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Salad is Stupid

Salad is Stupid
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  • Post #61 - January 21st, 2011, 9:32 am
    Post #61 - January 21st, 2011, 9:32 am Post #61 - January 21st, 2011, 9:32 am
    I have been trying to incorporate more raw veg in our diets especially in the form of salad for dinner, last night being a good example. No loss of flavor/texture/crunch. Celery/radish/mushroom/carrot/cucumber/fennel/iceberg lettuce/hard boiled egg/avocado/cherry tomato/feta cheese/three types of olives/salami/shrimp. Meats in moderation, veg a medium fine dice, light fresh lemon juice based dressing, healthy and tasty.

    As an aside, a niece gave me a salad spinner for the holidays, I love the thing and wonder how I lived so long without one.
    Hold my beer . . .

    Low & Slow
  • Post #62 - January 21st, 2011, 11:02 am
    Post #62 - January 21st, 2011, 11:02 am Post #62 - January 21st, 2011, 11:02 am
    Given the mention of chicken salad, then realizing, "Oh yeah! Tuna!, Egg!, Crabmeat!, Ham!" I realized it is not salad which I dislike so much as it is lettuce. I'm fine with most other veggies, though I do tend to prefer them blanched for a bit.
    Curiously enough my wife came up with an interesting use of lettuce the other morning. I'm grateful she let me sleep:

    http://thehumblesoup.blogspot.com/
  • Post #63 - January 22nd, 2011, 12:22 am
    Post #63 - January 22nd, 2011, 12:22 am Post #63 - January 22nd, 2011, 12:22 am
    David's diatribe reminds me of the chapter "Salad: The Silent Killer" in Jeffrey Steingarten's delightful book, The Man Who Ate Everything. He, too, finds little justification for raw, leafy green things.

    You can actually blame the Romans for those tossed, green salads -- they were the ones who came up with the idea of lettuce-based salads. Even the name is Roman -- from herba salata, or "salted vegetables." Move outside of areas heavily influenced by Roman culture, and you find that the word "salad" is used to refer to everything from a bowl of olives to hummus to ground spiced chicken (larb) to sliced oranges with cinnamon.

    Personally, I enjoy a nice salad -- especially salade Lyonaisse.
    "All great change in America begins at the dinner table." Ronald Reagan

    http://midwestmaize.wordpress.com
  • Post #64 - January 22nd, 2011, 1:43 pm
    Post #64 - January 22nd, 2011, 1:43 pm Post #64 - January 22nd, 2011, 1:43 pm
    A green salad imho can be very good or quite insipid. I mostly hate the so called spring mix that appears on the plate as a room temperature dry clump of weeds you could find in your backyard. I'm not fond of a salad with mostly purple or red "greens". I like a crisp green salad that has some body to it but not iceberg lettuce either. I think romaine is the king of salad greens and I like butter lettuce in a head too. With cucumbers and tomatoes and a good dressing not drenched, it can be good. It should be chilled. I like a bit of moisture clinging to the greens so I know it was washed. Picky picky.

    The only exception is I remember way back when it was fashionable to serve a wedge of iceberg lettuce with home made thousand island dressing. That could be quite good. You don't really see that anymore.

    A bad salad is not worth eating. Also I have a similar problem with soup. I am usually left feeling I need something to bite on and soup does not satify my need to bite and chew. All my friends love soup and keep giving some to me. Please don't give me soup!!!!! LOL I do make my own from time to time and eat it because its good for you.
    Toria

    "I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - As You Like It,
    W. Shakespeare
  • Post #65 - February 1st, 2011, 11:03 am
    Post #65 - February 1st, 2011, 11:03 am Post #65 - February 1st, 2011, 11:03 am
    I am finding lately that the way I like salad best is at home, with fairly little lettuce (maybe 25-50% of total content), and a good variety of other ingredients from a grocery store salad bar. Right now I am eating the second half of a batch of salad stuff I got from Sunset's salad bar ($4.99/lb; the container I bought cost $3.17, so yesterday's and today's very filling salads for $1.59 each). The salad ingredients I picked were romaine lettuce, baby spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, red pepper, yellow pepper, beets, mushrooms, garbanzos, peas, carrot shreds, raisins, and radish slices. Most of those items are cut bigger than bite size in the store so I cut them up into smaller pieces at home. They cover most of the colors of the rainbow so it seems healthy and makes me feel virtuous. I salt and pepper all lightly in a bowl, toss and wait a few minutes, then add a light topping (not soaking) of whatever dressing I have in the fridge. I do like lettuces of pretty much all kinds, but I'm starting to think salads of mostly lettuce are what lead to salad boredom.
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #66 - February 7th, 2011, 12:59 pm
    Post #66 - February 7th, 2011, 12:59 pm Post #66 - February 7th, 2011, 12:59 pm
    In addition to chopping the leaves and adding other, more interesting ingredients, another way to make a salad smarter is to put it on top of a pizza:

    Image

    Crust
    299 main st
    Dubuque, IA 52001
    "Don't you ever underestimate the power of a female." Bootsy Collins
  • Post #67 - November 10th, 2012, 12:14 pm
    Post #67 - November 10th, 2012, 12:14 pm Post #67 - November 10th, 2012, 12:14 pm
    The salad I'm eating for lunch today inspired me to hunt up this thread. I find my taste in salad is still best expressed by my last post: relatively little lettuce, lots of other things. For the first time in a long time, I was inspired to gather a dozen or more things from the salad bar during my last visit to the Libertyville Mariano's. I crumbled on top of today's salad a Roquefort cheese that I also bought at Mariano's (trying to try one new cheese each time); a cheese that was more crumbly than I expected and thus a disappointment until I realized that its best application was in salad.

    I am also thinking of the Thanksgiving 2012 thread and thinking that a salad of a dozen or more components might be a good thing to take to the Thanksgiving dinner that we're invited to and also an apt symbol of a cornucopia.

    Meanwhile, rereading this thread, I wondered if this was ever made a banner quote:

    "Street urchin, card shark, lounge lizard, chauvinist pig, snake in the grass, bar fly, weasel, rat, bookworm and, of course, grease monkey are all meats that are best eaten cooked, I should think." -Antonius
    Last edited by Katie on November 10th, 2012, 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #68 - November 10th, 2012, 12:34 pm
    Post #68 - November 10th, 2012, 12:34 pm Post #68 - November 10th, 2012, 12:34 pm
    I think their arepas are pretty terrible after repeat visits, but Aripo's Venezuelan in Oak Park has a salad for salad haters: pretty much half an avocado, big trunks of palm heart, an afterthought of lettuce, slivered red onion, and a dressing that's basically just pureed fresh garlic and olive oil.
  • Post #69 - November 10th, 2012, 12:41 pm
    Post #69 - November 10th, 2012, 12:41 pm Post #69 - November 10th, 2012, 12:41 pm
    Santander wrote:I think their arepas are pretty terrible after repeat visits, but Aripo's Venezuelan in Oak Park has a salad for salad haters: pretty much half an avocado, big trunks of palm heart, an afterthought of lettuce, slivered red onion, and a dressing that's basically just pureed fresh garlic and olive oil.


    Love palm heart. Alistair would love that salad.

    Petterino's has a salad with asparagus, hearts of palm, & a deviled egg.
    Ava-"If you get down and out, just get in the kitchen and bake a cake."- Jean Strickland

    Horto In Urbs- Falling in love with Urban Vegetable Gardening
  • Post #70 - November 10th, 2012, 1:26 pm
    Post #70 - November 10th, 2012, 1:26 pm Post #70 - November 10th, 2012, 1:26 pm
    I like the idea of serving a nice salad at Thanksgiving or a big holiday meal. It is not traditional in our family but healthful and is not heavy like all the gloppy gravy and cheese laden foods usually on the menu.

    I too like lots of things in my salads...beets, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower carrots, etc. So I usually hit up the Whole foods salad bar. I can get a salad there and if carefully wrapped and with no dressing put on it it will last for two meals. It seems salad bars are not as common as they once were. Now only Whole Foods has one around me and maybe Dominicks.
    Toria

    "I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - As You Like It,
    W. Shakespeare
  • Post #71 - November 10th, 2012, 1:54 pm
    Post #71 - November 10th, 2012, 1:54 pm Post #71 - November 10th, 2012, 1:54 pm
    Santander wrote:a salad for salad haters: pretty much half an avocado .. olive oil.

    The simplest version of this is something I miss about Chile: ensalada de palta--half of a perfectly ripe avocado, sliced, fanned out, sprinkled with olive oil and salt, and as cheap as any other kind of salad (such as the ubiquitous ensalada Chilena--chopped tomato and onion with oil and salt). "Palta reina" is a popular variation, a half of an avocado stuffed with shrimp salad. I can't remember ever ordering a palta reina; I was so enamored of the idea of a plateful of avocado that I didn't want anything getting in the way.
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #72 - November 10th, 2012, 2:09 pm
    Post #72 - November 10th, 2012, 2:09 pm Post #72 - November 10th, 2012, 2:09 pm
    toria wrote:I like the idea of serving a nice salad at Thanksgiving or a big holiday meal. It is not traditional in our family but healthful and is not heavy like all the gloppy gravy and cheese laden foods usually on the menu.

    I too like lots of things in my salads...beets, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower carrots, etc. So I usually hit up the Whole foods salad bar. I can get a salad there and if carefully wrapped and with no dressing put on it it will last for two meals. It seems salad bars are not as common as they once were. Now only Whole Foods has one around me and maybe Dominicks.

    The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of a unique salad mix for Thanksgiving. For the sake of Mr. Picky Eater, however, I will have to hold the julienned carrots (allergic) and the mushrooms (dislike) aside and let others add them as they see fit. I have also learned that mushrooms are best left aside until just before serving for aesthetic reasons; they tend to discolor some of the other ingredients in the mix, e.g., cheese, if I remember correctly. Dressing (olive oil or other) and salt should also not be added until just before serving.

    Salad eaten this way, as a light, fresh, multicolored, multitextured, cool counterpoint to warm, heavy, salty main courses, is salad that appeals to me. Salad as DH (David Hammond, not Dear Husband) described it earlier, eaten grudgingly every day as if it were a bitter vitamin pill, does not appeal to me at all.
    "Your swimming suit matches your eyes, you hold your nose before diving, loving you has made me bananas!"
  • Post #73 - November 10th, 2012, 2:14 pm
    Post #73 - November 10th, 2012, 2:14 pm Post #73 - November 10th, 2012, 2:14 pm
    Katie wrote:Salad eaten this way, as a light, fresh, multicolored, multitextured, cool counterpoint to warm, heavy, salty main courses, is salad that appeals to me. Salad as DH (David Hammond, not Dear Husband) described it earlier, eaten grudgingly every day as if it were a bitter vitamin pill, does not appeal to me at all.


    Me neither.
    "Don't you ever underestimate the power of a female." Bootsy Collins
  • Post #74 - November 12th, 2012, 9:39 am
    Post #74 - November 12th, 2012, 9:39 am Post #74 - November 12th, 2012, 9:39 am
    toria wrote:I like the idea of serving a nice salad at Thanksgiving or a big holiday meal. It is not traditional in our family but healthful and is not heavy like all the gloppy gravy and cheese laden foods usually on the menu.

    I too like lots of things in my salads...beets, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower carrots, etc. So I usually hit up the Whole foods salad bar. I can get a salad there and if carefully wrapped and with no dressing put on it it will last for two meals. It seems salad bars are not as common as they once were. Now only Whole Foods has one around me and maybe Dominicks.


    I believe I'm doing just that. I have a beet & tangerine salad on my menu so far.
    I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert. ~ Jason Love

    There is no pie in Nighthawks, which is why it's such a desolate image. ~ Happy Stomach

    I write stuff.
  • Post #75 - August 25th, 2015, 1:32 pm
    Post #75 - August 25th, 2015, 1:32 pm Post #75 - August 25th, 2015, 1:32 pm
    Why salad is so overrated

    There’s one food, though, that has almost nothing going for it. It occupies precious crop acreage, requires fossil fuels to be shipped, refrigerated, around the world, and adds nothing but crunch to the plate.

    It’s salad, and here are three main reasons why we need to rethink it.


    Salad vegetables are pitifully low in nutrition.... Salad fools dieters into making bad choices.... Salad has unfortunate repercussions in our food supply.
  • Post #76 - August 25th, 2015, 1:53 pm
    Post #76 - August 25th, 2015, 1:53 pm Post #76 - August 25th, 2015, 1:53 pm
    You've all been warned.
    "Don't you ever underestimate the power of a female." Bootsy Collins
  • Post #77 - January 13th, 2021, 7:59 pm
    Post #77 - January 13th, 2021, 7:59 pm Post #77 - January 13th, 2021, 7:59 pm
    Will jars of salad sell at a doughnut shop? Farmer’s Fridge is trying that at Dunkin’. Farmer’s Fridge, best known for selling jars of fresh salads out of vending machines, is now hawking its healthy fare through an unlikely partner: doughnut titan Dunkin’.
    https://apple.news/AmLv6XYLxSyKDIWEcTiCfow
    Never order barbecue in a place that also serves quiche - Lewis Grizzard
  • Post #78 - January 13th, 2021, 8:18 pm
    Post #78 - January 13th, 2021, 8:18 pm Post #78 - January 13th, 2021, 8:18 pm
    that is fascinating news. farmers fridge is excellent; i have missed it will not at work. i never go to dunkin but i would enter for the fridge!
  • Post #79 - January 13th, 2021, 11:29 pm
    Post #79 - January 13th, 2021, 11:29 pm Post #79 - January 13th, 2021, 11:29 pm
    That is not a bad idea. You stop in at Dunkin for your breakfast and lunch is staring you in the face. I have done that occasionally at various groceries - pick up a bagel and a prepared salad for lunch.

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