We like to eat salad for dinner, but we don't want to be hungry an hour later. There are plenty of main dish salad recipes out there (we wrote about some of our favorites in this post), but often we want just a simple green salad--only we need one or two extra things to make it more hearty. Here are seven quick additions.
Obviously, you could add some shredded chicken to almost any salad and make it a filling meal. Our point here is to suggest things that might not need a lot of extra prep or cooking. Most keep it vegetarian, too, which might be your goal if you're going meatless for the night.
1. Leftover (or fresh) rice or grains. We're not talking one of our grain salads that are primarily couscous, spelt, farro, etc. with vegetables thrown in. This is a lettuce-heavy salad with some grains tossed in as an accompaniment, like in our Rice and Mixed Greens Salad with Dates, Cashews, and Chickpeas, above.
2. Beans. We had a very basic salad two nights ago--baby red-leaf lettuce, cherry tomatoes, chives, and some canned white beans--and the beans made all the difference. It was a side salad turned filling dinner once they were added. This Main Course Salad with Beans and Basil would be good, even without the grilled sausage.
3. Tuna! We've talked about tuna a lot this week, but it's a no-cook option that's quick and versatile.
4. A hard-boiled egg. Again, easy and versatile. We can't imagine many basic salads that wouldn't mesh well with an egg, and if you make a batch of hard-boiled eggs at the beginning of the week, you've got breakfast, snacks, and salad additions ready to go.
5. Leftover pasta. Joanna's Tortellini and Spring Vegetable Salad was beautiful--and made from scratch. But if you have some pasta, cheese-filled or other, left over from another meal, toss it with your lettuce, vegetables, and a vinaigrette.
6. Bread. How about a panzanella? You don't have to get too heavy handed with the bread, if you don't want to. Let the lettuce be the main ingredient, but toss in a few more hunks of bread than you would, say, if you were thinking croutons. We recommend toasting them lightly and tossing them separately with some vinaigrette, so they soften up a bit but still have some crunchy edges.
7. Olives. We find that olives are incredibly filling. They've got good fats and add some salty punch, too. This Orange, Olive, and Fennel Salad has become one of our favorites.
Nuts and cheese are always good, too, but we'll stop there. Your turn. What are your favorite things to throw into salad to make it more filling?
Related: Make-Ahead Lunch Recipe: Big Green Salad with Shallots, Chicken, Smoked Almonds, and Goat Cheese
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i love adding a sliced hard boiled egg to salads too.
Something that also makes a salad more filling and easy to eat if you are doing other things (like grabbing a quick lunch while working) is to stuff it into two pita halves. can eat it like a sandwich then.
This is so funny, I just wrote a post about getting my husband to eat salad for dinner by adding a fried egg on top! http://achefsdaughter.com/2009/05/get-your-husband-to-eat-salad-for-dinner/
I like a poached egg on mine if I don't have any hard boiled eggs around. I think that's what I'm going to eat tonight, as a matter of fact.
Lentils would be another good adder.
I added tuna to my lunch time salad just today. One of my favourite ways to combine two of my favourite salad ideas is to put this lentil salad over mache or mixed baby greens:
http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2009/04/29/lentils-for-lunch
Now that pomegranates are out of season, you can add sliced fresh cherries or golden raisins.
I often find salad not filling enough for lunch. Don't think I've ever been able to have it for dinner!
If I have a salad for lunch, I'm raiding the snack machine within an hour. All that healthy eating goes to waste unfortunately.
Like Tiamat_the_Red, I love poached egg on my salad. Especially with some toast to help sop up the yummy runny egg bits.
I also like dried fruits and nuts. Pepitas and cranberries are two of my favorites. Also fresh peaches are delicious on summer salads of crisp lettuce with a light and creamy dressing and some cheddar cheese.
We eat salad a few times a week for dinner. Here are some of our standbys:
-Hearty veggies like leftover grilled eggplant or zucchini, artichoke hearts, or roasted red pepper.
-Cheese like feta or goat.
-Toasted nuts (makes all the difference), especially slivered almonds, pepitas, walnuts, or sunflower seeds.
-Dried figs, dried cranberries, dried cherries.
-Roasted chickpeas and other crunchy goodness (in college, I had a friend that swore by granola, fresh strawberries, toasted walnuts, and citrus vinaigrette in her salad...).
-Strong oils, like sesame or walnut make a salad seem more filling and luxurious. Also, creamy or strong dressings, like yogurt dill or lemon tahini make a big difference in how filling something is.
All of the above but did anyone mention avocado? That is a great addition-delicious and healthy-to a salad.
Roasted or grilled chicken, grilled steak, grilled or poached fish.
I nourish a lot of people with salad, including myself! The possibilities are really endless when you think about it.
When I cook for myself and my wife we usually prepare a protein like fish, meat or chicken and accompany it with some fresh greens or vegetables--basically a big salad.
our standard is chicken, avocado, and tomato
also love fruit, cheese, and nuts
any left over side like potatoes, pasta, or beans
I love to pick up a roasted chicken at the grocery store and add it to any type of salad to boost the protein content and staying power. It's quick, easy, and maybe a dollar more than buying a raw chicken and roasting it myself. I get 5 or 6 meals out of a single chicken. Mushrooms, homemade croutons, avocado, strawberries, dried cranberries, chickpeas, all boost the nutrient content as well as the "umph" factor to a salad.
I'm with mntwmyn - I buy a rotisserie chicken from the store and throw a few ounces on my salad. Sometimes I'll just cutup whatever leftover meat I have from the night before and throw a portion of that on the greens. I also like adding sliced almonds (instead of whole), chickpeas, black beans, corn, diced veggies, craisins or other dried fruit, and edamame (soybeans) to name a few. Another thing I like to do is make a corn/black bean/red onion/cucumber/red pepper salad with a base of vinegar and olive oil and keep that on hand to add to any pile of leafy greens. I don't even need dressing when I add that. All of these things make for a very filling lunch or dinner salad and they make dieting easier when I need to drop some weight.
Lentils, oh how I love them. You can put pretty much anything on lettuce and it will be delicious.
potato slices work too
greek salad! tomatoes, cucumber, red peppers, a little red onion, basil, feta, a few olives and a vinagrette. One of my favourite dinners.
grilled (or just sauteed) asparagus! top a salad with goat cheese, then put the hot asparagus on top. the cheese melts a little and its SO GOOD!
I'm a fan of adding fresh fruits to salads, such as apples, pears, and grapes. It makes it taste very refreshing.
One of our favorite combos is beets (drizzled with balsamic), tuna, hardboiled egg mixed with greens and a little brown rice, and topped (this is key) with Annie's/TJ's Goddess dressing. Something about it all together is scrumptious!
All are great ideas and I second the idea of avocado. I eat a salad for lunch on most workdays and it never fails to fill me up. It is primarily veggies with either avocado or cheese thrown in and some protein: canned salmon, beans, leftover chicken, steak, tofu, etc. One of my coworker likes to tease me and has termed it my "big bowl of health".
It has to be cooked, but barely counts as cooking: veggie burger. I added a Boca burger with melted cheese to my salad last night and I have a feeling I'll be doing that more often.
I just discovered the wonders of marinated tofu for this - my local co-op has several nice varieties. The kind they have seems dry and kind of chewy compared to what comes in the tetrapaks - I'd love a recipe to make it at home.
Salads are terrific at lunch! I've found that as long as the serving is big enough, greens keep me full forever. And I don't crash, but get hungry slowly.
When I worked in the pastry shop, I had a coworker who would make scrambled eggs with ham, cheese, herbs, and whatever vegetables she could find, then pile the hot eggs on top of a giant plate of spring mix or baby romaine. It was pretty good, but I wasn't much of a fan of the wilted baby romaine underneath.
At home we like mostly vegetable salads, but another friend came up with a salad of spring mix with oranges, red onion, chicken, and a vinaigrette made with lemon juice and a little honey. It's to die for, especially in winter when citrus is in season.
When I feel like something crunchy and cold, but don't really care about the health content, I make a romaine, chicken, and shredded cheddar salad, and then pour a thin, homemade ranch dressing all over it. It's basically McDonald's chicken and ranch snack wrap, but without the tortilla or all the extra preservatives. And with WAY more lettuce. It's also way more delicious (but probably no better for you).