• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Get Cooking!

Recipes, Kitchen Gadgets, Cookbook Reviews, Gluten Free Recipes...

  • Home
    • Contact
    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Sitemap
    • Store
  • Reviews
    • Cookware Reviews
    • Food Reviews
      • Gluten Free Food Reviews
      • Health Food Reviews
    • Bakeware
    • Candy Reviews
    • Coffee Reviews
      • Aerobie AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker
      • Coffee Makers & Grinders
    • Cookbook Reviews
      • Cooking Magazines
    • Kitchen Gadgets
    • Small Kitchen Appliances
  • Gifts & Collectibles
    • Candy Bowls
    • Christmas Shopping
    • Coffee Mugs
    • Canister Sets
    • Cookie Cutters
    • Gifts for Coffee Lovers
    • Gifts for Tea Lovers
    • Owls in the Kitchen
    • Pig Collectors
  • Recipe Index
  • How to Be a Better Cook
    • Baked Sweet Potatoes in the Oven
    • Cooking Videos
    • PERFECT Baked Potatoes in Your Oven
You are here: Home / Gluten Free / Confessions of a Salad Addict

Confessions of a Salad Addict

February 22, 2015 By Joi Sigers

I may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. This costs you absolutely no extra money (of course), it simply allows me to maintain the lifestyle my cats are accustomed to!

Salad with Chia Seeds and Kale
Have you ever met a salad fanatic? Someone who is so completely consumed with salads that they anticipate their salad at a restaurant the way most people anticipate steak?  Someone who surveys the produce department like a cat surveys a bird feeder – looking for tasty morsels to light up their taste buds and, thereby, world?

Well. You’ve met one now.

Obsessed. I am completely obsessed with salads of all kinds – tossed, potato, gelatin, pasta, fruit, bean… you name it, I’m there.  I am SO there.

My particular “problem” occurred to me recently when my husband took me out for lunch at a wonderful steak house. My reaction to and enjoyment of my salad equaled his reaction to and enjoyment of his steak.

Truth be told, if I could – at this very moment – either have my steak or salad magically appear in front of me, I’d take the salad.  And his salad, too, if he didn’t mind. I’d trade my steak for it.

Not only are salads ridiculously beautiful (if done right) and ridiculously delicious (if done right) – they’re ridiculously healthy.

If done right.

I’ve always had a section on the food blog for salads, salad recipes, and good old-fashioned salad love, but I’m (even as we speak… okay, I’m the only one speaking, aren’t I?… make that even as I speak) throwing a lot more energy and emphasis into salads.

There are a number of reasons, a few of which are:

  1. We all need to eat healthier. Salads are, primarily, made up of vegetables and fruit – things we should eat A LOT more of. Salads are the IDEAL way to go about it. Ever stop to think how many servings of vegetables and fruits you can consume each day if you simply ate more salads?
  2. Salads are the perfect “side” to just about any meal.  They’re inexpensive to make, healthy, colorful, and delicious. And don’t add a ton of calories.
  3. Salads can be the perfect “main” dish for any meal.  If you add a little protein (hard boiled eggs, turkey, chicken..) to the vegetables, you turn a classic side into a classic main course.
  4. Salads are pretty! Okay, so this reason may be a “girly” one, but I don’t care. They ARE pretty and I like that.
  5. The options are endless.  Honestly, you could, literally, come up with different combinations each and every time you had a salad.
  6. Salads are perfect for those of us with food allergies and intolerances.  So many of us have food allergies and food intolerances these days – it’s a great comfort to know there are foods that are usually safe for all of us. You simply don’t add anything to your salad that causes you problems. Special note, if you’re gluten intolerant or have a wheat allergy – when you’re in a restaurant, be sure you tell your server that you don’t want any croutons. If, like me, you’re extra sensitive, let them know you can’t have any salad that has come into contact with croutons.

The tossed salad at the top of the post is a great example of combining delicious flavors with healthy foods.  I love to use a mixture of greens in the tossed salads I make at home. Romaine lettuce, leaf lettuce, iceberg lettuce (it may get a bad rep with food snobs, but I love the freshness and crunch it brings to the party) – any kind of lettuce you can find is perfect. The magic, however, is in combining several in one salad.

In addition to lettuces, I have gotten to the point that I simply do not make a tossed salad with strips of kale! Kale is uncommonly healthy and I’m crazy about what it adds to a salad. Same can be said of spinach, of course, but kale happens to be my personal favorite.

In addition to these, a few other personal favorite tossed salad ingredients are:

  • black olives
  • carrots (either shredded or sliced)
  • celery
  • tomatoes (but I have a strict rule with tomatoes in my salads – they can only be added at the last minute – otherwise, I don’t like the effect they have on the rest of the ingredients)
  • canned baby corn
  • mild banana peppers
  • roasted red peppers
  • green, yellow, orange, or red peppers
  • green onions
  • cucumbers
  • radishes
  • green olives
  • green chilies
  • bacon
  • turkey
  • ham
  • hard-boiled eggs
  • cilantro
  • parsley
  • cauliflower
  • asparagus
  • corn
  • “mostly” thawed frozen green peas
  • hominy
  • chickpeas
  • broccoli
  • black beans
  • kidney beans
  • and on and on and on…

A few favorite Gluten Free toppings for tossed salads are:

  • chia seeds
  • flaxseed
  • sunflower seeds
  • Frito’s Corn Chips
  • dried cranberries
  • crumbled potato chips
  • small fried tortilla strips
  • gluten free bread, butter, toasted, seasoned and cubed
  • onion rings (coated with gluten free flour instead or all purpose flour)
  • crumbled bacon
  • freshly shredded cheese – experiment with different cheeses (cheddar, white cheddar, Asiago, Swiss, Monterrey Jack, Colby, Parmesan…)
  • fresh cracked black pepper
  • sea salt (or Kosher)

Chia seeds are a delicious way to sneak in a little extra nutrition. Kids will just think they’re fun, they’ll never suspect how healthy they actually are.

Tomorrow we’ll pay homage to the greatness that is a Wedge Salad.  Beautiful, delicious, and oh so very, very cheap!

What are your own favorite salad ingredients and toppings? Share in the comments!

P.S. Whether it’s for salads or ANYTHING, don’t buy shredded cheese, buy the blocks and shred it yourself, as needed. It is SO much better this way – trust me.

Salad with Chia Seeds and Kale

Filed Under: Gluten Free, Gluten-Free Recipes, Heart Healthy Foods and Recipes, Salad Recipes Tagged With: eating healthy, gluten-free, salad ideas, Salad Recipes, salads

Previous Post: « Bunless Burgers are the Best Burgers
Next Post: Raving Review: Garden Lites Carrot Berry Muffins »

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to the Get Cooking Food Blog

My name is Joi (“Joy”) and Get Cooking is where I celebrate some of my greatest passions: Recipes, kitchen gadgets, gluten free food reviews, gluten free recipes, pig collectibles, chocolate, cookbooks, and coffee.

Lots of coffee…

  • Email
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

What’s New on the Food Blog?

  • Naked Shake Chocolate Vegan Protein Powder: Delicious, Nutritious, and So Easy to Enjoy (Review)
  • Rule Breaker Blueberry Lemonade Bites: Plant Based Snack Full of Flavor
  • Feeling ALL Kinds of Salty: Why You Need Cornish Sea Salt Company Salts in Your Life
  • 6 Ways to Spend Less Money on Groceries and Navigate Through Supply Issues and Food Shortages!
  • Mule Sauce, from Sticker Mule, Responds to the Global Chile Pepper Shortage
  • Colorful and Ingenious Measuring Cups and Magnetic Measuring Spoons (These Redefine CLEVER!)
  • Kentucky Pimento Cheese: Budget-Friendly, Easy, and Delicious!
  • PERFECT Baked Potatoes in Your Oven

Gluten-Free Recipes

Wedge Salad with Roasted Tomatoes, Bacon, Chia Seeds, Sauteed Onions, and Ranch Dressing

Wedge Salad, Starring Roasted Tomatoes

CauliPower Linguine Pasta with Meat Sauce

Caulipower: Quite Possibly THE Best Gluten-Free Pasta

A Wonderful Gluten-Free and Vegetarian Cookbook: Whole Bowls by Allison Day

Gluten-Free Lasagna with Explore Cuisine Green Lentil Lasagna Noodles

Easy Gluten-Free Lasagna with Explore Cuisine Green Lentil (No Boil!) Noodles

Tostadas with Refried Beans and Tomatoes

Fast & Easy Summer Meal: Meatless Tostadas

Gluten-Free White Chocolate and Pecan Cookies

Gluten Free Cranberry Pecan Cookies

Air Fryer and Rotisserie in One!

Instant Vortex Plus 10 Quart Air Fryer, Rotisserie and Convection Oven (Amazon link)

A Reminder for all Cooks…

Kitchen Accident Tracker

If my accident can prevent you, a pet, or a child from being hurt, it will have been worth it to me… read more here!

Footer

T-fal… As Good as Good Gets

The T-Fal Cookware Set (Amazon link), above, is absolutely one of the best cooking sets you’ll ever find. It’s on Amazon and available in several gorgeous colors.

Subscribe to Get Cooking

Fill in the form below to receive updates through e-mail whenever something new has been added to the food blog.



Powered by FeedBlitz

  • Email
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Contact me through e-mail at joitsigers@gmail.com and/or connect with me through social media (see above). ~ Joi (“Joy”)

I do not claim to have taken all of the photographs on this website. I did not take any of the “product” or “affiliate” merchandise photos, nor do I claim to own them. If you are a photographer that sees something you want removed, simply e-mail me!

Copyright © 2022 Get Cooking Food Blog   xml sitemap   Privacy Policy   Crazy Tea Chick!