing was a tangy, sort-of tomato-ey sort-of corn-y delight with quite a bit of a bite (but no apparent capsaicin heat). I think it or something similar would work brilliantly as a home-made dressing or cold sauce. The ingredients as listed on the packaging:

Water
Soya oil
Tomato purée
Vinegar
Sugar
Dextrose
Herbs and spices
Onion
Modified corn starch
Salt

I'll spare you the food acids and other additives, but suffice to say that, big surprise, MSG was in there (but none of its cousins in the E620-E630 range).

I believe the tomato purée refers to the concentrated kind; it definitely tasted like it (although Dutch tomatoes I feel are generally quite watery so I'm somewhat easily impressed with the concentrated and processed stuff). In fact, the overall taste held the middle between concentrated tomatoes and something corn-like, strongly reminiscent of tortilla chips (the non-cheese kind). Add a faint vinegary tang, and you're pretty much there.

It had about the consistency of common chili sauce (but as I said, no heat). It was very different from any salsa I've eaten, and completely smooth; without any onion or tomato chunks like in salsa or adobo.

Has anyone ever made anything like this? Any pointers? Thanks in advance, guys!

Looking for cold recipes with legumes.

HotPatatta — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:36:21 -0800

Please share your cold recipes for salads, succotashes, and soups featuring lentils, split peas, and other legumes. Especially appreciated are recipes relatively low in calories, carbs, and fat.

Needed: cold recipes for a hot day that are good eating.

Mutant — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:41:11 -0800

What passes for summer is here in London, and I've already made all the cold dishes I know about ... Our kitchens great but I do get a little weary of slavin' over that stove when its warm out. We had a hot patch of weather recently where I exhausted my inventory of warm weather recipes. I made (in no particular order): tuna pasta salad, three bean salad, gazpacho soup, cold melon soup and my usual bachelor meal: vegetable salads topped with smoked salmon.

So what other cold dinner dishes can I make?

We both prefer dishes that avoid most meat, but fish (either smoked or tinned) is fine.

Many thanks!

the perfect spinach salad

Espoo2 — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 19:02:32 -0800

How do you make the perfect spinach salad? I'm becoming a big fan, and I'd love to hear how you build yours.

the personal salad bar that doesn't spoil

mrkohrea — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 15:10:28 -0800

Anyone have experience with freezing salad or any other method to keep produce around? I want to have more salads with lots of variety at home. Unfortunately, the more variety I add, the more produce I have that rots before making it into my belly. For example, a lovely salad for me would include lettuces, cabbages, spinach, turnips, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, celery, sprouts, and other less perishable items... I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Anyway, making a salad like that leaves me with a lot of leftover produce. Since I live alone and don't eat at home that often, the produce often gets spoiled before I get around to eating it all.

I've thought about making salads and freezing them, but I don't know how well that would work.

Anyone have experience with freezing salad or any other method to keep produce around? Any not so obvious (or obvious) tips?

best salad dressing?

footnote — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 15:37:00 -0800

What is your most delicious salad dressing recipe?