Weird salads

Fruitbat

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I don't recall ever being afraid of a salad before but brussels sprouts and fruit, really?

Curious now and thinking about going to BJ's to get it.

Would you eat it?

Also, weird salad stories welcome (I'm on a diet and getting bored with my food). :p



NEW Kale and Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad

Baby kale, herb-roasted brussels sprouts, romaine, blueberries, red grapes, dried cranberries, goat cheese, cucumber, candied pecans, toasted pepitas and red onions tossed in strawberry vinaigrette.


http://www.bjsrestaurants.com/menus/enlightened-entrees?all=1
 

LJD

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I dunno, I could see that being good. Would definitely eat it if offered, but I never order salads at restaurants since other stuff always looks better and I only eat out once a week.

Roasted Brussels sprouts are really good. I make them regularly.
 

mirandashell

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Brussel sprouts are the food of the devil to everyone who has the 'bitter gene' and I wouldn't touch them with someone else's.
 

jennontheisland

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Brussel sprouts are the food of the devil to everyone who has the 'bitter gene' and I wouldn't touch them with someone else's.
Brussel sprouts are not food. They're poison. My mom tried to kill me every Easter.

That salad looks disgusting, even without them. Candied pecans do not belong in savoury salads. Neither do grapes or blueberries. I'm convinced that the N.American palate has become incapable of eating food that isn't sweetened in some way due to the increased number of products that contain sugar and HFCS (even tins of refried beans have sugar on the ingredient list!) and we're now seeing it become blatant in the form of candied things and fruit in what would otherwise be a savoury dish.

So, no. Wouldn't touch it. And would probably avoid any restaurant with a chef who combines things like that.
 

Kylabelle

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That ingredients list ... they had to throw in all those things like toasted pepitas and blueberries and goat cheese to mask the taste of the sprouts!

We had a weird salad here that was pretty good, consisting of watermelon, orzo, feta, and basil. I'd eat that again.
 

Ari Meermans

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I would eat it. We love brussels sprouts, anyway; but Ina Garten's Roasted Brussels Sprouts recipe* is to die for. Roasting them gives a completely different taste and a crunchy texture. You know how roasting garlic mellows and slightly sweetens the taste? Same thing with brussels sprouts--they taste completely different than the taste you've come to expect. just sayin' :)

ETA: *I do use quite a bit less salt than the recipe calls for, btw, as well as changing the recipe up from time to time for different taste combos.
 
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chompers

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I'm not a finicky eater in the least. But I won't eat Brussels sprouts. Yuck.
 

Fruitbat

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I ate it. I was hoping for some strange food magic there but nope. I like brussels sprouts, but not served cold. Now that I re-read the ingredients below, I think half of them were missing. No red onion, candied pecans, romaine, or cucumber. Well, I'm not ordering it again so I guess that's it.

Watermelon, orzo, feta and basil, huh? Maybe I'll try that.
 

blacbird

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Brussel sprouts are great sautéed in a little oil and ground pepper, especially with asparagus. But raw? Nope. Just ain't cutting it for me.

They would go well ground up like cabbage in cole slaw but if you're going to do that, why not just use cabbage?

caw
 

Shadow_Ferret

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Hmm. I'm not sure. I don't usually put fruit in my salad, but I'm sure it would be a pleasant mix. I mean, I use Raspberry vinegrette on my salads now, so adding fruit probably wouldn't shock my taste buds. The Brussels sprouts I'm a little leery of though.
 

Forbidden Snowflake

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I used to hate them. Convinced someone was trying to kill me every time they were served.

However, I'm now 30, and was forced to try them again a few months ago. I liked them. It's like my own body betrayed me.

So, I'd try the salad. But wouldn't order it for myself.
 

Lavern08

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Lurve me some brussels sprouts...

But raw, in a salad with fruit and candied nuts? No way!
 

LJD

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But raw, in a salad with fruit and candied nuts? No way!

Says they were roasted, not raw, but presumably they were cold.
Not entirely sure about cold roasted Brussels sprouts...
 

KTC

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I love brussels sprouts. They get such a bad rap. Roasted, they're even better. And I've been on a kale trip ever since I walked across Spain this past May. They have a Galacian soup there that is to die for. I ate it every day...and it was different in every town I walked through...but also the samesame (That's Swahili for same). (-:

Together, they sound like a great combination! I must try this salad. Looking at the recipe in the link, however, I would definitely sub out the blueberries for raspberries. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!
 

KTC

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PS: I would make the brussels sprouts cooked and maybe even wilt the kale. But that's just me...I work on things until they're to my liking.
 

kikazaru

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I would eat certainly give that a try (I love brussels sprouts) - sans the goat cheese. I DESPISE goat cheese in all forms.

PS I made a brussels sprouts dish at Xmas that had bacon and raisins in it that had even the die hard haters asking for more.
 

oceansoul

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That sounds like something I'd actually like. I love salads with lots of contrasting flavours. Except the cucumbers. Cucumbers are the devilfood.
 

shestval

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Raw brussels sprouts, sliced very thin, are great in salads, especially with some freshly shaved parmesan. The particular salad linked sounds like a miss (that combination sounds like they were trying to clean out the fridge), but I've eaten most of those ingredients in salads before.

The big problem is serving roasted brussels sprouts cold. Sounds slimy.

PS, everyone who hates brussels sprouts: they are absolutely the nastiest when even slightly overcooked. Very tasty when tender-crisp. I also like them raw.
 

saelyn

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I really like roasted brussels sprouts, but I can't get my parents or sister to touch them. I think my parents had too many bad experiences with overcooked brussels when they were little.

Has anyone ever tried smoked brussels sprouts? I worked as a waitress at a fundraising event when I was in college and the chef let me try some brussels sprouts he smoked. They were AMAZING. I still think about them, more than ten years later.
 

regdog

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Sounds like the same people who are making the salads for Meals of Wheels.
My Aunt uses MOW and once got a salad of shaved carrots and raisins and another made of three different peppers. The smell alone from that one nearly burned my nose off.
 

Alessandra Kelley

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I love brussels sprouts, but that salad sounds unpleasant.

The salad of shaved carrots and raisins is actually a traditional one.

I have some old cookbooks, and the history of American salads is an ugly one. The mess in the OP is not new.

The 1920s were a particularly bad era for salads. The cookbooks are full of jaw-dropping recipes.

Judging from the cookbooks, 1920's people liked thick, creamy salad dressings. Salads were drowned in mayonnaise or cream cheese or sour cream or sweet whipped cream.

It seems like anything drowned in something creamy was considered a salad. I've seen recipes involving peanuts, peas, pineapple, marshmallows, pimientos, cheese, you name it.

Our modern "chicken salad", "tuna salad", and "cheese logs" are fossil remnants of 1920s salads.
 

shakeysix

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I love the little sprouties (they are easy to grow too!) but cannot imagine them in a salad. Maybe pickled? My grandma used to pickle them and I can buy them pickled at a local Mennonite store.

I have a weird salad from my childhood that resurfaced once at a German Food Buffet. It has hominy and radishes, sliced green onions and the rest beats me. I know it doesn't have celery because I hate celery and no beets because it wasn't red. I think it is dressed with sweet cream--no cheese. Does anyone remember this weird salad? I can't find it in Grandma's recipes and everyone I ask just shudders--s6
 

jennontheisland

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Weird are Jello salads. Especially the ones with a creamy dressing. And then there's this one: Lemon Lime Jello Salad. It's not even a salad.

I desperately need another cup of coffee. Looking at those Jello creations made me stormier than usual.

Okay, back to Brussels Sprouts!
Nope. (not yet anyway)
I think the reason those strange creations were called "salads" is that they were served during the salad course of a multi-course meal.
 

Alessandra Kelley

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Weird are Jello salads. Especially the ones with a creamy dressing. And then there's this one: Lemon Lime Jello Salad. It's not even a salad.

I desperately need another cup of coffee. Looking at those Jello creations made me stormier than usual.

Okay, back to Brussels Sprouts!

Wow, that's disgusting. Cottage cheese, mayonnaise and sweetened condensed milk? Yeah, that's straight put of the 1920s aesthetic. I'm amazed it hasn't got mini-marshmallows as well.

It seems pretty clear that gelatine was considered a super luxury food in earlier times, but those gruesome add-something-white-and-creamy recipes never did it any favors.

I suspect jenn has the right of it. I never could figure how tuna salad was a salad anyhow.