The Right Salad Ingredients tips

Popularity of Salads: The popularity of salads is already pretty big but should continue to grow as the obesity problem continues to grow. Salads are a great way to enjoy new and exciting meals by changing and rotating ingredients in and out. Because salads have become so popular many restaurants have become well known for delicious salad recipes. One is Olive Garden. The Olive Garden salad is very simple yet the dressing provides a great tasting flavor. A handful of other salad chains have also developed with the popularity of salads. Souper Salad, Salad Creations, and SaladWorks are three such restaurant chains that specialize in salads. Salads are also present during most meals and are offered as a side dish in almost every restaurant as well. Salads have now become a daily choice during meals.

For a person to be able to make the perfect salad it is important that they know as much as possible about the kinds of ingredients that can be used in them. Often a salad will combine a number of different foods all of which provide a certain taste or texture to the recipe but which also complement each other. In this article we take a look at some of the kinds of salad ingredients that you may want to consider using and which are used the world over.

1. Leave Plants - Into this group comes lettuces and other green leaved vegetables. In a large number of cases people when making a salad will use an iceberg lettuce. But instead why not try something different. Go for a butterhead lettuce whose leaves are more tender than the iceberg or for something that has a much coarser leaves try a cos one instead. But which ever one you choose will provide you with a whole new dimension in the texture to your salad.

For those of you who are fed up or bored with lettuce in your salad there are plenty of other alternatives to choose from. You could try a plant that was originally grown in Italy known as Arugula and which will offer a much more tangy, mild peppery taste to the flavor of your salad. Otherwise another alternative to replace lettuce in your salad is a plant from Asia which has a slightly bitter taste but is often used in cooking by the Chinese called Bok Choy.

2. Fruit & Vegetables - Do not restrict yourself to using the more conventional types of fruits and vegetables that people often include in their salads. Rather than going for tomatoes why not try something a little more unusual say add in sliced up apple or oranges. Also for those who want to try a recipe that incorporates Bok Choy which we mentioned previously then slice some of it up place in a bowl and add to it some bean sprouts, sliced cucumber and green onions. Then to finally finish this salad off drizzle over a salad vinaigrette dressing made using soy sauce and sesame seed oil.

Other fruits and vegetables that you may want to include in your salad in place of tomatoes, cucumber and green onions are broccoli, beans (red, black, green or kidney ones) and carrots. Also, you can further add more flavor to your salads through the use of herbs and spices including not just garlic, but basil, rosemary and cilantro.

3. Meat and Fish - A salad does not need to be purely made up of fruit and vegetables but can also be used in combination with other ingredients as well. One famous that is world renowned and uses meat (chicken) as a main ingredient in it is Caesar's salad. But if you are looking to use such ingredients in your salad then ensure that you do not use too much and where meat is concerned you use the leanest pieces possible.

But if you are someone who does not like to eat meat or fish but is not a vegan then you can replace this with cheese instead in order to provide you with the protein your body needs. Plus a great way of adding additional texture to a salad where you are just using salad ingredients or cheese is to add some croutons or nuts to it. Both will add an additional crunchy texture to the meal and provide essential nutrients, minerals and vitamins that your body needs. The best types of nuts to use in a salad are walnuts, peanuts and almonds.

When you are out shopping for the right salad ingredients for your salad recipe make sure that you look closely at each one you are considering buying. If you see items which are marked, bruised or the leaves are beginning to wilt then avoid these and go for something different instead. Also it is important to thoroughly wash the ingredients before you use them to remove the chemicals used when they are being grown. You should also make sure you wash those ingredients for your salad which have come ready prepared and packed as they will contain chemicals and additives to help preserve them.

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