I am planning a boring and good caesar salad. Lower carbs than a fruit salad. There will be other sinful stuff, though.

Broccoli salad only because everybody loves it.

I've been pondering a salad for Thanksgiving and may have decided to do the broccoli salad for just the reason you said, Bumblebeez! Thanks!

Teresa

I did an Asian style coleslaw with Napa cabbage one year. It was light and tasty and my family liked it. It kept well as a leftover, too.

This is one of our favorites!

Good Green Salad

Lettuce and spinach or any mixed greens
Celery, chopped
Green onions, chopped
1 lb. bacon, crumbled
2 cans mandarin oranges, drained
Crystallized almonds

Dressing:
4 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. oil
4 T. sugar
4 dashes tabasco

I've had a salad of arugula, sliced (fuyu) persimmons, dried cranberries, pecans etc. stuck in my mind for a while.

I think I'm wierd because I think of the cranberry chutney as being a salad. It's so easy to overeat at Thanksgiving that I try to keep the number of courses to a minimum. Doesn't always work when hubs insists on one of his favorite dishes.

How is the broccoli salad made please?

My fruit salad is pretty simple, apples,oranges and bananas cut in uniform pieces and toss with a little sugar.
Cajun Shrimp Caesar salad for a green salad.

I am making broccoli salad too....with a twist!
I'm using purple broccoli and will add mandarins for the complementary color. I don't usually use them.
Should make for a very bright salad and good conversation starter! :)

Broccoli Salad

2 heads broccoli wash and cut into bite size pieces (I peel the larger stems and chop those too)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup raisins
6-10 slices bacon, fried and crumbled

Dressing:
1 cup mayo (I use fat free)
1/2 cup sugar (or Splenda)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Mix all salad ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix dressing ingredients together, then pour over salad.
Stir to coat all the salad and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Optional add-ins:
Mandarin oranges
Sunflower seeds or other nuts
Cauliflower to replace part of the broccoli
Fresh mushrooms

Deanna

I know some folks are going....raisins AND onions AND bacon with broccoli??? Trust us - this salad is delcious AND it can be made several hours to a day ahead. We like sunflower seeds on ours too.

Teresa

Teresa, my girls used to argue over the last of that salad, they loved it. The only difference in mine is that I used half cauliflower and half broccoli.

Beachlily, I also count the cranberry sauce/chutney as a fruit salad. I just tried a new recipe that had a bag of cranberries, 2 apples, 1/2 cup of walnuts, chop them up in the food processor. Add 1/2 cup cranberry wine (I think any sweet wine would do here), 2 tbls lemon juice, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup orange marmalade. Mix it all up and refrigerate, overnight is best. This stuff is seriously good, although sweet. Elery and I had some last night on turkey sandwiches and we added horseradish, it was amazing, a knockoff on LindaC's Cranberry jezebel.

Annie

Annie, I'm going to try your new cranberry sauce for Christmas this year. My grands won't eat fresh. They want Oceanspray. With the orange marmalade, maybe, I can wean them off the canned stuff & towards fresh. (?)

/tricia

Good luck, tricia, my girls like Oceanspray, not the whole berry stuff either, the jellied stuff. Right out of the can.

Mother and I and Elery and Bud like this one better. Maybe it's the wine. (grin) Actually, it takes half a cup of wine and it doesn't get cooked, but it makes about 4 cups of salad so the wine in a spoonful isn't much. You should be aware, though.

Annie

This is one of our stand-bys.

Marinated Carrot Salad

1 1/2 lb carrots, halved and cut into chunks
1 green pepper, diced
2 small onions, finely chopped
1 can tomato soup
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp worcestershire sauce

Cook carrots until just tender, drain and cool.
Combine remaining ingredients and mix with carrots; chill at least 8 hours.

I also make an Asian coleslaw with Napa cabbage. It calls for a couple pkgs of ramen noodles, sauteed, and the spice mix gets thrown into the garbage, which is a good thing.

My kids, who only liked the jelly canned kind, do like this fresh cran-orange one:

Ingredients

2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen, 1-12oz bag is also enough)
1 medium oranges, quartered (ends removed)
3/4-1 cup sugar

Directions

Slice whole orange into eighths and remove any seeds. Place half of the cranberries and half of the orange in food processor. Pulse until evenly chopped. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with the other half of orange and cranberries.

Note: I add some orange liqueur to taste.

I don't use raisins in broccoli salad but do use purple onion, toasted pecans, 2 cups of coarsely shredded sharp cheddar and plenty of crisp bacon added right before serving. And double the dressing with no oil but mayo- with the other dressing ingredients.

Has anyone tried this salad? It's sooo good. My sister brought it to a family function and everyone loved it.

Strawberry Romaine Salad
========================
1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

8 cups torn romaine
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

Discard seasoning packet from ramen noodles or save for another use. Break noodles into small pieces. In a skillet, saute noodles and walnuts in butter for 8-10 minutes or until golden; cool.

For dressing, in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the oil, sugar, vinegar and soy sauce; shake well. Just before serving combine the romaine, onions, strawberries and noodle mixture in a large bowl.

Drizzle with dressing and toss gently.

Judi

I make a raman salad similar to that.....but no berries...?? Hmm....sounds good!
I love that bacon and broccoli salad.....may ask if that would go well.
We have to have cranberry jezebel as well as traditional strained smooth cranberry jelly.....so no cranberry salad....
Maybe. after we get the salad issue resolved we neet to have a thread for cranberry recipes.....that are not cookies, breads, cakes or pies!
Linda C

Salad? Thanksgiving???

Relish tray - olives, stuffed celery, pickled beets, pickled eggs, Sechler's sweet pickles, some fruit and nuts (yeah - some call them relatives)...but a salad wouldn't fly on my planet.

I did try a brussels sprout "salad" one year a la Martha Stewart. Took 3 of us about an hour to separate the leaves of a stalk of brussels sprouts. Saute - bacon vinaigrette - toasted hazelnuts.

Totally not worth the time/trouble. Turned out to be a tossed salad - as in "tossed".

seagrass

Yeah....salads for Thanksgiving....an oxymoron if I ever saw one!
Maybe I'll dig out the one with the whipped cream and the eggs and honey...! LOL!

Salads, for me, are a must at Thanksgiving. I love all the traditional foods, but I crave something crispy and even tart to offset the creamy, heavier dishes.

We always have the cranberry/orange/apple/walnut salad along with at least a couple of others.

We have certain foods that are a must, but the salads can vary from year to year for some reason.

Judi

I use craisins in my broccoli salad instead of raisins. I've also added a little fresh grated ginger to it and that gives it a really nice flavor. (Asian flair)

Barnmom - your orange/cranberry recipe - you don't peel the orange, just cut off ends? I'd like to make some for our feast next Thursday.

Shaun, it uses the whole orange, peel and all. Or use a couple of thin skinned clementines.

Thanks!