Fresh and Easy Salad Toppers

At my house, one of us cooks dinner while the other is in charge of whipping up a fresh salad. While bagged salads are convenient and easy, salad recipes and a variety of salad toppings are also simple. In fact, I rarely use an actual salad recipe; instead, I mix and match my favorite salad toppings to create a delicious and healthy salad. It all starts with the basics.

Salad Greens

Iceberg lettuce is my go-to salad green as I generally have a head of lettuce on hand for sandwiches and salads. Hearts of romaine lettuce are also nice. Spinach leaves, especially baby spinach, make a healthy salad base filled with nutrients. I usually buy a head of lettuce and a bag of baby spinach leaves each week for my salad greens.

Garden Salad Toppers

Adding tomatoes to a fresh salad isn't exactly innovative. In fact, it's a given that a fresh garden salad might have tomatoes, green onions, bell peppers, and celery. Consider adding different veggies such as corn, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, green beans, olives, artichoke hearts, peas, shredded carrots, or avocado. I like to set aside a small portion of veggies each night specifically for the following night's salad topping.

Salad Cheese

I love cheese salad toppings! To me, all a good salad needs is fresh salad greens, tomatoes, onions, and cheese. Sharp cheddar, feta cheese, mozzarella, and blue cheese each add a unique flavor to your homemade salad. Depending on your mood, you can make an Italian salad, Greek salad, or a plain old delicious salad based on the cheese you choose. You don't need Greek salad recipes to enjoy a Mediterranean-inspired salad when you have a chunk of feta cheese at your disposal.

Meat Salad Toppers

While a Caesar salad is made even heartier by adding grilled chicken slices, other fresh salads benefit by the addition of meat. Salad toppings such as salami, shrimp, turkey, bacon, and ham all add a nice touch to your homemade salad. In fact, you can make a hearty salad with meat into the main entrée if so inclined.

For example, taco salad is a delicious, easy dinner. Start with a bed of lettuce and add seasoned ground beef, red kidney beans, shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, a dash of salsa, and tortilla chips.

Salad Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds make delicious salad toppings as well as add texture to the meal. Favorite nut and seed salad toppers include: sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, pecans, walnuts, and cashews.

Fruit Salad Toppers

Adding fruit salad toppings to a garden salad adds a nice - and sweet - contrast. Choose either dried or fresh fruit. Dried fruits such as dried cranberries, raisins, and dates work well, especially if you anticipate leftover salad. Fresh fruit salad toppings such as orange slices, pear chunks, and apples are delicious, though the fruit may go brown or make the salad soggy.

Plan Your Salad Toppings

As you cook in the kitchen, keep salad toppings in mind and plan ahead. For example, when cooking breakfast, go ahead and fry up a few extra slices of bacon for use later that night as a salad topping. When slicing mushrooms for beef stroganoff, set aside a few slices to include in your fresh salad. Making egg salad sandwiches? Boil an extra egg or two and crumble hard-boiled eggs on your salad. Having chicken for dinner? Cook up an extra breast and set aside for tomorrow's chicken salad.

Whipping up a fresh salad and adding salad toppings is easy when you think creatively and mix and match your favorite salad toppers. You may even find that your salad is so good, you don't even need salad dressing!