Hey Viz community, well this time last year I encountered liver problems and had to drastically change my diet in just a matter of days. For the longest, I just lived off Pizza Sauce (weird I know lol, but I love Pizza and could not eat solids for a few days so, yeah thank you pizza sauce).

I hated salads, anything green, tomatoes, I basically hated anything healthy even something as tasteless as Jello was just awful to me.

Of course, after having to eat it for lack of anything else, I began to "enjoy" it and now jello, fruits, vegetables have made their way into my life and I have decreased my meat consumption.



So, I find myself really enjoying salads! I have been trying out different dressings and I'm lacking quite a lot of creativity when it comes to the salad ingredients themselves. I Googled a few things and well I enjoy my salad with lettuce, cabbage (very thin), carrots (very thin), chopped tomatoes (not too much we are still in not so good terms),Jesus no to broccoli, corn, ranch dressing with tiny little bits of bacon (I know, only occasionally), and I have also tried adding feta cheese.



I'd like to hear how you guys make your salads to get some good ideas to add my new found diet.

So, how do you salad?



P.S. I am still predominantly a meat lover.

I like salads a lot. You can do all sorts of things. I generally use spinach as my greens in a salad, or a spring blend of arugula baby spinach and that sort of thing. It's a lot better for you than your basic iceberg lettuce that is basically nothing but water.

I like all sorts of different stuff in my salads depending on what I'm eating with them (or on their own)

I like adding Chicken, turkey, light amount of cheese. Fruits and nuts can be good in a salad as well.

Thankfully with the internet, there are TONS of ideas out there for salads you can make pretty quickly.

If you want to eat more vegetables, you should avoid lettuce, cucumbers, celery and radishes. You are basically eating water - 95 percent of the mass - and are not that nutritious. Instead, go towards vegetables like carrots (vitamin A), kale and spinach (vitamin K and iron, which it vital for women) and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts. I know you said you hated those, but if you put something delicious on it like butter or cream (or cheese, if your stomach lets you) then it will taste very good.

Hell, it was butter that let me appreciate coffee; it can surely help you with broccoli . Another vegetable I like, if you do not mind its "sliminess" is called okra. It is sold mostly frozen, but if there are lots of Mexicans where you live you might be able to get them fresh.

And to top you salads, I recommend making your own salad dressing with oil from fruits (olive, avocado) and unpasteurized apple cider vinegar. Yes, it is quite a bit more expensive BUT the taste is so strong that you will only need a spoonful compared to 3 with regular vinegar.

My favorite salads have lots of toppings.  Tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, croutons (so much yes), onions, broccoli, walnuts, and my preferred dressing is Blue Cheese.  Jason's Deli is a place I like to go when I'm craving salad.  It has a lot of delicious options to put on a salad.

janus :   I do have to disagree with the cucumber and radish part.  They are mostly water, as are almost all vegetables, but the water in them are still very nutritious, and if you consume them properly, you can get some very nice benefits

lordbelial669 : unless you harvest them yourself or get them highly discounted, I find that they are a waste of money. Plus you can get the their vitamins and minerals in more nutrient-dense produces. I do not eat veggies from the list I enumerated, and yet I still get 60 g of fiber daily.

Plus I drink plenty of water.

Jordanv78 : I am curious to try arugula baby spinach. From time to time I add some turkey and chicken mostly grilled. Yup, I was eating iceberg for the longest and it was just water. I must say, I have not thought of nuts being any useful in salads taste wise but, I will surely give that a try since I have heard that recommendation quite often in the internet. 


janus  I have tried cucumbers in sandwiches and I am not too much of a fan. I am still giving them a try. I am warming up to carrots a lot as long as they are basically a thin layer, kale- I definitely will try that. I've been thinking of trying broccoli and brussels sprouts I am not sure if with cheese only when possible but, alone they just taste like hell lol. But yes they are very nutritious. I've never heard of okra- yes tons of Mexicans- I will be going to the farmer's market over the weekends to get some fresh alternatives and see if I can find these there. I have never tried avocado dressing so that should be interesting, Oh yes apple cider vinegar it has been very good to my stomach.

supernerd117 How could I forget croutons??! I love them!! They really add a nice texture to the salad. There's another dressing to my list, blue cheese!


lordbelial669 I heard eating them just as they are rather than doing anything to them example boiling them, keeps the nutrients more.

These are really good guys! I have a little list of ingredients from here to shop for Thanks!

I get salads with lettuce, BBQ chicken, olives and banana peppers, sometimes corn, and fat free ranch. It's really good, and sometimes you can add jalapenos if you want the extra kick.

I like my salad done in a special way. I get lettuce, chicken boiled, eggs, cucumber, spinach and some mayo in the boil. How I do the eggs though is that I boil it let it cool down. Half the egg and have the cooked yolk taken out. I put the yolk in a small bowl then add in some butter to mix it. When done I pipe it back into where the hole is in the cut of the egg to make things taste more better and with mayo mixed in it along with the other ingredient's. It may be a weird way to have salad though. But for me I personally like it. '-'

I really like Caesar salads. Especially when they have croutons in them. However, I very rarely eat salad because I am very skinny. My parents rarely let me eat salad because they want me to put on weight. I love eating healthy, but my parents don't let me eat some foods because they feel like it is not enough calories. 

zanderlex Mmmh BBQ Chicken . There's another I've tried- olives they are not so bad specially with oil and pepper. And another one to try- banana peppers would  have to Google as I don't even know what that looks like but, I do remember reading that they are a must have in salads. I love corn in salads. Do I dare try Jalapeños? We shall see- I like it sounds tasty. 





EniitanThat certainly is original. Interesting way of prepping the boiled eggs! to put that effort certainly the taste must be good! I enjoy Mayo so this is something I would try as well with some dressing or oil. Yum. I feel like trying that with my boiled eggs today as I am eating them by themselves so it would be a nice little taste to it.  Curious as to what got you started on doing that to boiled eggs.




RDay13Caesar salads rock. But, depends where you buy them if you are not making it yourself. I had some nasty ones before. My mom is the same way, if it wasn't because of having to she would be shoving food down my throat lol. I just can't leave her house without eating something she's so worried about it. But, that's what parents do! At first, I was getting low calories in and did become quite ill just because I started throwing up everything I ate as it really upset my stomach so liquids and jello were mostly what I had and I had braces at the time so it also made certain foods that I could eat even harder to eat them. But, it's always good to eat healthy and I'm glad I am also trying newer healthier alternatives specially with the meat cloning into effect. No shame in being healthy! You can always Ninja your way to the kitchen and steal ingredients little by little until wuala you have a salad. 

jlove92 : I was specifically talking about avocado OIL; I do not believe they make it in dressings yet because it is quite expensive. I personally prefer the taste of olive oil, but avocado oil has a higher heat resistance.

janus : I had it all pictured in my head as a nice thicker dressing. I had never heard of avocado oil so I am intrigued to try it I am sure it will taste really good. I usually use oils or vinegar when I want to play it safe taste wise. 

janus :   I eat them for the taste.  I good radish or cucumber has a nice taste to it.  I plan on having a garden within a few months that I can't wait to start.  Also, you can make a nice cucumber water or lemon water that can benefit you substantially internal-wise.  Lots of vegetables can be put into water and they leak their nutrients into it

I am sorry that liver issues forced you to change your diet,but it is good that you are learning to like salads. Now I do not eat salad,the closest I get to a salad is when I order a BLT from Subway with lettuce,tomatoes,pickles,spinach,green peppers with mustard (mayo is nothing but calories.)

As far as salads go,I would suggest some bacon bits to top your salad.

Simple answer- I don't.

Complex Answer- Salad is gross, i'll eat croûtons, bacon bits, and craisins, and that's my salad. Vegetables aren't my thing.

However, I love fruit salads. 

Barathemos Lol. Yup, that was me. I hated anything green. But, they eventually grow on you (you know when you have no choice but to lol). They are actually really tasty. I'm with you there croutons, bacon bits, and craisins are delicious. That's a good thing you like some type of salad! Yeah fruit salads are great, I usually stir away from the ones with pineapple, don't like them much. Grapes, strawberries, apples, cucumbers, dried cranberries are more of my thing. Hey, you're at least getting some nutrients!




Oldschool777 Yeah, at first it was not a good scenario with hating greens from the get go. But, as you said something good came out of it You guys, I can relate lol BLT from Subway with oil and pepper as well just d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s lol. Subway was the closest I came to salads before; if I felt like eating "healthy" that's where I went. Have you tried the cold subs from Publix? I have and got hooked; they are as good as Subways in my opinion. I get Whole grain bread with maple glazed chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, gruyere cheese, oil, vinegar, pepper -> heaven. It is really good! Actually, the first dressing I tried was ranch with bacon bits in it. I have one in my refrigerator now lol Bacon makes everything so much better XD



lordbelial669I tried radish, it has quit a kick to it afterwards. That's awesome! I love gardens! I hope it goes well and if you don't mind send some pictures I've tried lemon water and it is soothing in a way and it's recommended to drink a glass of lemon water every morning to boost your digestive system and help cleanse. I want to try that cucumber water. Gave me good ideas there, I have lots of juices in my refrigerator and tons of filtered water so cucumber and lemon water would be much better. Thanks! 

lordbelial669 : fruits are more efficient. You mentioned lemon; you can also make pro-biotic rich water by letting pineapple peal ferment in water (with heat and / or sunlight hitting it) for a few days. The taste might need some adjustment, but it is overall very good.

jlove92 : not so much about playing it safe (although there are definitely fewer preservatives in vinegar than in regular dressing) but also about the cost. A bottle of olive oil (1.5 l) can last me 60 to 90 days when I am the only one consuming it; a salad dressing bottle would last me at most 30 days.

janus :   Fruits are a good source of natural vitamins, but also lots of sugar in the form of glucose and sucrose and dextrose.  I love fruit, and I will try the pineapple fermentation the next time we get one.  I try not to eat too much fruit because of the sugars they provide.  Fruit and vegetables are essential, and can even provide all the protein and carbohydrates that meat can.  What are some of your favorite fruits?  I really like kiwi and strawberries.  Watermelon is great too, but mostly just water and sugar. Mango, guava and pomegranate are really good and nutritious

lordbelial669 : Oh, I do know about the sugar content in fruits. I was merely mentioning them to say that they make water taste better.

As for fruit preferences, I usually go for the high antioxidant content (strawberries, berries in general). I also eat cherries from my garden, oranges and bananas.