Deconstructing Salads
Most people look really freaked out when I say that I prefer salad without the dressing. Sometimes at restaurants I won’t even order the dressing on the side; I’ll just ask for no dressing whatsoever. When we have salads at home, I request that we don’t mix the dressing in the salad so that I can have my veggies plain, or with just a hint of the dressing.
It is not entirely the health aspect, although that does play a part. In restaurants, I don’t even begin to want to think about the heavy hand that drenches my salad in sauce, and the high fatty/salty/sugary etc ingredients in that dressing. But at home, we always have homemade dressings, usually ones from the LooneySpoons cookbook or an equally healthy dressing. And even those ones, I don’t want someone out to dole the dressing onto my salad.
Perhaps its partly the control issue. I like knowing exactly whats going into my food and I like to be the one to put it all together. But even if that is part of it, the other big issue for me is that I simply enjoy the taste of a variety of fresh vegetables. I love the combination of their flavors and to me, a dressing should enhance those vegetables, not drown them out. I know that a lot of people don’t enjoy veggies and thats why they’ll coat them in sauces so that they don’t have to taste the vegetables, but I want to taste them. That’s why I like just a hint of dressing on my vegetables.
Surprisingly, it took me a while to figure that out. Here I was, ordering Caesar salads with the dressing on the side for months and being disappointed with the results- and not understanding why I was so disappointed. Well, no wonder! A Caesar salad is just romaine lettuce with croutons (if you’re lucky, they’ll at least be homemade croutons), sometimes a bit of grilled chicken, and loads of dressing slathered over the whole thing. When you take the dressing away, it’s pretty darn boring. If you’re ordering Caesar salad, you’re not going to enjoy it without at least some of the dressing. So months ago I stopped ordering the “safe” and bland romaine lettuce-and-boxed-croutons choice. Now I like the spinach salads with chicken, the salads with cranberries and feta cheese, and the steak salads. No dressing required for any of those.
But a salad can still be wonderful without the dressing. In fact, that is the art of a good salad. When you can have it dressing-free and be pleasantly satisfied with that. A salad can have just about anything in it- you can mix and match countless vegetables and fruits and cheeses, add in shrimp or strips of beef or chicken, throw on some nuts or chickpeas, and you’ve got a fantastically flavorful plate. No dressing required. A little dressing is still nice, but to me, its not a good salad if I need more than a teaspoon of dressing on it. And usually if I add dressing I’m only going to add about 1/2 tsp. It’s all thats necessary.
Got a salad combo that you love? Whats your opinion on dressings? Share!
I HATE when I get a restaurant salad drenched in dressing.
But I do love a light tasty dressing, I’m really not sure I could enjoy salad “raw.”
I’m with crabby. I need a little dressing. But I do order it on the side when I am out.
My fav salad right now? Romaine, pinto beans, corn, tomato, red onion, cilantro with a little olive oil, red wine vinegar and cumin sprinkled on top. Yummy.
My mom doesn’t like veggies, so I didn’t grow up eating them. I am still learning to love them. 🙂
I love veggies and salads, but I also like dressing in moderation. I almost always get it on the side, and when I’m at home, it’s usually just some olive oil, basalmic vinegar and a bit of cracked black pepper.
Lately, I’ve been a huge fan of taco salads with salsa as the dressing. Or fruit like oranges or blueberries in it. Yummy.
I’m not a big fan of bottled dressings. At home I usually have either lemon juice or balsamic vinegar with a bit of olive oil, fresh herbs if we’ve got them. And we tend to go easy on the lettuce and load up on other raw veggies.
But as you say, that all has to do with taste and personal preferences.
I don’t eat any salad dressing (vinegar and mayonnaise are among my two most hated food substances ever)at all and to be honest, it is a really difficult thing for some people to understand. I get a lot of, “How can you eat that?” comments. I always ask for lemon wedges so that I can add a nice bit of zip to my salad. It really brings out the flavor.
In the summer, I love to add blueberries or strawberries to my salad and in the winter, I like apples and cranberries. I also like slivered almonds, but my trainer turned me on to no-salt sunflower seeds. Good sources of protein and a nice little bit of crunch, too.
Crabby- mm, light tasty dressing. The worst is getting to the bottom of the plate and seeing gobs of sauce with what was once lettuce swamped in it.
Robin- delicious! I’ve completely forgotten about adding corn to salad; I used to do it all the time. Thanks for reminding me!
Jenn- Taco salads are so good. And I really love the sweetness of a bit of fruit mixed in with veggies!
Javachick- most of my salads don’t actually have lettuce in them. Or else I’ll replace lettuce with sprouts or something. Thats the beauty of a salad! And agreed that homemade dressings are so much better than bottled ones.
Dara- Thank you!!! People DO get really bothered about it and I don’t see why they should. Its so strange that the concept is so difficult for some people to grasp! And I’ve heard about the lemon thing but I don’t believe I’ve ever actually tried it- I’ll have to give it a shot:)
I almost always go for dressing on the side (always lite italian) and I never pour my dressing onto my salad. Instead, I dip my fork into the dressing before each bite. This almost always leaves tons of dressing left over, and I feel so much better.
I’m a moderate dressing person too but I really like light vinagrettes or sometimes just balsamic vinegar. My all time favorite salad is something similar to what you mentioned. It’s spinach salads with cranberries, feta or goat cheese, and a handful of almonds. Yum!!!
An over dressed salad is the worst. I love just a little dressing on mine. The Husband likes his just with lemon.
One of my favorite salad combos is a little blue cheese, strawberries and pecans. I also like oranges and super thinly sliced sweet onions (I know sounds strange)…the options are endless!
I such a weird one in that I cant stand dressing.
ever.
GAG REFLEX city.
even as a kid.
or ketchup.
never tried mustard EVER…but I digress.
my fave salad? a BIG OLE SALAD BAR IN A GOURMET GROCERY.
where I do no cutting or dicing and yet can enjoy someone else’s labor.
sad.
I know
“Most people look really freaked out when I say that I prefer salad without the dressing.”
I’ve noticed the same thing. When I request a salad at a restaurant and tell them I don’t want any dressing, they look at me like I ordered A1 and said I didn’t want any steak.
Running Knitter- the fork dipping trick is a useful one; I like it too.
Cynthia- oh yum! I only ever had dried cranberries once in a salad and it was heaven.
Big Girl- I like that combo, it sounds tasty:)
MizFit- its so nice to find fellow weird people! And I avoid the mustard too.
John- yeah, I think its sad how dressing is expected. Maybe if we didn’t always hide our vegetables in so many thick sauces we’d know what they taste like and we’d enjoy them!
I hear you..restaurants always put way too much dressing on salads. Sometimes it looks more like soup than something healthy.
I like to get it on the side and dip my fork in dressing first, then grab some of the greens.
I will have to give it a try. I will let you know how it goes…..thanks for sharing!
I’m all about the naked salads. I just try to put enough “flavorful” foods on there and load my fork so that I get a taste of everything. ‘Course I do recognize that this could be a hold out from my anorexic/orthorexic days. Still though, seems a minor thing.
I completely agree with you! I don’t need any dressing unless I’m eating just lettuce (don’t ask…sometimes that’s just want I want). If I’ve got a tiny bit of cottage cheese on it I love it. Or if I just have a bunch of veggies — that’s great too. However, it was something I had to learn to like. Now I love it!
I don’t eat salads. Won’t, can’t. I’ve tried, it’s no use. I’m hopeless, I know. I will do a Thai beef salad, does that count?
Thanks for your kind words 🙂
Part of the problem with commercially grown veggies is that they HAVE no taste….hence the need for salad dressing!
Personally, I do the fork-dipping trick, too.
My favourite salad is my home-grown spinach with mushrooms, hard-boiled eggs, a few bacon bits and shredded swiss cheese. With an apple cider vinegar and oil dressing. Heaven.
But Robin’s salad sounds so darned good, I might have to try that one!
Charlotte- I’ve wondered the same thing, if it could be part of a disordered eating issue- but I don’t think so. Some things are just not very enjoyable, and salads that are more soup than salad, as Crystal pointed out, are not very enjoyable!
Live Well- thanks for the comment! I’ve never tried cottage cheese but that does sound good; I can see it being really refreshing.
Dee- mmm, Thai beef salad:) And according to Jamie Oliver, if it has anything green in it, its a salad. Likely wrapped in bacon.
Bag Lady- I love hardboiled eggs on salads. Its SO good! And agreed that homegrown is the best.
I’m SOOOO with you. I’m not really a dressing person either.
I will squeeze a little citrus (lemon or orange) on a salad. I also love just a little vinager only. Salsa is another good “dressing.”
When I was on my hardcore diet – i would eat spinach, tomatos, cucumber with cottage cheese on top (as the dressing). ANd whatever other veggies i had lying around.
If I add fruit/berries to my salad then I cheat a little by adding some cheese – gorgonzola or crumbled blue – not a lot. So tasty!
You have really been doing some great writing on your site Sagan!! I create my own salad dressings, and never let the restaurant do it!
i was laughing when i read this b/c i had a friend who would never touch salad dressing and i thought it was odd :/ however i know wish i could be just like him haha… i’ve learned to cut back a lot and now ijust like a drizzle of balsamic 🙂
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