STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

nicoley · Coach

Salad

valenciana · Dooney & Bourke

well to start, it's so easy to make salad these days with all the bagged, precut, prewashed lettuce available. balsamic vin is pretty good, and i'd imagine you could make a caesar salad that wasn't too bad for you if you could find a decent low-cal caesar dressing (and go light on the croutons). i would try adding stuff like...chicken (you can buy strips of pre-cooked chicken strips for some protein), nuts, chickpeas...even fruit in addition to veggies, like grapes are pretty good on salad, so are thin slices of apples and pears, raspberries, strawberries, etc... stuff like that...just improvise. there's not a real science to it, just whatever sounds good to you! or try to recreate some salads that you've had at restaurants. i guess the only thing to watch out for is cheese...which is tasty and can really enhance a salad (i like gorgonzola), but can add a lot of calories in the process, but also calcium, which is good...so just keep that in mind.

ILoveChoo · Hermes

I love salad but I am super picky about it too. My basic formula for a good salad is:

good lettuce (ie. not iceburg!!) or baby spinach

1 cheese (feta, gorgonzola, cheddar)- a little goes a long way.

1 fruit (sliced apples, pears, grapes) OR some giardinia (pickled veggies)

for dressing I usually use just balsamic vinegar, or I mix balsamic with a little mustard to make it creamy without the fat the oil would add.

nicoley · Coach

how do i pick "good" lettuce... because this is definitely a MUST for me.. i like all my food super fresh. Plan on buying all these ingredients at whole foods

Ritz · Dooney & Bourke

imho, there is no need to buy everything at whole foods.. particularly since you are cooking for one so it is likely that some lettuce/veggies etc. could go to waste.

I find it the easiest to just buy the bagged mixes or bagged spinach ( i get em from Giant Eagle).. you can get romaine, mixed greens, etc and you know they are fresh and good, etc. whereas when I buy a head of romaine, i feel like it's never as good..

my favorite salads are:

-spinach, gorgonzola, craisins, almond slices, and raspberry vinaigrette

-romaine, corn (from a can), black beans (can), tomatoes, onions, etc. with blue corn chips and Trader Joe's Cilantro dressing, also lots of ground pepper

-goat cheese, tomato, and spinach, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, ground pepper

-not exactly salad but close, I eat with pita: tomato, scallions, feta, a little bit of olive oil

-greek (romaine, feta, tomatoes, red onion, f/f balsamic vinaigrette)

-currently im loving adding cut up morning star patties (parmesan Ranch) to my regular salads (ie, house/garden) to add some protein, but I don't eat chicken so that's why

-- Edited by Ritz at 18:52, 2006-02-28

bex · Chanel

my all time favorite salad to make is:

spinach salad mix

red rasberries

gorgonzola cheese

pine nuts

balsamic vinagrette

yummmm

hotcocoa · Kate Spade

here's my favorite salad:

mixed baby greens, i'll mix in romiane or spinach sometimes.

sliced deli turkey cut up into small pieces

walnuts

dried cherries

sliced red onion

shaved fresh parmesan cheese

french viniagrette dressing.

Seashells · Dooney & Bourke

nicoley013 wrote:

I also love love love caesar salads but i know they are way to fattening even if i recreated it at home... or am i wrong?

This caesar dressing is soooo good! I am not a big fan of creamy dressings, this has the texture and consistency of an italian

Also, my aunt makes the most delicious salad

1 bag baby Spinach

1 medium Granny Smith Apple

Blue Cheese

Candied Pecans (melt a bit of butter and brown sugar, add pecans and cook until caramelized- cool on wax paper)

White Vinager Dressing (2 tbsp white vinager 2 tbsp Olive Oil)

Mix together- Yummy!

This is a great salad to make for guests or a nice dinner

kate · BCBG

i am getting some good ideas from people here! i second the fruit (dried or fresh) and the addition of nuts or maybe some chicken breast, hard boiled egg, or tofu to make a salad feel like more of a main course. i tend to just throw everything i like into a big bowl, throw on some dressing, and hope it comes out okay. probably not restaurant-worthy, but it always seems to work out somehow!

as for picking out good greens, just take a look at the bag. it's pretty easy to tell--if stuff looks wilted, or broken/smashed, just put it back and pick out a new bag! also, you can't really go wrong at whole foods with the greens. i also have found that greens are not necessarily much more expensive than at a regular supermarket. anytime you buy the prewashed stuff, they mark it up anyway...

also, i was surprised that some of the cereal i like is MORE expensive at shaws/star than at whole foods...weird, huh?