Salads Recipes

It should not come as a surprise that not all salads are the same. The first that comes to your mind when talking about salads isn’t exactly the same thing that’s in the minds of others. Some have thought that salads are ultimately healthy. However, that only reflects one’s peculiar bias and perspective on what salads are and how salad recipes are meant to be. In fact, everyone ought to know the many different kinds of salad dishes out there.

Defining a Salad

The word salad actually refers to a wide array of dishes that includes a variety of ingredients. One can also argue that a salad more of a way or method of cooking dishes rather than a specific recipe. In fact, the truth is that there are many salad recipes utilizing many different kinds of ingredients.

Kinds of Salad

The common notion is that a salad dish has lettuce as its base or primary ingredient. However, there are salads that use other ingredients for its base. Some salads have pasta for its base. Others use gelatin or noodles. You should be familiar with salads that have potatoes as the main ingredient. There are also salads that have meat as the primary ingredient, which basically takes away the common misconception that all salads are 100% healthy.

If we classify salads according to their primary ingredient we’ll come up with quite a list of different kinds of salad recipes. You can have bacon salads, cheese salads, grain salads, green salads (ones that use lettuce and other green leafy vegetables as base), chicken salads, pasta salads, pulse salads (includes ones that use dried peas, kidney beans, lentils, and other high protein and low calorie hearty foods), vegetable salads, and potato salads.

How’s Your Dressing?

The dressing is an important part of all salad recipes. Many just serve their salads plainly as they are and only adding a pinch of salt to taste. Those who get bored of doing this tend to add some form of dressing like salad cream or mayonnaise. Mayonnaise is characteristically fattening so people tend to avoid it while some welcome it with open hearts.

Those who choose to live and eat healthy choose a low fat dressing such as vinegar or lemon juice. Those who want some extra flavor on their salad recipes opt to use low-fat yogurt. Other popular dressings include cider vinegar and olive oil.

What is a Healthy Salad?

Salad recipes are usually thought of as lean really healthy food. However, in reality, this isn’t exactly the case. What really determines if your salad is healthy or not are the ingredients you put into it. If you use toppings with unhealthy fat on it like bacon bits, cured meats, and cheese then you do not only get a lot of calories but you also get a lot fat.

Going Green and Fruity

Those who don’t care about their diet can munch on any salad with whatever toppings or ingredients they so choose. But for those who want to watch their weight then their best salad options go along the line of fruity and green. Take note that raw vegetables and fruit that you put in your salad dishes are more nutritious than processed or cooked fruits and vegetables.

Greener Options

Those who opt for green salads have plenty of options when it comes to ingredients. Of course, the most popular one will have to be lettuce. Several lettuce options include lamb’s lettuce, romaine lettuce, and iceberg lettuce. Other options for your green salad include chicory, curly endive, lollo rosso, radicchio, watercress, and spinach.