L'Abeille, I am kind of dragging my feet at more carbs. I need to get to Costco and check out this salad. I probably won't make it there before Thanksgiving, though. It sounds really good. Thanks for mentioning it.

I've never cooked with kale. I finally ordered it at a restaurant. I remember my mother mentioning it needed to be "massaged". I'm not sure what that entails. Is that similar to rubbing it?

Okay, it turns out I have cooked kale. My husband reminded me that our neighbor gave us some kale. I treated it like spinach which was probably a mistake, in retrospective. Anyway, no one liked it. I should give it another try, and do a better job.

I have a wild rice salad recipe I found that I've made successfully many times for holidays. My DH loves it. It's a make ahead, cold salad, and is a colorful addition to the table (I just use the uncle ben's box of wild rice, leave out the raisins as a personal choice, cut down on the onion and garlic, and add the almonds just before serving). There's a fair amount of chopping and ingredients, but easy if you don't mind that part. What I also like about it is that in a meal full of rich and creamy menu selections, it is a real palate cleanser.

http://www.epicurious.com/reci.....alad-12666

I had a wonderful salad tonight: butter lettuce, pistachios, thin apple slices dusted with cinnamon, and a light & white balsamic viniagrette. It came with goat cheese as well, but I had them hold the cheese.

Delurked, the salad sounds really good, very fresh. Thanks!

Clementine, I love butter lettuce. It seems very luxurious. I would have asked for extra goat cheese, though. Thanks for the suggestion!

Mmm. I love goat cheese too. I just made my goat cheese bruschetta last week. Yum. I also like it in salads and pasta.

Delurked, my favorite goat cheese dish: toasted ciabatta, goat cheese, topped with onion jam.

JAileen -
That sounds yummy. I've never heard of onion jam.

For my bruschetta - toast bread on both sides for approx 3 min each brushed with olive oil on both sides. Put back in oven with goat cheese topped with combined cut tomatoes, a lemon's juice, and a couple cloves of minced garlic. Top with basil to garnish.

And my other favorite. Farfalle with goat cheese, pine nuts, spinach, sun dried tomatoes. Maybe add a protein of your choice. Add some olive oil to taste and that's it.

Delurked, both of your dishes sound really delicious.

Onion jam is also called confit. I make it in my slow cooker with butter, olive oil, thyme, chicken stock, a little vinegar, and salt and pepper. Regular yellow onions sliced in rings, cooked over night until the onions are soft, then remove the lid until the moisture evaporates. You need to stir it periodically. The cooker starts out full to the top and cooks down to one fourth full, maybe. It will be kind of dark. Total time could be up to 18 hours.

Deb Perlman's (Smitten Kitchen) miso dressing has become my go-to salad secret weapon. Her original recipe from her cookbook is here:
http://www.cafecarol.com/2014/.....-dressing/

The original salad is great, but my version with flash-cooked and cooled, skinny French green beans (package from Costco), shredded radicchio, strips of daikon radish, green onion, and mixed sprouts has been a huge hit with family and friends. Instead of tossing the salad with the dressing, I serve the miso dressing on the side so everyone can drizzle as much as they want--and the salad stays crisp and beautiful as a bonus! People go for seconds and thirds of the salad instead of dessert. My version looks colorful--green, red, and white.--as well keeping people guessing as to what's in it.

a couple of years ago i went to a thanksgiving dinner where they served something similar to this salad. for me it was perfect for the occasion, flavors that said fall, yet light and a nice contrast, and yet complementary to the rest of the meal.
http://www.epicurious.com/reci.....e-dressing

IMO

Thanksgiving isn't a salady meal but I would opt for something with wintery greens, some nuts, dried fruit add pomegranates or cheese

or Pear/cheese type thing

https://www.pinterest.com/sear.....er%7Ctyped winter salad from pinterest

Lots of great ideas hear! (Brooklyn the first few ingredients of your first salad is pretty much in my lunch every day!)

I love salads and eat a wide range. To go with a heavy meal I like something with a little bite such as baby arugula with some sweet addition like dried cherries or if you can get really good figs, maybe some shavings of Parmesan and a very light champagne vinaigrette.

Mixed field greens with sliced halved tomatoes and Parmesan shavings is also a VERY easy and quick salad to make.

And I *always* make my own salad dressing - I will buy a backup for those who must have something like ranch, but for my salad I want my own vinaigrette - mine usually has a little dijon mustard, equal amount of honey, crushed garlic, champagne or white wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and salt with a squeeze of fresh lemon.

Gaylene, your salad sounds beautiful AND delicious. I've never cooked with miso before. Fresh ginger, though, makes such a huge impact (in a good way!) in whatever it's in. Thank you!

Kkards, I agree, the combo of greens, fruit, nuts, strong cheese has a fall vibe, and good color, too.

Chadya, I see your point, but I will persevere in my desire to serve a light, colorful and seasonal salad. After all, eating less potatoes, gravy, etc., leaves more room for pie.

Anne, I agree, lots of good ideas here. I'll be trying some of them soon!

Texstyle, I always make my dressing too. I have a mortar and pestle to crush the garlic. Your "recipe" sounds very nice. I LOVE arugula!!! Thank you!

These ideas are making me hungry! I love salad on Thanksgiving, with all the heavier foods I need something light and crunchy. There are some really great ones here! I'm no help at all, we usually stick to simple caesar-type salads.

Robin, I love crunchy. As I'm writing this I'm eating breakfast, so I'm imagining the flavors. It's funny how some of us want fresh, light, crunchy, and others don't. One of the suggestions, for a salad with roasted Brussel sprouts, sounds delicious to me. My husband doesn't care for them at all. Or beets ("tastes like dirt"), or arugula. He's a good man, but these are real failings of his, and they break my heart.

I have saved this thread for inspiration, I love having a few ideas for different salads.

The salads I make most often are

- tossed salad with green leaves, avocado, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, (and maybe salmon, chicken, feta, hard boiled egg, chick peas, nuts etc)
- greek salad (tomato, feta, cucumber, olives)
- slaw variations from traditional to asian style with peanuts and coriander/cilantro
- Raw energy salad (shredded beetroot, carrot, sliced orange, rocket) with a sesame oil dressing
- Roast vege salad (mix of pumpkin, kumara. courgette, carrot, red pepper, eggplant - whatever we have)

I usually make my own dressing - recently I have been doing a miso one too. I sometimes buy caesar dressing or a raspberry one from a local producer. I usually buy mayonaisse rather than make it - I am not great at making it.

JAileen, I'm glad you started this thread! I'm getting lots of ideas and inspiration!

Sally, you yourself provided some of the great ideas! In summer, our nearly daily salad is a tomato salad, with our own tomatoes. I make a garlic vinaigrette, and add some crumbled feta, and chiffonaded basil and parsley. If I arrange it on a plate it can be really beautiful, depending on what tomatoes we have. My more autumnal salad is the chopped salad that I described up thread. It's fine as leftovers. If I make a more traditional cole slaw, I season it depending on what it's accompanying. If I made chili, for example, I might put cayenne in the dressing. Since I rarely measure, sometimes it can be surprising!

Keelyn, thanks! I've gotten lots of ideas, too.

The Nutted Wild Rice salad from Silver Palate is very forgiving. Leave out the green onions - substitute a lot of chopped parsley and add 2 T fresh lemon juice. I often add chopped apple or orange or pomegranate seeds for color.

It's actually much better when you make it a day ahead.

Elle, thanks for the info. I'm definitely going to try it, but maybe after Thanksgiving.

JAileen, I think your post needs more visuals. Here is what I made tonight: roast sweet potato, avocado, mango, cucumber and toasted cashews. Very tropical, and out of season for you all in the north, but sooo delicious. I hope you post pics of your thanksgiving spread

Brooklyn, that does look delicious! I wouldn't have thought of putting roasted sweet potato in a salad, yet it sounds very good.

Here's my typical summer tomato salad alongside marinated green beans, all from our garden. I make a dressing with garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, and salt and pepper, and use it on both. The tomato salad has crumbled feta and fresh basil and parsley.

I hope to remember to take some pictures. Right now I'm worrying about whether our guests will even make it. They have to drive over a mountain pass to get here. There's a storm forecast for Wednesday, and also for Friday. If they do make it, they might be stuck for an extra day or two.

That looks delicious! And my dressing is pretty much the same (I leave out the garlic). I am impressed that it's all from your garden. I wish we had room for that. We have a mango tree and a lemon tree but there endeth my edible garden. Before our renovation we had a herb garden (it got trashed in the renovation). I will have to start one again. I hope your guests make it for the celebrations.

Brooklyn, thanks! We didn't grow the garlic, although we've grown it in the past. I grew up in a milder climate (SF Bay Area) and our front walk was lined with Meyer lemon shrubs. We can't grow any citrus here, it gets too cold. I envy you for growing your own lemons. At Home Depot last weekend we were looking at house plants, and saw a pineapple! I had never seen one before. Our native vegetation is mostly sagebrush.

Wow, this thread has made me want to eat a salad again. I'm keeping a link to it as there are so many fabulous suggestions!
Have to admit, I'm more of a salad when it's hot, soup when it's cold, kind of gal, so I haven't been in the mood lately. As I sit here enjoying the heat from my about to be overheated computer, but my feet are so cold. And it's not that cold here, really.

I found out yesterday that our guests are coming. A storm and mountain pass crossing were putting our entire Thanksgiving in doubt. So, I'm thankful that they're coming, including my 92 YO mother who is freaked out by the possibility of snow. I'm also thankful that I continued cooking and cleaning!!

Barbara, where are you located? At 11AM it's 44 and windy here, but sunny.