8 delicious no-lettuce salads

October 18th, 2009 · 13 Comments

Hungry?

I’ve heard people complain they don’t eat salads because they still feel hungry afterward. Rubbish! They’re obviously not eating the right salads.

I’ll let you in on a secret: salads don’t have to include lettuce. Gasp! It’s a hard secret for some to swallow, but once you start to follow the no-lettuce rule, salads get a lot more interesting.

I eat salads every single day because they’re the easiest way to get lots of vegetables, and therefore nutrients, into my diet. Not to mention the fact I love the creativity of assembling a dish with different flavours, textures and colours.

Salads are also a great place for healthy nuts and seeds to hang out. It’s easy to get your daily dose of those when they’re nestled in between soft greens and covered in yummy dressings.

Plating up!

An important tip for enjoying salads; take the time to present them nicely on the plate. It makes the humble salad seem much more posh. Careful though, it can become an obsession!

As you can see with the picture above, this simple chicken and pumpkin salad looks much fancier than it’s 5 ingredient list should allow. I actually got the idea to slice and serve the beetroot that way from a post I saw at Noshtopia. Scroll to the bottom for the recipe.

Delicious no-lettuce salads to keep you satisfied:

Click each one to see a photo and full recipe.

Chicken and pumpkin salad recipe

click here if you need a conversion calculator
serves 2 (easily doubled or tripled and lovely served on a platter)

small wedge of pumpkin, diced into 2cm cubes (about 2 cups worth)
1 chicken breast, butterflied (how to butterfly a chicken breast)
1 tablespoon aioli (garlic mayonnaise)
few sprigs flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 cooked beetroot, very thinly sliced
1 small cucumber, very thinly sliced
olive oil, to serve (optional)

1. Place the pumpkin cubes on a non stick roasting tray and bake in a hot oven until tender and golden, about 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook the chicken breast in a non stick fry pan until brown on both sides and cooked through. This should only take a few minutes as the breasts have been butterflied. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.

3. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and place into a bowl. Add the aioli and parsley and toss gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

4. Plate up the salad. Start with the thin beetroot slices, overlapping them slightly in a circle shape on the plate, then top with the cucumber slices. Spoon some of the pumpkin mixture on top.

5. Thickly slice the chicken into strips and arrange on top. Drizzle with olive oil if you like and serve.

Tags: Recipes · Salad

13 responses so far ↓

1 Foodieguy // Oct 18, 2009 at 3:38 pm

O that looks delicious… I’ll definitely be making more salads in the future (and without lettuce). Can’t wait to try the recipe. And I guess while I’m here…

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2 Ju'eta // Oct 18, 2009 at 9:04 pm

As you know duck with anything is my favourite!! And love the salad suggestions. I might make one this week!
3 Peter G // Oct 18, 2009 at 10:02 pm

Great advice Christie…it’s always fun trying to create healthy dishes with a little oomph. Your salad choices and creations def prove that!
4 Arwen from Hoglet K // Oct 19, 2009 at 10:30 am

I love roast pumpkin in salads! It looks great layered like that.
5 Howard // Oct 19, 2009 at 10:50 am

These are definetely man salads! The lamb and eggplant looks a winner, nice work Christie
6 Sophie // Oct 20, 2009 at 10:22 pm

What a neat idea & what a tasty looking salad!! So autumnly!!!

Heaven!
7 Syrie // Oct 23, 2009 at 6:21 pm

Fantastic Christie. Thanks for the much-needed inspiration. That chicken salad looks amazing. It’s dinner time now and I really shouldn’t be looking at this as I haven’t made anything and I’m famished.
8 Sweta // Oct 28, 2009 at 8:12 am

Oh I can eat these everyday!!!!
9 Christie // Oct 29, 2009 at 3:30 am

@Foodieguy - Glad to hear it!
@Ju’eta - Yes, we love duck don’t we? I’ll make this for you when I get back home.
@Howard - Hehe, I never thought of a no-lettuce salad as a ‘man salad’. Nice one!
@Sophie - Yes, that was the point - very Autumnal. I love pumpkins in season, they’re so sweet.
@Syrie - Oops! I always read food blogs when I’m hungry, it’s punishment!
@Sweta - Me too, I really love salads
10 jo // Nov 3, 2009 at 12:18 am

This salad looks absolutely delicious and it’ll make a great side dish or even a meal on it’s own.
11 Foodlover // Nov 4, 2009 at 4:38 pm

I LOVED this post! Might finally convince my family to eat some salad. Totally agree on ‘dressing it up’ - we also eat with our eyes…
12 Lorraine @NotQuiteNigella // Nov 5, 2009 at 12:06 pm

That looks delectable darling! And I love the presentation too!
13 Nancy @RovingLemon // Nov 11, 2009 at 11:48 am

Thanks for the inspiration–perfect timing with the weather suddenly summer-hot here in Canberra!