Different Salads

I did a search, and I didn't find anything that seemed to cover this topic -- and I apologize in advance if there is a thread somewhere -- but I was curious about salads that people enjoy that are different from the usual greens plus a few odds and ends we generally find in the US.

At the moment, I'm enjoying a salad I saw Jamie Oliver prepare on an episode of his 30 Minute Meals show. It's quite simple: just run a nice fennel bulb and a bunch of radishes through the thin slicing blade of your food processor, then dress with a bit of lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. It's crunchy, flavorful, and really refreshing.

Anyone else have a fun, tasty, and slightly unusual salad they enjoy preparing or eating that they'd like to share?

I do not but I do like this thread and hope some will share. I stepped outside of my usual box tonight by making my vinagrette with lemon juice instead of wine vinegar. I am also thinking of a salad that incorporates greens and also pear slices as I have a box of pears now. I really feel like eating salads now as I am so sick of heavy food.

Pears are really lovely in salads. They match up especially well with pecans or blue cheese, but I imagine they'd be nice with a variety of other ingredients -- maybe something sharp, such as arugula. But just a few pears cut up and tossed into your greens with some balsamic vinaigrette should be lovely, as well. Mmm. Now I want to go out and look for pears.

I have been almost completely converted to Thai and Vietnamese salads. Western salads just seem bland and boring in comparison.

I have always wanted to make an endive salad. I would also kill for the recipe for the carrot salad at the russian tea time.

toria wrote:I have always wanted to make an endive salad. I would also kill for the recipe for the carrot salad at the russian tea time.

Ask, and you shall receive.

http://www.food.com/recipe/tashkent-carrot-salad-339671

thanks cynthia!

If you enjoyed the fennel salad in the original post, I recommend trying mandolined fennel with avocado and ruby grapefruit and a champagne vinegar-dijon vinaigrette, or with oranges, arugula, and oil-cured black olives and a simple lemon-olive oil dressing. I also love multi-green salad: baby spinach or arugula or baby romaine, thinly sliced or mandolined granny smith apples, english (hothouse/seedless) cucumber, and chopped scallions (dress with simple lemon vin emulsified with dijon; toss in fresh chèvre if you like that).

You might enjoy this thread that discusses make-ahead summer salads (and more)!

As my family gathered for Christmas, my Mom & I got to discussing some of the great "salads" we had in Morocco this spring: Beet salad, lentil salad, peas with mayo, eggplant salad, carrots with cumin. It makes me realize I've got to get more creative with my salad-making!

At Trattoria DOC in Evanston, they have an excellent salad of thin sliced granny apples and celery with, as I recall, a light (lemony?) vinaigrette. No lettuce, etc. Who knew celery could be so fresh and delicious.

Yum. Sound like some fabulous options. Lighter meals ahead won't be so boring!

This is one of our favorite "winter" salads. I thought the dressing sounded a bit strange when I first looked at the ingredient list, but it really works well with the salad.

Boston Salad (From "12 Months of Monestary Salads")
2 medium heads boston lettuce, torn
2 medium avocados, peeled & sliced
2 medium oranges, peeled & sliced
½ cup pecan halves
2 scallions, sliced
Dressing:
½ cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 teaspoon horseradish

I ususally toast the pecan halves.

I also absolutely love this carrot-miso dressing, as seen on Smitten Kitchen's butter-lettuce and avocado salad, but also with red cabbage and cucumber.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/avoca ... -dressing/

Rich without much bad fats, and the higher quality miso the better.

Just wanted to report that I tried the Tashkent Carrot Salad recipe, and it turned out fabulously. It doesn't mention it in the recipe, but I used whole coriander and just smashed in in the mortar. I don't think ground coriander has enough flavor to stand up to the amount of garlic in this. But after the first bite, I was really glad that I made the full recipe.

And thanks for the other contributions. I can see that the days ahead will be delicious and healthful.

Everything sounds yummy and fresh. I have not gotten into the salad mode yet because I am still cooking holiday for a friends new years party. Another salad I am thinking of involves butter lettuce or other favorite greens, cooked yukon gold potatoe chunks, lightly steamed and chilled green beans, and olives. I could see finely shaved mushrooms and grana padano cheese curls too. Toss with a lemon mustard vinagrette. I think you could really add any other vegetables of choice,,, cucumbers, tomatoes too come to mind. Some people like red or sweet onions in their salad too

Watermelon, arugula, goat cheese, toasted pistachio with grilled lemon vinaigrette.

That looks amazingly refreshing, GWiv -- not to mention tasty. Thanks for the inspiration. I just saw watermelon begin to appear in the stores, so this may get added to the menu soon.

We just had a Southwestern-inspired chopped salad last night that was really good.

Chop up some chicken into bite-sized pieces (I used skinless thighs; easier to slice if still partly frozen) and saute in a bit of olive oil with some salt and pepper. Or, I suppose you could use canned chicken if you have it.

Whisk together a big glop of sour cream, juice from a lime, about a teaspoon of chili powder and two teaspoons of cumin, another teaspoon of sugar and a big three-finger pinch of kosher salt. I also added the last quarter cup of some leftover guacamole.

Chop up and mix together whatever sounds good. I used tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, frozen corn, cilantro, red onion, a can of black beans. I also chopped a head of romaine lettuce and mixed it all together with the dressing (if I'd had fresh avocados or red bell peppers, I would have added them, too). I pulled some out for my vegetarian son, then tossed in the chicken with its cooking juices (which had cooled a bit while I chopped; the frozen corn also chilled it quickly).

It was refreshing but still filling. So delicious! (I do have to admit it didn't keep well overnight in the fridge, though.)

Other summer salads I'm looking forward to making soon are theTiger Cry beef salad and the peanut-lime rice noodle salad (both supposedly Thai, though I suspect tweaked for American tastes).