10 Delicious Ways to Spice Up a Salad

Do you love salads but sometimes find them to be a bit . . . boring?  Most of the traditional ingredients in a salad have very mild flavors, like lettuce, cucumbers, spinach, and the like.  You may already have a few favorite ways to spice up salads, but take a look at the suggestions below and see if inspiration strikes you:

1 - Green olives and capers

Green olives have a nice tangy flavor that goes well with most salads, while capers provide a bit sharper, saltier flavor that may appeal to many people.

2 - Hot peppers

Of course, you can literally “spice” up your salad by adding a few hot peppers like jalapeno slices, or sprinkle some crushed red pepper for smaller bursts of heat.

3 - Citrus fruits

Adding orange or grapefruit slices to a salad can provide a welcome touch of sweetness and/or tartness.

See:  Top 7 Healthy Orange Fruits and Vegetables

4 - Seeds

Seeds can provide some added nutrition and crunch to virtually any kind of salad.  Consider adding sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds - or nuts like almonds, soy nuts, cashews, and walnuts.

5 - Lemon or lime juice

For some added tartness, try squeezing a wedge of lemon or lime over a salad.

6 - Something unusual

There are so many foods that can be added to salads if you think outside the box - how about granola, sardines, salsa, marinated mushrooms or artichoke hearts, berries, tofu, pickles, corn, water chestnuts, beans, hard-boiled eggs . . . the possibilities are endless.

7 - Put it in a pita

Besides putting creative toppings ON your salad, you can eat your salad in different ways, like putting it into a whole grain pita shell, or eating it with a side of brown rice, or even making a little “stir fry” and eating it warm.

8 - Interesting seasonings

There are a ton of great sprinkle-on seasonings available today, like Asian, lemon pepper, garlic pepper, Italian seasoning, mustard, dill, and many others. 

9 - Vinegar

If you like the flavor of vinegar, drizzling it over your salad can give it boost.  I love balsamic vinegar in my salads!

10 - Onions, garlic, and radishes

Last but not least, let us not forget the “old standby” flavors, onion, garlic and radishes.  Each of them is a great addition to a salad, depending on your preferences.