Happy New Year and a salad generator

G'day and happy 2021 to you! 2020 was weird and stressful and tragic and I'm hoping for a less scary 2021. I spent large chunks of last year pottering in the garden to distract myself from everything happening in the wider world. If anything, I suspect it made me less adventurous in the kitchen. Maybe it's time for a reboot. Time to find some more flavour combinations. It's summer here in Canberra and I've been thinking about salads. I've posted about some of my favourite salads before but have tended to return to familiar combinations of ingredients. I'm wondering if, by reminding myself of many possible salad ingredients, I can jazz up my salad making this year. Today's dinner is a case in point …

Baby spinach, roasted pumpkin, corn kernels, feta cheese and pine nuts

Anyway, here are some salad ingredient ideas ...

Leafy vegetables
rocket [arugula]
lettuce (iceberg, cos, whatever …)

baby spinach

cabbage
kale

Not-so-leafy vegetables

cucumber

snow peas

carrot

roasted/cooked pumpkin, beetroot, sweet potato

Fruits
tomato

avocado
pear, apple, nashi
stone fruits (nectarine, peach, apricot, cherry)
pomegranate seeds

mandarin portions

corn kernels

lychees

olives

berries

capsicum [bell pepper]

Nuts and seeds
almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews, pistachios …

pine nuts

sesame seeds

Cheeses
blue

camembert/brie
haloumi

feta

Meats and fish

chorizo, bacon

salmon, tuna

Dressings
I don't usually put dressings on salads. Assuming the other ingredients chosen are flavoursome, there seems no need to add extra fat or sugar. But things like fresh lime juice, tahini and tamari are fun.