Latest news with #salad
New York Times
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- New York Times
The 23 Best Salads of All Time
You'll want to commit these recipes to memory. Whether you prefer a light, lovely garden salad or you're more partial to starchy, satisfying potato salad, there should be something for you to love in the list below. Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Published July 22, 2025 Updated July 22, 2025 Salad, with its many iterations, wants to defy definition. Many have tried to pin it down, ourselves included, and still, there are versions that prompt reconsideration. Are sweet ambrosias, full of fluffy marshmallows and bound with a whipped cream, technically fruit salads? What moves a sliced tomato into tomato salad territory? The great unifier is the dressing, turning an unrelated mix of ingredients into a meal. Can we say we had salad until the Egyptians and Babylonians dressed their greens with oil and vinegar nearly 2,000 years ago? Salad has since evolved to include more ingredients and rising to tall, arguably unwieldy, heights in the hands of chefs. It's become an easy, reliable staple of summer, a perfect meal for the heat, and, sometimes, even the source of a great story. (For example, you may have the actor Cary Grant to thank for Chinese chicken salad.) Below, you'll find salads you know and love, the ones that stand above the fold, some with long histories and others that only feel like they've been around forever. Consider this curated list the start of a salad journey, with ideal versions alongside recipes that let you riff on classics (think: capreses with stone fruit instead of tomatoes, or white beans in addition). After all, salad likes to keep it fresh. KRYSTEN CHAMBROT Lidey Heuck's recipe offers a formula that balances crunchy mild vegetables like carrots with sharper ones like red onion. Lidey Heuck's garden salad. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. On menus across America, garden salad, sometimes called the house salad, often means a cold, glossily dressed plate of translucent lettuce, pink tomatoes, seedy cucumber and maybe a black olive or two. It's exactly right if that's what you're craving, but the beauty of garden salad is that it can be filled with any vegetables, dressed with any dressing. Ideally, its ingredients are drawn from a garden, real in your backyard or imagined in your dreams. In 1699, John Evelyn's 'Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets,' the first known English book on salads, was published along with his ninth edition of 'Kalendarium Hortense,' a gardener's almanac. Mr. Evelyn's approach to this salad starts with growing the vegetables, a practice that modern farm-to-table cooks still embrace. Take that cue and buy whatever vegetables are in season locally and toss with your house dressing. GENEVIEVE KO The current recipe at Caesar's , the restaurant where the salad was named, includes whole romaine leaves coated in dressing with Dijon, anchovies and lime. Sliced, not diced, croutons, please. Caesar's Caesar salad. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. By most accounts, Césare Cardini created the Caesar salad, at his restaurant, Caesar's, where he catered to wealthy Americans who crossed the border between the United States and Mexico during prohibition to drink and eat well. Mr. Cardini, an Italian immigrant who'd moved to Tijuana in 1920, would toss the salad table-side with flair, as servers still do at Caesar's, but he likely mixed in only a coddled egg, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Last July, the salad turned 100, and Javier Plascencia, whose family has run Caesar's for more than a decade, shared the current recipe. But the base line remains: a combination of garlicky, creamy dressing with Parmesan that can be applied to nearly anything beyond crisp arcs of Romaine, and anchovies and croutons for discerning palates. G.K. The classic pairing of apple and cheese becomes a meal in this fall salad from Martha Rose Shulman , a revelation when it was first published in 2010. Martha Rose Shulman's kale salad with apples and Cheddar. Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Ali Slagle. You may not remember a time before kale salad, but it appeared only around the turn of this century. In 2001 or so, the chef Mark Ladner had a lemony version on the menu at Lupa in New York City, and in 2007, Melissa Clark wrote in The Times about the chef Joshua McFadden's Tuscan kale salad. At that time, she struggled to track down the right type of kale to make it. Now, we can't escape the dark frilly leaves — for good reason. Not only do they hold up in a make-ahead meal, but also they taste great with nearly any dressing or mix-in. The original, a simple mix of kale, lemon, olive oil, garlic, toasted crumbs and cheese, still holds up, and the endless variations have improved desk lunches everywhere since. G.K. Eric Kim recommends crunchy Little Gem lettuce for this dressing but notes that tender baby spinach or spring mix also tastes great. Eric Kim's crunchy greens with carrot-ginger dressing. Bobbi Lin for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Eugene Jho. Prop Stylist: Christina Lane. This gingery carrot dressing is so closely associated with sushi counters that it's sometimes affectionately referred to as sushi restaurant salad dressing. But only in America. While its origins remain unknown, it became popular in the 1960s through Benihana, the Japanese chain that's as much teppanyaki theater as it is restaurant, and remains a given with meals there. A little sweet and comfortingly thick with puréed carrot, this dressing comes together quickly in a blender and is worth keeping on hand for its versatile, fresh zing. G.K. Alexa Weibel emulsifies feta into the dressing for this fresh wedge salad , so it fills the iceberg lettuce's nooks and crannies. Alexa Weibel's feta-ranch wedge salad. Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. The wedge salad is, visually, a show-stopper: structural, towering and as groundbreaking as lettuce gets. (Iceberg lettuce wedged its way into American hearts in the 1940s, about 50 years after its introduction, for its ability to survive cross-country travel.) Loaded with a tumble of salty toppings, this salad was later popularized at steakhouses, but it's also delicious (and easy) enough to make in your home kitchen. Its base is nonnegotiable — crisp, mildly flavored iceberg wedges that accommodate its bold cohorts — yet its dressing and toppings need not be limited to cherry tomatoes, bacon and blue cheese. Tradition dictates a lofty wedge, with its tip at the top, but modern wedge salads like this feta-ranch version heed gravity, spreading horizontally to allow the dressing to better permeate, and to keep the toppings on top where they belong. ALEXA WEIBEL Alexa Weibel's vibrant recipe mixes true ease of eating with bursts of spice from jalapeño and crunch from radishes and tortilla chips. Alexa Weibel's chopped salad with jalapeño-ranch dressing. Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Based on its ubiquity at fast-casual restaurant chains, the chopped salad may seem like it's been around forever, but it supposedly got its start in the 1950s, when the owner of the Beverly Hills restaurant La Scala created it for his celebrity guests. They wanted a salad that was less likely to ruin their clothing, what with the messy business of cutting their lettuce with a knife and fork. What emerged was a salad whose low-lying profile is the polar opposite of today's towering restaurant constructions. CATHY LO Lidey Heuck's version of the classic includes red onion, an optional eighth ingredient, whose sharpness contrasts nicely with the creamy dressing, cheese and bacon. Lidey Heuck's seven-layer salad. Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. No one knows for sure if this colorful assembled salad originated in the American South or the Midwest, but it's possible that it evolved, over many years, from salmagundi, a large, artfully composed salad popular in 17th-century Britain. Stacking ingredients in distinct layers not only looks pretty, but it also keeps the components fresh and in their place until you're ready to serve. M.L. Gabrielle Hamilton considers the chef salad the greatest meal salad of all time, and her version combines good jarred tuna and artichokes with green beans, potatoes, tomatoes, radishes and greens. Gabrielle Hamilton's sous-chef salad. Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Sue Li. Prop stylist: Nicole Louie. Before the chef Louis Diat of the Ritz-Carlton in New York popularized the chef's salad of ham, turkey, Swiss cheese and boiled eggs in the 1940s, there was the Cobb. A decade earlier, the Cobb was born at the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, a celebrity haunt owned by Robert Cobb. Whether he or one of his chefs created the salad remains up for debate, but its composition of chopped lettuce, tomato, bacon, boiled egg, chicken and avocado with crumbled blue cheese is incontrovertibly delicious. One legend starts with Mr. Cobb scrounging for a midnight meal from the odds and ends in the restaurant's kitchen, and that sounds about right, since this combines a lot of prepped ingredients. It would also explain why this hearty meal with California vibes is often referred to as a chef salad, too. G.K. For this vibrant chicken salad , Zaynab Issa was inspired by the classic Halal cart combination of Afghan chicken kebabs and white sauce. Zainab Issa's lemon turmeric chicken salad. Nico Schinco for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Kaitlin Wayne. The beauty of chicken salad is that you're just as likely to find it at a New York City diner as you are at a Junior League luncheon in Valdosta, Ga. The additions may vary — grapes, nuts, curry powder, apples and more — but the overall vibe is the same: cold and creamy, and it will get you through the rest of the day without you feeling sluggish. In the early 1900s, frugal home cooks combined leftover chicken, ham and fish with mayonnaise to serve atop lettuce leaves for the next day's lunch. (This is probably why this mostly white mishmash we know today is called a 'salad.') During World War II, luncheonettes looking to cater to the growing female work force started serving versions made with canned tuna and hard-boiled eggs, eventually tucking them in between pieces of bread for portability and convenience. MARGAUX LASKEY To maximize the crunch of this salad , Sohla El-Waylly starts with a base of corn chips, piles on all the fixings then finishes it off with more chips. Sohla El-Waylly's taco salad. James Ransom for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Maggie Ruggiero There's the tostada, a crunchy, flat corn tortilla with a molehill of toppings, and there's the tostada salad, a crisp-fried flour tortilla pleated into a tall bowl that cradles a mountain of meat, beans, cheese, tomatoes, shredded lettuce and sour cream. Here, then, is a happy medium of tostada salad fixings with the tostada crunch of corn chips. First sold in 1955 at Disneyland's Casa de Fritos, a restaurant from a Frito company founder, the concept quickly spread to other restaurants. As a mainstay in kitchens everywhere, the taco salad captures the childlike joy of American Mexican home cooking. G.K. Julia Moskin interviewed cooks from Thailand and Laos for this classic take on som tum, where the seasonings are crushed and the papaya is simply stirred in to retain more crunch. Julia Moskin's som tum (green papaya salad). Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Spicy, sour, salty and sweet, this northeastern Thai dish, popular throughout Southeast Asia, stars crisp shreds of unripe papaya mixed with a punchy dressing of garlic, sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and chiles. The salad, which most likely originated in nearby Laos, has many versions, including ones with preserved black crab or pineapple. But traditionally, the papaya and the aromatic ingredients are pounded with a mortar and pestle — som tum roughly translates to 'pounded sour'— allowing the fruit (and any accompanying vegetables) to release some of their juices and to better absorb the dressing. C.L. Hetty Lui McKinnon's version vegetarian version of gado-gado uses pan-fried tofu, boiled eggs, bean sprouts, cabbage and potatoes. Hetty Lui McKinnon's gado-gado. Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Like all the best salads, gado-gado, a national dish of Indonesia, relies on variety (in fact, its name translates to 'mix-mix'). A kaleidoscopic tumble of vegetables, it will vary from cook to cook, but at its core, there's one constant: The components are doused in a stellar sweet-and-spicy peanut sauce that is typically spiced with chiles and sweetened with kecap manis, a blend of soy sauce and sugar, and accommodates any number of ingredients. A.W. This pork laab from Sherry Rujikarn is easy and versatile: You can swap in ground chicken or tofu for the pork, and scale the lime juice, fish sauce and herbs to taste. Sherry Rujikarn's pork laab. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. An intoxicating combination of minced meat, toasted rice powder, lime juice and fresh herbs, heartily high-protein laab is a salad that fuels you. Reputed to have roots in Laos, the dish is also native to Isan, in northeastern Thailand, where lime is employed heavily in laab and som tum alike. Laab is often served with sticky rice and a slew of fresh vegetables, including green cabbage, long beans, sliced cucumber and lettuce, but you can customize the greens as you like. A.W. Though many versions recommend store-bought fried noodles, Eric Kim's crispy wonton chicken salad calls to slice and fry wonton wrappers for a delicate crunch, and to sweeten the dressing with a spoonful of peach or apricot preserves. Eric Kim's crispy wonton chicken salad. Chris Simpson for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Sophia Pappas. Long before you could have your salads made to order at a Sweetgreen counter, Cary Grant requested a 'Chinese chicken salad' from Madame Wu's Garden, Sylvia Wu's celebrated Los Angeles restaurant. His customized chicken salad included rice noodles, fried wonton skins and scallions, slicked with a zippy soy-and-sesame dressing, but the dish has continued to evolve over time. Inaccurately named and inarguably American, Chinese chicken salad can today be spotted at the mall, at chain restaurants or at cookouts and potlucks — it's a salad that parties. It also doesn't take itself seriously, a whimsical heap of slivered greens, chicken, crispy fried wontons and herbs, coated in a salty-sweet dressing that still typically includes soy sauce and sesame. A.W. In her version , Melissa Clark doesn't choose just tuna or anchovies. Rather, she features the larger fish and blends the smaller into the dressing, increasing this salad's protein punch. Melissa Clark's Niçoise salad with basil and anchovy-lemon vinaigrette. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. This sunny salad is at its best when tomatoes are fat, juicy and sweet, as they would be from basking in the summer sun in the south of France, where this salad originates. Tomatoes, olives and tuna (or anchovies) are traditional, along with any raw vegetables the cook desires, but potatoes, green beans and hard-boiled eggs are practically expected. The added ingredients create a particularly hearty warm-weather meal, ideal for making ahead and porting to a picnic. C.L. Classic three-bean salad is made with sugar-vinegar dressing, but Melissa Clark gives hers a decidedly savory French accent with Dijon, shallots, parsley and celery. Melissa Clark's bean salad. Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Hearty bean salads, a welcome standby at picnics and in lunchboxes, can be traced back to Native American cultures, whose agriculture relied heavily on beans. Three sisters salad was named after the ancient 'three sisters' method, which entailed planting corn, beans and squash together in a way that benefited all three crops: The corn provided a stalk for the beans to climb, large squash leaves provided shade and discouraged weeds, and the beans helped stabilize the corn stalks. Bean salads, now typically made with inexpensive canned beans, remain popular for many good reasons: They're economical, they get better as they sit, they serve a crowd and they're happily riffable. M.L. Martha Rose Shulman's Lebanese tabbouleh is a best-in-class version, ensuring a high ratio of herbs (parsley and mint) to bulgur. Martha Rose Shulman's tabbouleh. David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. This classic Middle Eastern salad combines bulgur wheat with diced tomatoes, lemon, olive oil, and piles and piles of fresh herbs, chopped until diminutive enough to be consumed by the spoonful. The dish may even predate the Middle Ages, yet its combination of acidity and greens still feels fresh today. Though lemon juice jolts any salad to life, it can also dim the brightness of the greens, so this salad, like many others, is best enjoyed close to its creation. A.W. Gabrielle E. W. Carter uses watermelon and tomato in her country panzanella for even juicier, sweet-savory notes in every bite. Gabrielle E.W. Carter's country panzanella with watermelon dressing. Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. The Tuscan painter and poet known as Bronzino first wrote about a salad of stale bread, onions, cucumbers and leafy greens like purslane in the 16th century (tomatoes weren't included, since they had only recently been introduced to Italy). Unlike crunchy croutons, the bread in panzanella, now a Tuscan classic, is the main event, soaking up the vibrant juices from summer produce and becoming equal parts chewy and juicy. And since panzanella and its pita-based cousin, fattoush, tend to improve as they sit, they're especially easygoing, ready to take to the beach or wait patiently in the fridge for post-pool snacking. ADINA STEIMAN Millie Peartree's classic adds sweetness with carrots and a bit of sugar; celery and bell pepper provide fresh crunch. Millie Peartree's macaroni salad. Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist; Simon Andrews. The union of elbow macaroni and a mayonnaise-based dressing is such a staple at deli counters and on picnic blankets that this American pasta-salad spinoff has naturally engendered its own riffs. In Hawaii, the pasta is cooked until soft (never al dente), and mayo is more than a binder, but a flavor of its own. Shrimp can be added for heft and a bit of protein, but no-cook options like canned tuna and peas are smart mix-ins. C.L. Melissa Clark's light, refreshing lemony potato salad adds extra flavor with a mint-scallion finish. Melissa Clark's lemon potato salad with mint. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. The potato salad has had a long time to sit and marinate: Mention of potatoes boiled and dressed in oil and vinegar date back as early as the 17th century, but the salads as we know them gained popularity in America in the second half of the 19th century. These days, there's a potato salad for every taste: served warm or cold, accented with bacon fat, mayonnaise or a simple vinaigrette. Most recipes call for waxy potatoes that hold their shape, but starchy russets aren't unheard-of, and, in some cases, the potatoes aren't in cubes but broken down to a chunky mash. C.L. Lidey Heuck's take , heady with briny olives and slabs of feta, is just one of a larger genre of tomato-cucumber salads popular throughout the world. Lidey Heuck's Greek salad. Yossy Arefi for The New York Times (Photography and Styling) In summer, tomato and cucumber — technically both fruit — are drawn together with an almost magnetic force, an edible antidote to heat. The combination, finished with a pour of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, is found across the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and beyond. In Greece, it's called horiatiki salata, or 'tavern salad,' and topped with a slab of briny feta, a splash of vinegar and a sprinkle of dried oregano. In other nearby countries, the two ingredients are often finely diced and tossed with plenty of tender herbs and citrus juice, ready to serve as a spoonable salad. But one truth is universal: In high summer, it's a sin not to save and slurp the gazpacho-ish juice at the bottom of the bowl. A.S. There is an entire universe that separates Ali Slagle's fruit salad recipe from the tired versions you might encounter on airplanes, in buffets or at supermarkets. Ali Slagle's fruit salad. Nico Schinco for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Fruit salad is both simple and limitless. Technically, you could combine two different sliced fruits and present the results as fruit salad, but you'd be shortchanging yourself on flavor, when it could be intensified with dressing, spices, herbs or vegetables. Ali Slagle spikes her fruit salad with fresh lime zest, lime juice and sugar; the results taste like fruit at its peak, how a salad should make you feel: abundantly alive. A.W. To ensure each element of Melissa Clark's Caprese shines, bring the mozzarella to room temperature, sprinkle the tomato slices generously with salt and top the salad with basil at the last minute. Melissa Clark's Caprese salad. Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. The essence of effortless summer cooking, Caprese salad demands little from the cook: Cut up a few ripe tomatoes, tear some fragrant basil and slice some milky mozzarella, and all that's left is to arrange them all on a platter, season and drizzle with olive oil, and admire the sight before you tuck in. The same blueprint applies even if you get restless and swap out the tomatoes for stone fruit, cucumbers or melon, or add more depth with prosciutto, olives or a spicy vinaigrette. A.S.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
How to Make (or Buy) the Healthiest and Tastiest Salad Dressing
Key Takeaways The healthiest salad dressings start with real, whole ingredients—like olive oil, citrus juice, and fresh herbs—that offer heart-healthy fats, vitamins, and flavor without unnecessary additives. To keep your dressing nutritious, watch out for red-flag ingredients like hydrogenated oils, excessive sodium, and added sugars, especially in creamy or store-bought varieties. Making your own dressing is easy and customizable: combine a good fat, a bright acid, and flavorful seasonings for a tasty topping that enhances your salad's are the perfect way to include more veggies into your day. And since you're already eating something nutritious, you might as well make sure your salad dressing is adding to its healthiness—and not detracting from it. Anyone who's had a too-dry, too-soggy, or blandly dressed salad knows the dressing can make or break the entire experience, from the way it tastes, to its texture, to its nutritional perks. So what's the all-time healthiest salad dressing to drizzle over your greens? It all comes down to the ingredients (and what works for you personally!). Here are the healthiest salad dressing ingredients, types, nutrients, and tips, plus red flags to watch out for when shopping, ordering, or making dressings at home. Related: The 6 Healthiest Salad Dressings You Can Find at the Supermarket, According to Registered Dietitians Anatomy of a Healthy Salad Dressing To sound like a broken record, it all comes down to the salad dressing's ingredients. Typically, the most basic salad dressing formula combines a source of fat and an acid. From there, some add an emulsifier for creaminess and thicker consistency, as well as seasonings and even a bit of sweetener for flavor and dimension. Here's what to look for within each category to make the healthiest salad dressing choices. Fats Green Flag Fats Choose the healthiest fat sources to get the healthiest salad dressing. 'Ingredients like olive oil, avocado oil, and flaxseed oil provide healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats,' says Kristen Carli, MS, RD, registered dietitian and owner of Cambelback Nutrition and Wellness. 'These fats can help reduce inflammation, improve cholesterol levels, and support heart health.' Other healthy fat options include full-fat Greek yogurt, sesame oil, pureed avocado, and tahini (or other nut or seed butters). Any of these healthy fat sources will also help you absorb any fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K) found in your salad. Related: The 7 Healthiest Cooking Oils—and Which to Avoid Yellow Flag Fats Vegetable oils and seed oils have some health-related pros and cons—they are a source of heart-healthy unsaturated fats, but are also higher in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids, making them comparatively less healthy choices next to the oils highlighted above. Totally fine to use in moderation, but it's great to swap in the healthier fats listed earlier when possible. Additionally, many salad dressings, especially very creamy varieties, employ the use of ingredients like heavy cream, cheeses, sour cream, mayonnaise, and whole milk as their fat source. While these dairy options do come with some of their own nutritional advantages, they're generally higher in saturated fats and dietary cholesterol, too. Both saturated fat and dietary cholesterol are a bit controversial, with conflicting evidence in terms of their impact on heart health. Some studies find that these fats contribute to the development of heart disease while others do not find the correlation to be as pronounced. That said, given we have some evidence that these types of fat may negatively impact heart health, it's best to approach them with a bit of caution and Side note: Full-fat yogurts don't quite fit into this category, as they're a great source of probiotics (gut-healthy bacteria) and the fermentation process required to make them converts some of their saturated fats into healthy unsaturated Flag Fats Steer clear of hydrogenated fats (look for the word 'hydrogenated' on the ingredients list). These are sources of trans fats, which are really not good for your heart health. Trans fats both decrease good cholesterol levels and increase bad cholesterol levels in the body. Related: Are Seed Oils Bad For You? Here's What the Science Says Acids Green Flag Acids Most sources of acid, like citrus juice and vinegars are high in acetic acid, giving them their signature, zippy tang. Acetic acid has antimicrobial benefits, aids in blood pressure and blood sugar regulation, and even supports heart health. Plus, citrus-based acid sources contain high levels of vitamin C and plant compounds, helping to reduce inflammation and boost immune health. Yellow Flag Acids While most acids are healthy choices, certain vinegars contain more added sugar than others. These include balsamic (especially balsamic glaze), flavored vinegars, and certain varieties of apple cider vinegar. Though the added sugars in these vinegars are minimal, it's something to consider if you really need to be diligent about your added sugar intake (like those with metabolic disorders). Related: The 9 Best Kinds of Vinegar for Cooking—and 2 You Should Never Use Emulsifiers Green Flag Emulsifier Of all the emulsifying options for salad dressing, dijon mustard is by far the healthiest option. 'Dijon mustard is low in calories and adds a tangy kick to dressings,' Carli says. Check the label before purchasing, as some mustards can be laden with sodium—less than 150 milligrams of sodium per tablespoon is ideal. Yellow Flag Emulsifiers Other emulsifiers, like egg yolks and mayonnaise, are certainly not red flags (eggs are good for you!), but they are higher in dietary cholesterol and saturated fats. Seasonings and Flavoring Agents Green Flags Seasonings 'Fresh or dried herbs and spices add flavor without extra [sugars] or sodium, while offering antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties,' Carli says. Great options include basil, thyme, parsley, cilantro, dill, chives, scallions, ginger, garlic, onion, shallot, red pepper, and black pepper—though any herb or spice you love works! Yellow Flags Seasonings Miso paste and nutritional yeast can also be healthy flavoring agents that will really amp up your dressings. Miso is a fermented food, offering healthy bacteria to enrich the gut microbiome (it can be pretty high in sodium, so take note and use mindfully). Nutritional yeast is high in B vitamins, but the sodium content can add up quickly as well. Red Flag Seasonings Look out for sneaky, high sources of sodium and added sugars in flavoring agents. 'Dressings high in sodium can contribute to high blood pressure and other cardiovascular issues when consumed frequently and excessively,' Carli says. Outside of salt, other sneaky sources of sodium include certain cheeses, soy sauce, miso, and worcestershire sauce. 'Meanwhile, excessive intake of added sugars can contribute to inflammation, insulin resistance, and increased risk of heart disease,' Carli adds. Beyond the easily recognizable ingredient of cane sugar, added sugar in store-bought dressings can come in the form of high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, and maltodextrin. Honey and maple syrup are other common sources of added sugars in salad dressing, but do come with an array of health-supporting nutrients and bioactive compounds, making them slightly healthier choices. For the Healthiest Salad Dressings, Avoid Additives and Preservatives Many store-bought dressings may also contain mystery ingredients including various preservatives, artificial flavors, and artificial coloring. These additives are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, because they are relatively new ingredients, their long-term health impacts are not super well-studied or fully understood yet, making them something to avoid consuming in excess. Making the Healthiest Salad Dressing at Home Taking into account the most nutritious salad dressing ingredients and tips, it's time to start making tasty, healthy dressings at home. The easiest way? Choose a green-flag ingredient from each category—a fat, acid, emulsifier, and flavoring agent. Combine them in a bowl and whisk together vigorously. Or, my personal favorite technique: Shake all the ingredients together in a mason jar (great for preparation and storage in one). Some delicious flavor combinations to try at home include a simple vinaigrette (oil and vinegar) lemon basil, miso ginger, avocado lime, maple mustard, tahini garlic, and yogurt cucumber (a.k.a. tzatziki). How to Buy Healthier Store-Bought Salad Dressing 'Making your own salad dressing can be really easy, but don't feel like you have to make one from scratch to choose a healthy option, ' Carli explains. Often it's just easier to grab a ready-made option at the supermarket. When shopping at the grocery store for healthy dressing, the best plan of action is to keep a watchful eye out for any ingredients that fall into the red-flag categories. While scouring the ingredients list on a salad dressing bottle, check for simple, easily recognizable foods like olive oil, vinegar, herbs, and spices. Then, double-check for your ingredient review by looking at the nutrition facts panel for sodium, added sugar, saturated fat, and trans fat content. Ideally, you'll see less than 200 mg of sodium, 5 grams of sugar, 2 grams of saturated fat, and 0 grams of trans fat per serving. 'My favorite store bought salad dressing brands are Primal Kitchen, Brianna's, Chosen Foods, Girard's, and Bolthouse Farms,' Carli recommends. The Bottom Line? After all is said and done, produce-forward salads are healthy—full stop. It's not necessary to overthink and micromanage your every dressing choice, so don't let that deter you from eating salads altogether! However, if you're curious about how to make and buy the absolutely healthiest salad dressings, and what makes those choices the best for you, keep in mind that real, fresh, simple ingredients and combinations are key. At the most basic level, choose a healthy, unsaturated fat source (olive oil or avocado oil, for instance!) and a natural, uncomplicated acid source (like citrus juice or vinegar!), and then build from there with flavors low in sodium and added sugars. 'By paying attention to these factors, you can select a dressing that not only tastes great but also supports your health,' Carli says. Related: 24 Healthy Salad Recipes That Will Revolutionize Your Lunch Game Read the original article on Real Simple
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Is Pret's mega salad actually mega expensive?
Your article says that it costs £8.14 per portion to prepare a version of a premium salad sold at Pret for £12.95 (Supersize me: recreating Pret's £13 miso salmon super plate at home, 11 July). However, Pret's charge includes 20% VAT. It also covers the cost of refrigeration, premises, the wages (and holidays and pension and national insurance contributions) of the staff who fill and clean the fridges, those who prepared and sold the salad, the accountants and human resources managers behind the scenes, the staff training and Pret's work with homeless people to give them employment and a future. If Pret can do all that with the £4.81 left after making the salad, it should be running the CampbellSwindon Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘I've not got a problem with making myself look disgusting': the wild rise of Diane Morgan
Diane Morgan went vegan a few months ago, so naturally, we meet for lunch at a restaurant in central London that almost entirely serves cheese. It is a humid, muggy day. 'You don't often hear people use the word 'muggy' now,' Morgan says, when I mention it. 'How many people do you hear saying that, on a daily basis?' A pause. 'Under the age of 85, I mean.' Morgan is famous for her deadpan style, which she has honed to perfection as the mockumentary host Philomena Cunk, and has put to use all over British TV, from the dour Liz in Motherland to Kath in Ricky Gervais's sitcom After Life, with a recent stint as the reporter Onya Doorstep in Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. Over a lovely looking cheese-free salad, she admits that she is becoming more of a hippy as she gets older. 'As I'm cascading towards the grave,' she laughs. Morgan is here to talk about the surreal, anarchic Mandy, which she created, writes and stars in. It is 'pure stupidity', she says, gleefully, ahead of its fourth series. 'There's no meaning. You're not going to learn anything. I don't want to learn anything.' The episodes are barely 15 minutes long, and see Mandy try out various jobs and get-rich-quick schemes, as she is forced to navigate fatbergs, psychics, illicit medical procedures, Russian gangsters and plane hijackings. Back in the day, Morgan and her friend Michael Spicer ('a YouTube sensation now') would meet up at a pub – upstairs, in an empty room, not at the bar, she clarifies – with a bag of wigs, to play around with characters. One of them became Mandy. Mandy first made an appearance on Craig Cash's short-lived 2016 sitcom Rovers. When the BBC asked Morgan if she had any ideas for a new comedy, Mandy staged a comeback. They filmed a 15-minute pilot, in which Mandy covets a white leather sofa, leading to a Princess Di makeover that clashes with an experimental medical trial. 'I never thought they'd pick it up, and I think that's why it was so mad,' she says. 'I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted.' It went out in 2019, and was soon picked up for a full series. 'I thought, fantastic, made it, and then thought, oh shit.' She was so nervous about it airing that she almost phoned the BBC and asked them to pull it. 'It felt really personal, in some ways,' she explains. In the new series, Mandy vomits ice-cream on to a small child's head and gets 'rancid lamb fat' injected into her backside. How personal are we talking? 'I felt like people were going to go, what the hell is that? And I'm sure a lot of people did. It's just what I felt like doing at the time, as a reaction to all those Fleabaggy dramas. Fleabag's brilliant, but because it was so successful, there were loads of other shows that were a bit like that.' Mandy is not like that. Instead, it was inspired by more grotesque physical comedies such as Bottom. 'Where they're just beating each other up repeatedly. I couldn't think of a woman that had done that.' She wonders whether women don't want to make themselves look disgusting. 'I've not got a problem with that,' she laughs. 'Because that's what I want to see.' In the first proper episode, Mandy gets a job in a banana factory, squashing spiders. I think about it every time I pick up a bunch at the supermarket. 'I was told that was an actual job in Bolton,' she insists. 'They would hand you a mallet and if the spider ran out, you'd just clobber it. That was a job! Otherwise, what do you do? Just let them run free?' Morgan has done quite a few of the jobs that Mandy tries, it turns out. 'Chip shop, telesales, Avon lady, dental nurse, packing worming tablets. All kinds of stuff. I've been pretty terrible at all of them.' She grew up near Bolton, and had always wanted to act, but for a while, struggled to get into drama school. At one point, she and her friend Maxine Peake decided to have elocution lessons. 'We thought the reason we weren't getting into drama school was because we were so broad,' she says. Sign up to What's On Get the best TV reviews, news and features in your inbox every Monday after newsletter promotion How did those lessons go? 'Well … badly,' she laughs. 'But it's mad, isn't it, that the thing that was separating me out, I wanted to get rid of.' She realised 'far too late' what made her special. 'I think it was when I'd left drama school. I started doing standup, and then I started getting acting parts, and they were always miserable northerners.' It finally occurred to her that what she had been trying to suppress was exactly what people found funny. 'The flat, miserable noise of my voice.' Morgan has played Philomena Cunk for over a decade, and in the past, she has said that the two are very similar. 'Basically the same,' she nods, today. But it sounds like there's more crossover with Mandy than you'd think. 'There's a lot of overlap there. I'm probably more like Cunk, because Mandy's quite brazen. I haven't got [Cunk's] social skills, because I didn't go to public school. She doesn't care, whereas I do care. That's the big difference.' She will freely admit, though, that she loves an awkward moment. 'I'm completely happy in silences, as you can probably tell from Cunk. I revel in them, almost.' When she interviews experts for what looks like minutes on screen, she might have been talking to them for hours, waiting for the perfect response to the often mindless questions. 'Basically, it's an improvised conversation, because you never know when they might go, 'what do you think?'' She has to second guess what they might say, and work out where she might take it from there. 'If they completely fall into the trap I've set, it's like feeding strawberries to a donkey. It's great.' Philomena Cunk is unexpectedly massive in the US. 'Oh my god, yeah, they love it.' Morgan has done the rounds on the late night talk shows; she got a standing ovation when she walked out on to the Stephen Colbert stage. 'It sounds ridiculous, saying it,' she laughs. 'I felt like one of the Beatles.' Cunk is so big on social media that people don't always realise she's a character from a TV show. Sometimes, when they meet Morgan, they call her 'the TikTok lady' From 2016 to 2022, Morgan played Liz in the hectic parenting comedy Motherland. Have they asked her to be in its spinoff, Amandaland? 'No.' She leaves one of those perfect silences. 'Bit awkward,' she jokes. 'No, I think it would be weird if we'd all gone back into it, and called it Amandaland. It's a different show.' She hasn't seen it, solely for the reason that she doesn't watch much comedy. 'It feels too close to home. I can't switch my brain off from going, oh, I see what you did there. I just ruin it, because I can't enjoy things.' She prefers documentaries. 'I find documentaries really funny, especially ones from the 70s. There's one that's purely about people who have got struck by lightning. It's just superb.' Surely Philomena Cunk has ruined documentaries for everyone? 'But they're still making them, exactly the same,' she says. 'They make shows and you think, this is exactly like Cunk! How can you do this?' Morgan recently appeared on the celebrity genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?, which was surreal for a number of reasons. First, because Mandy had already done a spoof of it called Who Are You, Do You Think, and second, because it is full of Cunk-like documentary tropes. Morgan leans into the daftness of it, doing those long, distant walking shots, and pleading not to have to look over her shoulder for the opening credits. 'My mum said to my auntie, 'Diane's done Who Do You Think You Are, are you going to watch it?' And my auntie said, 'Depends what else is on'. Swear to God. Depends what else is on. None of them give a shit. Keeps me very grounded.' Morgan loves Mandy's 15-minute episodes. 'You're in, you're out, you've got your life back. I don't want anything that's like, oh, this is 47 seasons and it doesn't get going until episode 16.' But she will soon be returning to half-an-hour with Ann Droid, the new comedy she has written with Sarah Kendall. A year ago, Morgan read an article about the possibility of robot carers for child-free older people in Japan. 'I thought, I don't have any kids. Shit, that'll be me, ending up with a robot.' It made her laugh so much that they sent the idea to the BBC, who said yes. 'Then we had to write it.' Worse, she has cast herself as the robot. 'It didn't occur to me that it would be difficult, over six weeks, to move like this,' she says, lifting her arms stiffly. She is currently in training with a movement coach. 'I spend an hour a day, walking around the house like a robot.' I can't believe your family don't care about what you do, I say. 'I know! They don't ask,' she shrugs. 'Not bothered.' Mandy returns on Monday 21 July at 10pm on BBC Two.
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The Bonduelle Group confirms the sale of its packaged salad business in France
BONDUELLE Head office: "La Woestyne" - 59173 Renescure - FranceBonduelle a French S.C.A (Partnership limited by Shares) with a capital of 57 102 699,50 eurosRegistered under number : 447 250 044 ( Dunkerque Commercial and Companies Register) Press ReleaseVilleneuve d'Ascq, July 18, 2025 The Bonduelle Group confirms the sale of its packaged salad business in France on July 17, 2025 Announced on August 29, 2024, the proposed sale of Bonduelle's packaged salad business in France to the LSDH Group became effective on July 17, 2025. For the past ten years, the Bonduelle Group has faced a structural decline in salad consumption in France. This sale allows the Bonduelle Group to continue accelerating its activities in the fresh delicatessen market, in France and Europe. The LSDH Group will continue, through a licensing agreement, the use of the Bonduelle brand on packaged salads in France. The Bonduelle Group is confident in the ability of the LSDH Group, a family business, to turn around its operations in France. This player has a solid plan to expand its business. The divested scope represented approximately 3.5% of the group's turnover for the Bonduelle Group, or €80 million for the 2024-2025 financial year. The result of the divestment of the business will be reflected in the accounts for the 2025-2026 financial year, which began on July 1, 2025. The Bonduelle Group is, above all, a family story from the north of France that has lasted for 7 generations. Present in nearly 100 countries, we are proud of our iconic brands: Bonduelle, Cassegrain, and Globus. We collaborate with more than 2,000 passionate growers to offer you vegetables and pulses harvested at the peak of their flavor and nutrition. Because we believe that every meal is an opportunity to make a difference, we are committed to inspire the transition toward a plant-rich diet, for the well-being of all and planet health. Already 80% B Corp certified, our goal is to achieve full Bonduelle Group certification, thus affirming our commitment to a more sustainable and responsible the 2023-2024 financial year, the company generated sales of €2,372 over 100 years ago, the LSDH Group is now established in 6 regions and has 10 production sites in France, as well as one logistics site, divided into two divisions (all liquid foods on the one hand, and salads and catering on the other).Led by Emmanuel Vasseneix, the group has 2,250 employees with recognized expertise. LSDH places its women and men at the heart of its decisions, convinced that their motivation and commitment make the difference. The company stands out and continues its development through its strong social, societal, and environmental commitments and its efforts to promote sustainable production methods. PRESS CONTACTS: Benjamin ZEHNDER – Becoming + 33 (0)6 76 41 18 19 – Email : VAZZAZ – Becoming +33 (0)6 34 32 24 23 – Email : Attachment Cession activité de salade en sachet en France - ENSign in to access your portfolio
