Salads

[nichola]

Is or just me but do other people dislike salads that are puffed up and padded out with lettuce? I think these type of salads are just a rip off and usually have just a small topping of what ever the salad is supposed to be about.

Help Bar in Ölüdeniz do a wicked large prawn and asparagus or artichoke salad I can never remember which full of prawns, sun dried tomatoes, pesto, and other yummy things. Not padded out with any lettuce that I can recall.

The Mozaik salad is pretty tasty too and also served without any lettuce to make it look bigger than it actually is.

I just wondered if there are other decent salads out there worth trying because it's normally something I would never order.

And also if there are salads out there to be avoided because it is mostly lettuce!

[JohnF]

Nicola, Nicola... you've fallen into that mindset that associates lettuce with salad.  I think its a British thing, padding out every bowl of salad with masses of tasteless, force grown, irradiated iceberg lettuce. 

You have to stop and think...  what is a salad?  In my opinion, it is any cold dish that contains mainly vegetables, with or without some cold or warm meat, that is bound with a dressing of some description.  Using that a baseline the choice/combination of ingredients are endless - cold cooked root veg, thinly sliced raw vegetables, beans, pulses etc etc.

A few that come immediately to mind:

Any greens (kale, shredded brussel sprouts, savoy cabbage) with walnuts or pine nuts and a vinaigrette or creamy dressing.
Selection of cooked beans - kidney, pinto, cannellini, blacked eyed with a nice herby dressing
Thinly sliced fennel with cucumber and a spicy dressing
Shredded chicken, green beans and coriander with a coconut based dressing
Beetroot and feta with a lemon dressing

Rather than using the boring old iceberg type lettuce to add "green" to a salad, experiment with other leafs such as watercress, spinach or chicory.  For a splash of colour, there is radicchio, cavolo nero etc.

I rarely cook in TR so not sure whats available in the markets, but by doing a bit of lateral thinking I'm sure you'll come up with stuff other than lettuce to make your salad.


JF

[nichola]

Not me John, it's restaurants! I think salads are usually a rip off in restaurants and wondered if others thought the same.

My favourite salad at the moment that I make at home is made with loads of rocket, cubes of soft village cheese, olives, avocado and hard boiled eggs with garlic, pepper flakes and olive oil for seasoning   

I forgot to mention cucumber and some spring onion including the stems for a bit of a spicy bite   

[JohnF]

Yeah sorry, truth be told I did reread your post and realised that you had the hump with the restaurants, as opposed to just salads in general. 

So what is available in the markets?  Do these places have a genuine excuse for being boring salad providers?

JF

[nichola]

Everything you could possibly want is available in the markets. I'm just of the opinion that some restaurants either lack any imagination of are trying it on.

Personally I would never choose anything called a salad when eating out apart from the two I have mentioned above and one of them's ours and I eat that regularly.

[sadler]

I love the rocket in Turkey, so peppery.  Here in good old Blighty I use leaves, (spinich, rocket, lambs lettuce) in a small amount and almost anything else available in the fridge, usually grapes, strawberries, olives, pine nuts, the usual toms, cu, red onion, beetroot, etc.  Then whatever protein I am using, i.e. cheese, eggs, chicken, ham etc.  I flavour with olive oil and balsamic vinegar with some crushed garlic.  The plates are piled high and full of freshness. In runner bean season, I love cold cooked runner beans dressed with the O.Oil, B. Vin and garlic. 

[scorcher]

 Blimey - not content with cake, jute and marmalade Dundee is proud to trumpet it's green aspirations !   

[JohnF]

Aye, might know how to make them...  but doesn't mean to say we eat them.  Another artery clogging lorne sausage and potato scone sandwich vicar?

JF

[WordBird]

Mr WB and I went to a local pub for lunch yesterday - I ordered a club sandwich which came with chips or salad, so I chose the healthy option.

The 'salad' was a very small pile of shredded cos lettuce with one cherry tomato (halved), two thin slices of cucumber and a sprinkling of chopped spring onion. I had to ask for dressing.
To me, that was barely a garnish.

Hugely disappointing - as far as the UK goes, Nichola, I'd have to agree with your original point.

[Scunner]

That is surprising, as salad isn't generally served over there to be eaten. It's purpose is to fill as much of your plate as possible with cheap stuff. Rice the same. Both used to try and convince you that you have a full plate, whereas in truth you have a very little portion of what you ordered and six chips.