[Pup-pup]

My DH is always complaining my salad is boring (I.e lettuce, tomato, cucumber etc). What is your best salad recipe, dressing or easy side salad?

[Missmarymack]

Potato salad is an easy one with a yoghurt based dressing - although not the best alternative to a green salad.

What about a roasted veg salad? or a Waldorf salad?

Or ask your DH to make one

[Pup-pup]

His preferred option is Veges, so that's what he'll make. I'm trying to sway him...

[heffalumpsnwoozl...]

DH is easily bamboozled by what he perceives as choice. I fill one salad bowl with mixed lettuce leaves, shallots, avocado and toasted pine nuts. I fill a smaller bowl with sliced tomatoes tossed with basil, olive oil and bocconcini. It's basically the same salad, but because it's in two bowls he thinks I've gone to a lot of extra trouble.

[madmax1]

Im the same I find my own salads boring.

I add feta cheese, chick peas, spring onion or red onion, sometimes bacon . It still ends up being boring.

[Avidlearner1]

Roast some pumpkin. Adding it to spinach leaves, cucumber, avocado, onion and pinenuts - yum.

Chickpeas or sprout mix.

Beetroot and bocconcini added through a normal salad.

[blue4me]

Being a vegetarian I eat lots of salads, often as my main meal, some of my favs I make are:

-Mixed salad leaves, avocado, green beans or sugar snap peas and toasted pine nuts

- Baby spinach, grilled pumpkin or sweet potato, grilled haloumi and chick peas. You can also add quinoa or cous cous which makes it more of a meal.

- Roast beetroot and roast baby carrots, stir fried green beans or similar.

- Greek salad with lettuce, tomato, onion, fetta and olives.

- Capsicum, snow peas, chickpeas and dill.

- Baby rocket, thin slices of apple or pear and fresh Parmesan with a vinegrette dressing.

- Rocket, pear or apple, roast beetroot, goats cheese.

[Leggy]

Roast pumpkin cut into large cubes, red onion, whole garlic cloves, oil and rosemary in the same pan (about 1/2 hr at 160C, fan forced oven). Fry some sliced mushrooms and mix into roasted pumpkin mix. Serve warm or cold, with or without greens mixed in at the last minute.

Beetroot (Boil whole for about 10min first to speed things up) cut into small cubes and mixed with rosemary, whole garlic cloves, oil and balsamic vinegar. Cover tightly with alfoil and roast in oven for an hour or so, till softish (experiment to get your preferred level of crunch). When slightly cooled add salad leaves and diced or crumbled feta. Also nice cold.

These 2 are my favourite make-a-heap-on-the-weekend salads to be served up at various times during the week. The next is a Persian entree/snack/it's too damn hot to cook dish, best done with herbs from your own garden because then you can be extravagant. Vary the herbs depending on what you have or like.

Bunch of mint
Bunch of parsley
Bunch of coriander
Bunch of tarragon, basil, etc etc, you can really get away with just 2 or 3 kinds of herbs
Feta cheese
almonds, walnuts or other
sliced radishes (optional)
flatbread (optional)

Soak the nuts in hot water for 1/2 - 1hr, or in cold water all day. Wash and pick the leaves from the herbs. Cube the feta. Slice the radishes. Drain the nuts. Mix all together in a big bowl, or arrange in piles on a platter for people to self-assemble. Take handfuls and eat as it is, or wrap it in a little flatbread.

[Zesty]

Grated diakon radish and carrot with a rice wine dressing.

Quinoa with parsley, mint, cucumber, preserved lemon and spring onions.

Grated fresh beetroot and carrot with chopped parsley, corriander, spring onion and avocado.

Chopped green herb salad (coriander, mint, parsley) with pomegranate and sliced avocado, cucumber and red onion.

Finely sliced fennel with red onion, mixed salad leaves and cubes of nectarine.

Roasted vegetable and couscous salad with tomato juice and balsamic vinegar dressing.

[3men]

My everyday salad is -
lettuce leaves, cherry tomatoes (halved and I use all different types - roma, kumato, grape, orange, yellow etc for colour), fresh steamed asparagus, avacado, mango cubes or grapes, mung beans, bean sprouts, feta, nuts (pine, cashews, macadamias). Sometimes I sprinkle diced bacon over the top and I've even added vegetable pasta.
Extras can include capsicum, sun dried tomatoes, corn - basically anything you like. I never add cucumber because I don't like it but that's just my choice.

It makes a great side for anything - chicken, steak, fish, rissoles/burgers.