Non-Lettuce Salads

[camelfam]

I'm in the mood for cold salads with all this heat, but am looking for some recipes that use grains (quinoa, millet, brown rice, etc.), veggies, herbs, meat, dried fruit and nuts instead of just lettuce based salads. Our organic grocery store had this delicious cold quinoa cranberry salad that got this craving started. The other night I made a salad with cherry tomatoes, peppers, onions, herbs, feta cheese, and a vinaigrette. It was amazing! I need more ideas!

[Sharlla]

cottage cheese, cucumber, tomato, green onion
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[cristeen]

We eat cucumber salad a lot, just cukes and onions with an asian vinaigrette. Or cukes, tomatoes and onions is a fave from our local Italian deli. I make broccoli salad a few times a year, with chunks of cheese, sunflower seeds and raisins. I also really like wild rice salad w green onions and cranberries. We actually eat salads quite a bit, but lettuce rarely.

[Tilia]

I just finished up a salad made with:

one can of black beans, drained and rinsed
one can of mexi-corn, rinsed
2 stalks of celery, chopped
balsamic vinagrette

I also love broccoli, peas, pasta and caesar dressing.

[MamieCole]

I love shredded cabbage, diced chicken breasts, almond slivers, mandarin orange slices and chopped scallions, dressed w/a simple vinaigrette. (Usually lemon/olive oil or sometimes soy sauce/olive oil/sesame oil/ginger for an asiany flair.)

[mum4vr]

We LOVE salads-- what a great thread! TY all!

This week we like:

fine diced cucumber
fine diced tomato
(optional fine chopped sweet pepper)
diced boiled eggs

with rice vinegar and olive oil, salt and pepper-- the egg yolks kind of melt in-- yummy.

We also have a rotating "grain and garden" salad:

choose a cooked grain (I do mine in the crockpot in large batches then refrigerate, so we don't have to heat up the house or wait for it to cook and cool)
add whatever is ready in the garden at the moment (or farmer's market)
dress w vinaigrette

add extras like potatoes, boiled eggs, nuts and seeds, cooked refrigerated beans, dried or fresh fruit, cheeses

[insahmniak]

A great thing to add is sprouted mung beans. I remember eating just sprouted mung beans, with some sliced onion, drizzled with lemon and sprinkled with salt. So good for you and refreshing! Mung beans are easy to sprout. Might take a couple of days and a couple rinses.

[JessicaS]

Yesterday I made

Tomatoes
Red Onion
Cucumber
Basil
Feta
White Balsamic

[ollyoxenfree]

We love broccoli salad. Chopped broccoli, raisins and sunflower seeds, a little red onion. The dressing is very easy - mayo, plain yogurt, lemon juice, a little sugar and salt and pepper. Top with some feta.

I've made salads with couscous or quinoa. Just prepare as usual and let cool. Add in chopped cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots and other veggies, and dried raisins or cranberries or other fruit and nuts or seeds. Dress with a vinaigrette.

[raksmama]

Taco Salad
Any kind of greens,we use romaine hearts
Chopped Tomatoes
Chopped peppers
Sliced Avacodo
Cilantro
Grated Cheese
Cooked Pinto beans
Your favorite Dressing mixed with a little chili powder and lime
Mix everything then add corn tortilla chips
You can also add cooked ground beef or chicken

[Ola_]

I like salad with cut up tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, and a can of chickpeas (or you can cook your own of course). This goes well with a balsamic vinegarette, I usually put in balsamic, olive oil, salt, dijon mustard, and a bit of herbs (often dried oregano or basil).

And since you mentioned grains I also do a quinoa (you can cook it in broth for more flavour). Then toss with black beans, cut up tomatoes, green onions, and I usually toss in some frozen peas and corn (they thaw quickly if you mix it in with the warm quinoa). The vinegarette for this is lime juice/zest, a little olive oil, honey, and salt. You could also top it with avocado slices or chunks, but I wouldn't add these too early so it doesn't go brown.

[pear-shaped]

A very simple salad that is very traditional here is tomato salad, just chopped tomatoes (not completely ripe, in fact many people prefer green,) olive oil, salt and oregano. It's served with bread (often a very hard ring-shaped bread) that gets softened by the juice from the salad. Many people also add celery. Sometimes I add some finely chopped garlic. It's very simple compared to what is usually considered a salad, but it's quite refreshing when the weather is hot.

[lillyfire]

Thanks for all the great ideas! I was literally getting on the computer to google grain salads when I saw this in the mdc newsletter. My favorite is cold soba noodles with peanut vinaigrette or sauce, mandarin oranges, jicama, green onions, any leftover veggies, edamame, and sometimes leftover meat.

[Arduinna]

I love this salad

½ papaya
1 mango
½ large cucumber
1 avocado
1 tablespoon scallions
8-10 mint leaves
2 slices onion
3 limes
1 tablespoon coconut oil
chop and dice all ingredients and make vinaigrette with juice of 3 limes and 1 T coconut oil.

And of course horiatiki salad is one of my favorites too, feta, tomato, cucumber, red onion, lemon juice and olive oil with fresh herbs and sometimes bell pepper.

[Arduinna]

1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 fennel bulb
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
Handful chopped fresh chives
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Parmesan curls

Put the shallot and vinegar in a ramekin, and set aside to macerate.

Cut the fingers off the fennel bulb, and discard, and then peel the bulb. Slice the bulb very thinly into rings. Toss with the mushroom slices, and parsley leaves. Dress the mixture with olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice, to taste. Serve with Parmesan curls on top.

corn salad

Ingredients
5 ears of corn, shucked
1/2 cup small-diced red onion (1 small onion)
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup julienned fresh basil leaves or cilantro


Toss the corn kernels in a large bowl with the red onions, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper and the fresh basil or cilantro. Chill for about an hour to let the flavors meld and serve.


I do a cucumber salad where I slice the cukes very thin and then mix with rice vinegar, a pinch of sugar and salt and thin sliced onion. It's good with sesame seeds on it too.

[alison77]

mmmm . . . . these all sound great. tonight we had a watermelon, tomato and feta salad with basil vinagrette which was great - from a fabulous resource: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html (101 Salads for the Season - Mark Bittman). Although I printed this out last year, the watermelon one is the first one I've actually tried.

[youngspiritmom]

Beans and Veggies - Fresh and hardy!

I love this salad almost as much as I love this thread - so delicious, fresh, and filling!

1 medium red onion diced
1 red pepper diced (could try tomatoes)
1 bunch parley diced (could try cilantro)
1 can of corn (rinsed)
1 can of cannellini beans (white kidney beans) (rinsed)

for dressing use vinegar, a dab of olive oil, salt, and a little sugar
mix everything and *chill* so all the flavors come out (do this will most of these salads listed -- they all taste soooo good cold)

bon apetite!