Hale and Hearty: How to Keep Salad Fresh

Salads are an amazing invention and idea, but often they are underrepresented in the food world. People often find them to be boring meals as they can be bland and seem just like a step up from grass. But, with these tips you can transform your ordinary salad into something that will have you and your guests raving about it. There are many ways to spruce up a salad and make it stand alone in its greatness and delicious taste.

First, decide if you want something with a dressing base or with a vinegar base. This will significantly alter what kind of things you put in the salad. We'll start with the vinegar based salads. For these, romaine lettuce, baby tomatoes, red onions, cucumber thinly sliced, shredded carrots, and radishes make for a great combination. After mixing all of these things together, add about two tablespoons of vinegar, then half a lemon' s juice, and some sea salt, and mix thoroughly. You will have a tangy and tasty salad in no time.

For a thicker dressing, substitute the vinegar and lemon juice for some vinaigrette dressings instead. Red balsamic or fresh basil can be excellent ways to saturate your salad items and make them taste fresh. Add some crunchy croutons and you have a tasty and delightful salad instantly. If you want a ranch dressing salad or any kind that is dressed with something thick and creamy, milk based dressings, Thousand Island, Ranch, or Spicy Ranch, you can add a layer of shredded cheese atop it for an even richer taste and flavor. Sprinkle black pepper over the entire dish and you have a delicious salad that people will rave about for a long time.

Salads can actually serve as meals, too. If you grill some chicken and cut them into thin slices, you can throw them into a salad and cover the entire thing with some ranch dressing or Italian dressing and have a complete meal right then and there. Add some apple slices and baby carrots and you will have an exotic twist. Add mandarin oranges and you will have a Hawaiian chicken salad in no time.

There are many options available for what you put in a salad. If you put oranges, apples, chicken, walnuts, lettuce, and shredded cheddar cheese, you will have a delicious lunch meal that is both fresh and delicious. If you like something with an exotic flavor, then mixing romaine lettuce with baby tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken slices, spinach leaves, and goat cheese, topped with basil sprigs make for an excellent meal.

And of course, you cannot forget a fruit salad. Though not a traditional salad, exactly, it is still one that can be a lot of fun to prepare and eat. Mix mangoes, bananas, apples, cherries, pears, melons, cantaloupe, honeydew, and grapes and then drizzle some citric glaze over it as well as some pure cane sugar and enjoy a sweet and syrupy dish.

Nothing complements a salad better than a delicious bowl of soup to match. If you have a thin but hearty tomato soup, it will go excellently with a grilled chicken and ranch dressing salad. With your Hawaiian mandarin orange salad, have a bowl of sweet coconut soup with mint leaves on top. Soups can complement the crunch salad with their own smoothness.