Question of the Day, Friday, May 13

Good morning!   And Happy Friday (the 13th) 

With summer right around the corner, we have been eating a lot of grilled foods with all kinds of salads. Mostly we're eating veggie salads with lots and lots of fresh veggies, but I also like coleslaw and broccoli salad. And I dearly love good potato salad.

What's your favorite kind of salad? And what's your favorite salad dressing?

For the summer.. nice cold tomato salad, especially from tomatoes plucked from my garden!

I choose not to have salad dressing.. I like my salad dry.

I love ranch dressing at a local diner-I buy it by the pint-they make it home made-I don't like that big name ranch dressing-yuck. I also like marias I think its called? its in the **** area of the produce section-they have a cole slaw dressing that is good. and a greek dressing with feta cheese-yum. and the final one I like is paul newmans light caeser dressing-its got a bite to it but not creamy-almost like a zesty Italian dressing.

That's my favorite part about salad=dressing-I use it on my meats and in mashed potatoes for flavor.

Salad=spring mix/spinach/romaine-any dark leafy leaves but I never tried Kale.

I like things fresh cut-I wont eat salad that is premade-I like peppers, cukes, mushrooms, broccoli with lots of lettuce-I don't care for meat on my salad=I like those separate. but I sometimes buy a Caesar salad mix and add spinach and other veggies and its pretty good. Jon is fussy about veggies and wont eat squash zucchini or other type things but if I mince it up tiny then he wont know its in there...kids!

I usually have the usual mix, romaine, tomatoes, carrots cucumbers etc.

Which dressing kind of changes  Sometimes I like blu cheese, sometimes French and sometimes Italian.

When I make a salad it is a big meal for one.

I use romaine or a mix of romaine and spinach or baby lettuces, also throw in a mix of arugula also.

I always have tomatoes, cucumber, radish, celery, red pepper, black olives and cheese. Either cheddar or feta, depending on what type of protein I use; and of course a few croutons.

I sometimes switch it up with putting some red kidney beans or beets in the salad.

For protein I use a hard boiled egg, or chicken, or leftover pork or steak, sometimes tuna.

Salad dressing is very easy for me: just Extra Virgin Olive Oil and some Balsamic Vinegar--I just pour some of each in my bowl and mix it up....

Sometimes I use salad dressing, but I seem to prefer just the EVOO and Balsamic vinegar.  No added salt, or sugars...

I'm pretty sure I've shared this one before. It isn't an every day kind of salad but is my favorite; Arugula Peach with Creamy Chive Vinaigrette. Wonderful summer fare.

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/arugula-and-peach-salad-with-creamy-chive-vinaigrette

Other than that, my go to would probably be a plain arugula salad with a bit of good olive oil and sea salt - possibly some balsamic vinegar but a lot of times I don't even bother.

I'm not much of a fan of salad - but if I do eat salad, I prefer a salad with ranch dressing (The only salad dressing I like - yup, very one dimensional  ) lettuce, tomatoes, croutons, black olives, bacon, sometimes chicken, and grated cheese.





If it counts, I also do enjoy a well made potato salad! 

I actually eat a lot of tossed salad.   I think the main  reason I do is because I am not a huge fan of veggies especially when farmers markets aren't opened and well stocked.  Eating salads is a way for me to get my veggies.

The usual, romaine, deseeded tomatoes and cucumbers, bell peppers, boiled egg, beet slices, onion slices, carrots, radishes. Just whatever is in the fridge. I am a Ranch person as far as the dressing, or sometimes Honey Mustard.

For greens I love arugula and romaine and butter lettuce first, but  I enjoy all greens except kale.  I like to use coleslaw as my "dressing".  Chickpeas, feta, shredded red cabbage, cukes, shredded carrots.

@Artiemom  , I have been wanting to try a dressing of just olive oil and balsamic.  Is that all I need?  I don't care for all the spices.

I love reading about all these salads, I know I will be stopping at the store tonight for salad ingredients!!!  It is too early where I am for local produce, but that is right around the corner!  

I love any kind of salad, but my go-to salad is lettuce, black olives, and sweet onion. I use an Italian-style dressing or olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I also make a killer potato salad, but I consider that a carb, not a veggie salad.

@raysmyheart   Yes, olive oil  and balsamic vinegar is all you need, but chopped garlic is a great addition, and sprinkle everything with a bit of sea salt.

@raysmyheart  

Yup, just EVOO and a good Balsamic Vinegar...I do not even add salt or pepper..

When my Basil plant, which I grow in Summer, is ready, I will add some torn pieces to it also.

In the Summer, the best 'salad' is really good tomatoes, preferable home grown, some fresh mozzarella, basil leaves, and some EVOO, touch of balsamic vinegar ~~~ A Caprese Salad.. so good! But I do have to have some bread to soak up the leftovers...yum!

I found that Trader Joe's has a couple of good balsamic vinegars, which will not throw your budget out of whack....

I tried the Gold Brand.. It is really good for the price.

So all this salad talk made me order one for lunch at my desk. There's a place in NYC called Maple that is a boutique kind of delivery service with meals created by top chefs in the area.

Today I had a Steak and Corn Tortilla Bowl. Interesting mixture of greens, roasted corn, cojita cheese, tortilla chips (broken up into small pieces) with extremely good quality chunks of grilled steak on top.  I skipped the dressing, it was so flavorful without it.  And they give a small gluten free maple cookie with all meals.  Was great!

I like any of the lettuce based salads and mom's coleslaw. I am not picky about dressings, but favor creamy Italian. The absolute worse salads are the bean and macaroni ones even though I like beans and macaroni.

I like Spinach or mixed greens (no iceberg) with real bacon bits, off the vine cherry tomatoes,shredded cheese, craisins, almond slivers, Vidalia onion, hard boiled egg, or grilled chicken with Kens Honey Balsamic or olive oil and balsamic and garlic powder and sweetener., if I use BBQ chicken I add a splash of BBQ sauce also

i really like fresh lettuce/greens mix salads, with various and assorted other raw veggies in them. gotta have fresh croutons on it too. i think a really good blue cheese dressing is my favorite, with peppercorn ranch being a close second.

i also love simple sliced homegrown tomatoes with salad dressing drizzled over them.

i love fresh fruit salad. macaroni and potato salads are great, coleslaw is good too. they must be homemade -- can't stand the store bought kind. various pasta salads are good too, especially with pesto/mayo dressing.

I absolutely adore spinach salad!

My favorite is macaroni salad with green peppers, onions, etc.

I like pasta salads (I have one recipe that uses tricolor spiral pasta with green an black olives, salami, tomatoes, cheeses, and Italian dressing).

I also like German style potato salad.

For leafy salads, I like spinach and romaine and stuff

Dressing, probably Italian is my favorite, although sometimes I am in the mood for something different.

I love Mexican type salads. I have one that uses romaine, corn, black beans, avocado, tomatoes, red onion, etc. I add chicken and make it a meal. The dressing for it is a lime/cilantro vinaigrette and it is delicious.

I like chickpea salads and pasta salads also. I make a chicken caesar pasta salad that I really like.

I make an arugula salad with roasted red peppers, sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, basil and a little bit of mozzarella with a drizzle of olive oil and really good balsamic.