Seven Main Dish Salads for a Large Lettuce Harvest
Right now our lettuce is going gangbusters. We haven’t quite mastered the art of successive plantings which means we are going to be eating a ton of salad in the next couple of weeks.
So I came up with a list of all of the main dish salads we’ll be eating this week and next… or until we figure this successive planting thing out a little better.
Taco Salad
This is the most obvious and most frequently eaten in our home. Throw together your greens, onions, fresh cilantro, ground beef seasoned with cumin and garlic, cheddar cheese, sour cream, avocado, salsa, beans, or anything else you might eat on a taco.
Greek Salad
Combine your greens with any of the following: red (or other) onions, cucumber, tomato, feta cheese, olives, chicken/ground beef/lamb. Toss with a vinaigrette made of olive oil, red wine vinegar (or lemon juice), minced garlic, and dried oregano.
Caesar Salad
This is my current favorite. Combine your greens with Parmesan cheese, any extra veggies, and a protein. Toss with a nourishing Caesar salad dressing.
Fruit, Nut, & Cheese Salad
Our local health food store carries a version of this and it is possibly my favorite salad of all time. Top your greens with protein (if desired), chopped onion, fruit, chopped nuts, and chunks of cheese. Great combinations include dried cherries with almonds and blue cheese, dried apricots with feta and almonds, fresh apples with cheddar and walnuts, and fresh pears with blue cheese and walnuts. Dress with a simple vinaigrette or our favorite cultured dairy-based blue cheese dressing (found in Simple Food {for spring}).
Cobb Salad
I’m not sure how "authentic" this is but I combine greens with chicken, cooked bacon, onions, other veggies, and maybe some avocado and toss with our favorite homemade ranch dressing made using cultured dairy (found in Simple Food {for spring}).
Asian Chicken Salad
Combine greens with chopped chicken, chopped almonds, chopped cabbage, and chopped green onions. Toss in a vinaigrette made with lime juice, olive or sesame oil, garlic, and ginger.
Salad Nicoise
Top your greens with canned or fresh tuna, steamed potatoes & green beans, hard boiled eggs, olives, and anchovies (if you’re wild & crazy). Toss with a simple vinaigrette.
Anyone else eating a ton of salad?
i have never craved a salad so early in the morning! these all sound so good. printing this post for sure.
I love this idea! I over-planted my lettuce because the first planting looked like it wasn’t going to make it, so I planted more. Thankfully, they are all doing well and it will mean lots to give to family and friends. But I love the idea of main dish salads over the summer!
Mmm! I eat the first three you mentioned very frequently! I never heard of Salad Nicoise…had to look it up. 🙂
I think I may be saladed out! LOL! WE have SO much lettuce, arugula, spinach, etc. I have been having salads for breakfast and lunch and with dinner. Kids are tired of it and husband is as well! But that’s okay. It has been wonderful. My favorite right now is goat cheese, dried cherries, walnuts and chicken in with the greens.
A cool, damp June makes for loads of lettuce. My go to salad is taco or caesar but I sure am up for some variety. Thanks for the post.
We’ve got tons of lettuce too, so your post is PERFECT timing! Taco Salad for lunch, Grilled fish and salad for dinner, salad for breakfast tomorrow…wait…maybe we’ll take a break in the morning!
I’ve also got a recipe for Wilted Greens I’ve been dying to make. My mom used to make it every summer when the bumper crop of lettuce came in. Hot dressing on lettuce sounds a little weird, but it’s really good!
I am definitely a fan of salad, I eat one most days. Different varieties of salads. Everything from leafy green garden salads to mustard filled potato salads. I just love my vegetables. (If someone had told me that I would grow up to be such a salad fan when I was a child I would have laughed at them). But growing your own vegetables definitely puts a different spin on things, and fresh always tastes better than big box grocery store buys in my opinion. Thanks so much for sharing the salads you are eating this week, it has given me a craving for a fruit, nut, and cheese salad. Yumm!
We have a ton of lettuce & spinach growing as well. I eat a salad everyday for lunch. Although I eat many of those you mentioned, mine tend to have less of a theme. Always top mine with a protein like ham, chicken, salami, turkey, roast beef, tuna or even sliced marinated steak leftover from the previous night. Then I add cheese and whatever veggies are around. Also marinated artichokes or mushrooms are good.
My other fave topping is a big scoop of cottage cheese, then add lots of tomatoes with my other veggies, and use a dressing like russian, thousand island or my latest fave Chipotle Ranch.
I really appreciate this compilation! I’m running short on creativity in the salad department and we’ve only been enjoying your run of the mill salad. I love the idea of making it into a full meal for ease of preparation for cool weather cooking 🙂
Drowning…swimming?…in lettuce right now, happily.
Thanks for your suggestions. I love to put warm meals (pasta, beans and rice, curries) right on top of an undressed bed of salad and let the meal be the dressing.
yes!! we are in the thick of this too so i really appreciate these ideas. just this morning i was making our menu plan for the week and i though “forget what i want to have… we NEED to have salad!” 🙂
great ideas.
I’m eating sauteed green pepper, onion, garlic with warm yellow rice and pintos and some cheddar over iceberg lettuce right now — it’s great!!! Also, I know it isn’t authentic, but a soft-boiled or poached egg over a nut, fruit and cheese salad, especially with spring greens or arugula (kinda spicy) is awesome!! creamy and comforting, only needs a little vinegar and a touch of olive oil!
Yep, that’s what we’re having for dinner. My mom and I call leftovers + greens = Garbage Salad.