Question Of The Day, Friday, June 28

I like almost all tossed salads, but my favorite is spinach, onion, mandarin oranges, and walnuts with a raspberry vinaigrette.

My favorite dressings are ranch and Paul Newman's family Italian.

I read somewhere that ranch dressing is the most popular in the US.

maggiedemi said:

My grandmother used to put radishes on her tossed salad. I hated them then, but now I kinda like them.

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I love radishes. We grew them in the garden when I was a kid. I used to eat them fresh picked. Just wipe them off and eat. Yum.

I love them, too. Dad also grew those white icicle ones that you never see in the store. Sometimes I even put radishes in potato salad. They make it look so pretty.

I hate salad dressing on salad. I like store brand orange French, Ceaser, and Italian on grilled chicken, but not on salad.

I like lettuce, carrots, peppers, cauliflower, and broccoli. Sometimes, I like black olives, black beans, spinach, and/or cheese. On rare occasions, I will have croutons. That is only if they are the last in the package and going to go to waste. I love cucumbers, but I am allergic to them. About once a year, I tempt fate and eat a slice: Fate always wins. (The allergy started a few years ago.) I have always been allergic to tomatoes. I do not like the smell of them, so, I think I am safe from temptation! Haha! Radishes are okay.

As for what I put on them instead of dressing, it depends on my mood. Usually, I leave them plain. Sometimes it is salt and pepper. Occasionally I will add lemon or lime. I also like Japanese rice flavoring on salad. I have to watch the type because some have horseradish or wasabi, to which I am allergic. Nori Komi Furikake is my favorite. I have been considering trying that on a salad and adding crab.

I'm not really a salad person so I don't have much salad at all.

Graceful-Lily said:

I got really sick once from not washing. I thought I was going to die. So, I just stay away from fruits and salads nowadays.

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I can certainly understand that. By fruit, though, do you mean all fresh fruit or just pre-cut fruit? I think most whole fruit, except maybe berries, can be washed well enough that you don't have to worry.

I like ranch dressing best.

As far as ingredients, I don't like a lot of greens - a lot of times I don't put in any. If I do use greens it is baby spinach. I like a lot of veggies - red and green peppers, tomatoes (i use the small ones), a touch of jalapeno, shredded cheddar cheese, carrots, zucchini, cucumber, maybe yellow squash. Sometimes I will add tuna, or diced chicken if I have it. I like something crunchy like slivered almonds or pine nuts. Oh, and radishes if I remember to get them - they add crunch and spiciness.

Caesar salads I don't get. Just lettuce and croutons. But if you love it, go for it. Just don't order me one.

I don't have a favorite salad, but I am particular. IN NO WAY, can there be a mix of fruit with veggies, and yes that includes lettuce. I also do not like "fruit vinaigrette" in my salads. Either make a fruit salad or a lettuce with veggie salad, don't mix them.

I do remember when I went on a trip with a friend and we stayed with his grandmother, she always had a salad with dinner.
It was nothing special, iceberg lettuce, thin sliced english cucumber, an olive oil and vinegar dressing (home made I think) and S&P.
I don't know what it was, maybe the type olive oil, but it was the greatest salad I ever had. She would laugh every meal because I would always grab seconds and thirds of her salad. I have never been able to recreate this simple yet perfect salad. It had just enough zing, the oil perfectly coated your mouth, you could taste the salt without it being "salty", and the pepper gave it just the right amount of spice. I wish I would have asked her for the recipe, and the brands of ingredients.

So, just putting this out there, if any of you have "the best" oil and vinegar dressing, PLEASE share!

See, I like fruit in my salad, and nuts, and just things to make it more interesting than lettuce and dressing. Never tomatoes, though.

There's this broccoli bacon salad I buy for my friend's party every year that's basically amazing and I could eat a pound of it on one sitting.

I love salads and usually have one with my evening meal. Blue Cheese is my usual dressing, but as of late I have been on a 1000 island kick. When I was young my Mother used to make a Wilted Salad which I just loved. I don't have the recipe but it had bacon grease in it. Back then pretty much everything was flavored with bacon grease. Definitely not very healthy.

rubysmama said:

I can certainly understand that. By fruit, though, do you mean all fresh fruit or just pre-cut fruit? I think most whole fruit, except maybe berries, can be washed well enough that you don't have to worry.

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It was fresh fruit. I like putting it into my smoothies and salads. Especially raspberry. Sometimes I forget to wash them and I got a bad stomach virus after eating some of it.

Greek. Black olives, banana peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, feta cheese with a greek dressing.

I don't know. I really enjoy salads year round. While I like the taste of blue cheese and all other cheeses I'm badly allergic to dairy so that's a no- go. I do like salads that combine fruit and avocado. I don't necessarily like sweet dressings but a little real fruit adds the right amount of sweetness.

Before I was allergic to diary (now we are talking a few decades ago) I really loved blue-cheese with walnut and strawberries on arugula. Now I do a lot of asian flavors. We have a pineapple and avocado salad as a summer staple.

Winchester said:

Good morning! And Happy Friday!

We've been eating a lot of salads lately; right now I'm on a coleslaw kick, but I pretty much like any salad. As long as it doesn't have olives or anchovies, I'm good to go. My favorite salad is a good Caesar salad. I love a good French or Thousand Island dressing, but I also enjoy a smoky blue cheese dressing. Pass the croutons, please. Yum

What's your favorite salad? What do you not want on your salad? And what's your favorite dressing? Are there any dressings that you simply will not eat?

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I love almost all fresh fruits and vegetables, in any and all combinations, except for papaya (stinks!) and rutabaga (tastes like dirt!) Clear Italian is my dressing of choice. I also love honey mustard, and sesame seed, and just plain oil and (non-red-wine) vinegar. I will not eat or drink anything that stinks, like blue cheese, ranch, etc. If it smells bad, it does not go in my body.

MoochNNoodles said:

My favorite is probably a good antipasto. One of the local Italian places has the best; with fresh mozzarella and their house dressing. They serve it with fresh bread too. Sometimes I just order that as my meal. (Right now I wish it was closer to my house. )

In general I like pretty much all salads except "watergate salad" and pretzel salad. Oh; no "weedwacker salads" either. Thank you to whoever here got me calling them that. DH and DD love the spring mix lettuce blends but yuck.

I could really go for homemade potato and chicken salad right now.

I usually go for vinaigrette dressings; homemade is the best. But I like most dressings. French is probably my least favorite on a salad.

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Antipasto is definitely a great salad. And with thick bread, oh my!

tarasgirl06 said:

If it smells bad, it does not go in my body.

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And if it smells like a body part, it doesn’t go in or on my salad

Graceful-Lily said:

It was fresh fruit. I like putting it into my smoothies and salads. Especially raspberry. Sometimes I forget to wash them and I got a bad stomach virus after eating some of it.

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Maybe for smoothies you can stick to frozen fruit. They're rarely recalled.

I like my salad with iceberg lettuce and almost all vegetables
except asparagus and that horrible, horrible, rutabaga. My favorite dressing is vinegar and olive oil or Kraft Ranch. I also like blue cheese or Swiss but not goat cheese.

rubysmama said:

Maybe for smoothies you can stick to frozen fruit. They're rarely recalled.

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I always use frozen fruit for mine. Works great!

We each have a large salad with dinner every night: red leaf lettuce, some crumbled feta, and a simple mix of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I’ve also been mixing in a dab of homemade pesto to the oil and vinegar. And this last week I’ve been sprinkling on some unsalted roasted sunflower seeds that I had leftover from making granola bars.

I also make a couple of what I think of as summer salads that we have as a side dish: Mardi-Gras Salad from The Silver Palette Cookbook (it’s a coleslaw with a vinaigrette dressing) and an orzo salad with chickpeas, tomatoes, and herbs.