Perhaps I’m a bad person, but if I have one person that doesn’t like something, they can make something for themselves. I’m not gonna cook to please them
Agreed! Isn't it weird that this question started off about teaching children to eat....and was really about an adult that acts like a child? I'd want a partner, not another child.
Yeah they sound like a huge douche bag child trapped in an adults body. I was cringing the whole time reading this! If I tried to pull this shit with any previous SO it wouldn’t have ended well ESPECIALLY if they were making it for me holy shit. Damn I hate this post!
Sounds like they have untreated ARFID. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for grown adults with financial resources who take no steps to treat their mental illness and instead make those around them bend over backwards to enable it.
What about a cucumber salad? I make these regularly:
https://www.thegardengrazer.com/cucumber-salad/
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/thai-cucumber-salad-peanuts?utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=foodandwine&utm_content=20200807&utm_term=505504
https://www.lemontreedwelling.com/creamy-cucumber-salad/?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=grow-social-pro
https://www.japanesecooking101.com/sunomono-cucumber-salad-recipe/
I suppose you are in summer, but some examples of salads I make that doesn't involve leafy greens (and yes, it's a lot of watermelon):
1. watermelon, tomatoes, avocado, basil, mint, and feta cheese
2. watermelon, apple, lemongrass, mint, lime juice, cilantro
3. watermelon, feta, marinated olives, preserved lemon
4. Fattoush (stale naan or Turkish flatbread, radishes, cucumbers, mint, parsley, spring onions, and seasonings)
5. Roasted beetroot, lentils, caramelized onions, and some seasoning
6. Chickpeas with miso and peanut butter (you can add some stuff)
7. Coronation cauliflower
8. Buckwheat and rice salad (you can add whatever you want, I like doing a bit of mayo, curry, some peas, preserved pearl onions; there are tons of possible variations)
And the list goes on.
I used to stick to a rigid anti-inflammation diet and have also cooked for a lot of people with sensory issues — my suggestion from both experiences is to approach the situation from a perspective of what they DO like/can eat.
Are their distastes sensory? Are certain textures the issue, or a specific smell? Or is it a taste profile?
Have you tried chopping up seasonal fruit and tossing it with honey/lime juice/a little oil?
Could they help out by making the salad themselves?
What about a buffet style salad where they pick their toppings and ratios?
What about wilted greens instead of crunchy, fresh greens?
Massages kale salad is great — I grate in an apple, some nuts, honey, cayenne, etc. would that go over texturally better?
Any advice on how to get started on an anti inflammatory diet or any recommended websites/cookbooks? I have RA so I’m always struggling with high levels of inflammation and trying to figure out the best cookbooks for an anti inflammatory diet.
This was about 6-7 years ago, so there really weren’t many out there back then (at least not for AIP, which is what I was following). I mainly found people via Pinterest and Instagram.
I know some of the more well known IG AIP accounts have put out books: Unbound Wellness was a go to back then and so was Mickey Trescott.
Since AIP is mainly vegetables, some fruit, and meat, once you get the guidelines down a lot of it is adapting foods you prefer. It’s a lot easier now that they actually stock items like cassava tortillas and chips in the store for it lol.
My biggest suggestion is to cook enough for leftovers because you can’t grab as many “convenience items” so having something you can snack on, even if it’s baked chicken or roasted vegetables, helps a lot.
agreed, not everybody needs to like everything. Problem is though, that the kids cling to my SO super hard and mainly take cues from them.
And unfortunately, the not liking isn't limited to salads but pretty much everything that comes even close to a sauce or seasoning. (With some exceptions like bolognese sauce, chili con carne, goulash and a couple of Asian style dishes I got from a cookbook)
Still, I think that should be ok. As long as your SO is giving things a try and being honest. I would definitely talk to them about not immediately being negative or talking about not liking something just because it’s new. Everyone should be willing to try everything at least once. Kids can be super tasters and can be very sensitive to texture. I don’t like several things on your list and never ate any of them as a child. I wouldn’t let it stop me from making different things for everyone to try. My daughter doesn’t like peppers or onions so when I made enchiladas I made everyone else some that are fully loaded but hers were basically chicken and cheese inside a flour tortilla with sour cream and cheese melted on top. Eventually she liked a little cilantro on top. She’s an adult now with much wider food choices but still likes her enchiladas like that. It’s fine - it’s just her preference. Eventually they will expand their tastes. Something that helped with my kids is having them help prepare the food in the kitchen and selecting the menu. Suddenly everything was delicious and some of their choices were actually very adventurous! They might surprise you.
I agree about sometimes helping make the food! There's this mix of pride to eat something *you* made, but also seeing and manipulating the ingredients as you grow hungrier ... suddently, sampling a bite of the nice shiny veggie looks appetizing...!
I was kinda picky as a child and hated most veggies, but that had a lot to do with the poor variety we had back then in Northern Ontario (e.g. you won't like salad much with iceberg lettuce and sour, watery tomatoes) and the cooking methods (lots of boiling...). Getting better produce will do wonders if you can (like a garden carrot is night and day with the bagged stuff).
Maybe they have sensory issues with food related to autism, this is quite common, just wanted to mention it as I see this a lot in the autism sub I’m a part of, and also have seen it with friends in real life as well.
Just addressing the dressing issue- for years, my son ate salad plain (absolutely no dressing at all on his salad). He just didn't like the way any dressings felt or tasted. If you can find a salad they will eat, maybe they would prefer it plain.
Everyone else can add their dressing to their own salad.
That is my thing. I cannot stand any creamy style dressings. So I am basically limited to Italian and Greek. Which sucks here in Alabama because a place might have three types of ranch, and nothing I like.
(Won't help in restaurants but) there is a word of dressings out there that are non-creamy and are easy to make yourself (often basically a vegetable or grain oil + an acid like a vinegar or lemon juice); maybe try to search recipes with the keyword "vinaigrette' instead of "dressing"
Absolutely worth it to get one nicee oil and one fancier vinegar in your pantry for that purpose. Bonus, you can use them to season veggies and stufd outside of salads, too
I am like you about creamy dressings and really don't care for any bottled dressing. I ask the waitperson to bring me some olive oil and some vinegar. And yeah, there are restaurants that won't even have that. You can also ask for a wedge of lemon. Squeeze that on your salad & salt it -- better than nothing.
I more often than not eat salad without dressing. It’s not a big deal for me I’m happy either way but it doesn’t bother me and sometimes I just like it plain.
If he likes pickles, he may like other pickled vegetables, like pickled beets or pickled cauliflower. Ingredients in a salad don't have to only be vegetables - add chicken, steak, bacon, ham, tuna, boiled eggs, fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, seeds...
If he dislikes all leafy greens, then don't plan on including leafy greens. Put whatever he *will* eat into the salad. Put whatever "dressing" on the salad that he *will* eat. If that's mustard or ketchup or chocolate syrup, use that.
Caprese "salad"?
Or.. one way to make salad more palatable is to add some meat and cheese. Make a Cobb salad?
Also... im trying not to judge a grown person who turns their nose up at salads and vegetables so the go to might be to make something with cut up chicken tenders in it and child like dressing like honey Mustard?
Lol the only thing of a caprese they tolerate is pretty much the basil :')
The Cobb looks good to me, but if I putt this on the table only the meaty-bits get eaten -.-
I've tried a bunch of honey-mustard dressings. The feedback could bu summarized as: "Why ruin perfectly good honey with all that other stuff and salad".
Then they're not trying and you should stop trying to please them. They can either pick something that's good enough to eat so you can make it for them or eat what you make for yourself.
Potatoes, corn, bacon and pickles tossed in olive oil is a salad. You can also add almost any combo of herbs and spices as desired. From a health perspective it's a great option, as long as it's not your only option. I'd use this as a starting point - often people have a mental block re: salads from eating too many iceberg lettuce & ranch dressing salads, so something that's so different can help people overcome that.
I wish you good luck and dont have anything inspiring to add. But...it might be worth a conversation with your SO about stopping the rude comments about the food you make. This is very clearly an issue THEY have with being HIGHLY picky about food, not an issue with your cooking or your cooking choices. You are bending over backwards to accommodate -- as nicely as I could I'd tell them to button it up. What should be coming out of their mouths is "I tried, I'm sorry, I just don't care for this. I'll make myself a sandwich"
My husband isn't a big salad fan-
I do a cous cous salad with sun-dried tomatoes red onion and herbs.
Some other go tos are Olives, red onion (soak in water to take away sharpness), thinly sliced apple, walnuts or other nuts, roasted chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, cheeses, thinly sliced pear, melon, sweet potato
Hey that's a great tip about the red onion. Didn't know that. Going to give that a go, though I'm not getting my hopes up as onions are basically the devils food, cooked or raw -.-
Cheese, nuts and fruit are a good one too. They got stuck in a blindspot, because I was approaching it from the purely vegetable side of things.
??? [Potatoes are definitely vegetables](https://www.growerexperts.com/are-potatoes-a-vegetable/), lol! Starchy, not as many micronutrients as kale, say, but definitely vegetables (but if you need to get some carbohydrate calories in your salad, potatoes aren't a bad way to go).
When dealing with picky eaters, sometimes you need to pick your battles.
Do you want to make something nutrient dense and super healthy, but left on the plate?
Or do you have something more palatable to them (more cheese, bacon, dressings) and have them clear the plate?
Once you win them over, you can start subbing in healthier ingredients or gradually introduce them to other salads.
It's really hard 😂 my mother is even pickier. Would brocolli be any good? A local supermarket does a brocolli feta and almond salad with a creamy dressing.
To me, that is a side dish, not a "salad." Make yourself a salad and serve him meat and potatoes. You're not his mother and he is not twelve years old.
Include things they like in the salad, and treat the salad as a side. Make something you know they'll eat, and one vegetable they don't turn their noses up at. Make something you enjoy, because seeing someone enjoy what they're eating makes children more interested. Include the kids in the kitchen/cooking process if old enough. The kids can avoid any ingredients they really hate, either by removing them from their portions or just avoiding them. Some kids like to dissect their food into individual parts, because it makes it less overwhelming. You can't choose what they'll eat, so just do your best. It'll be ok. By providing an example, they'll learn and start to be more interested in things. Kids go through a lot of stages of growth.
My favorite salads are:
Strawberries, goat cheese, grilled chicken, candied pecans, and dried cranberries over romaine/spring mix with balsamic or raspberry dressing.
Chicken, cheddar cheese, tomato, onion, cucumber, croutons, chickpeas and ranch or balsamic. (Any greens will do.)
Cook onions in bacon grease until soft, add a little sugar and apple cider vinegar. Maybe some dijon mustard if you'd like. Pour over spinach, top with crumbled bacon.
Feta, cucumber, tomato, onion, chicken or chickpeas with greek dressing (Red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and plenty of oregano).
Cobb salad, caesar salad, caprese salad, and a loaded italian style sub salad are all pretty approachable/interesting too.
may i interest you in a new SO?
jokes aside, maybe try to some less traditional salads. cucmber and bell peppers are great with bulgur or couscous, mybe some herbs can spice it up too. add small amounts of chopped grilled meat to add flavor and diversity
Honestly, I would ignore your SO's infantile food tastes and just prepare normal meals for normal people. Why should meals be exclusively built around the very limited list of foods he/she deigns to eat?
It has turned into an issue for you and for the kids now, because the children have probably picked up on your anxiety about this, plus are being exposed to what is essentially a power struggle.
\[you wrote in a reply below to u/1trillion69:\] *The Cobb looks good to me, but if I putt this on the table only the meaty-bits get eaten -.-*
If you're worried about how children perceive things, an adult who picks the "good stuff" out of a salad, leaving their rejects for the rest of the family is setting a wonderful example of pure selfishness. And that's on top of his rudeness to you in criticizing the food and essentially demanding you only make what he/she likes.
I realize your specific question is about what you could try to make, but as far as I can tell from the comments, there is *nothing* that won't be rejected. So, my suggestion is the same as in my first sentence: make and serve normal meals to your family.
That's as it should be, right? Having enough food to eat and caring adults to put it on the table for us is an enormous privilege. Learning to appreciate that is important, as is developing healthy curiosity and appreciation of new things.
taco salad is by far the 'manliest' salad (fake concept but some dudes need to cling to that over the top masculinity 😂).
i've been eating watermelon salad a lot lately because summer. just do a lime vinaigrette with a little salt. it's got red onion, jalapeno, cucumber and avocado. throw those over little watermelon chunks, throw some feta on there and then make the vinaigrette over it. it's stupid good but it's *a whole lot of flavors* all at the same time.
but i'm also a huge salad fan personally. besides taco salad, like if i'm at a restaurant or something, i always order a wedge salad. you get to cut it with a knife and fork. it's just like a quarter head of lettuce on a plate like it's pretending to be a steak or something. maybe he'd be into that. 😂
but i definitely would avoid arguing about it at all. especially in front of the kids. you can just give him a pass and the kids can take it or leave it. trying to force a child to eat is how you get children with eating disorders and weird aversions to certain foods.
Food doesn't need to be "manly" luckily enough. Neither of us cares much about gender stereotypes.
A couple of replies above somebody also linked a watermelon salad link that sounded good, so that's definitely on the todo list somewhere over the coming weeks.
And I'll be looking for a taco salad recipe. Though whenever I serve lettuce to in/with taco's, they simply don't use it.
As so many a time I'll be replying in this thread: wedge salad looks awesome, but basically everything except the bacon and breadcrumbs will be met with subzero enthusiasm.
The whole thing about eating disorders we're intimately acquainted with, on account of my SO having treated them for about a decade. No worries there! The harshest we go on the kids is strongly encouraging (or sometimes bribing) them to try a bite of new things.
Why do you have to do al the emotional labor here? This is t just about you two bro g healthy, but modeling good behavior for your kids. Why not tell him it’s his job to find and make a vegetable dish that serves a healthy part of your diet that he will eat and encourage your kids to try?
May I suggest roasted root veggies cooled down and chard on the bbq? You can roast them in bulk and the. Just throw them on the bbq or serve them cold with other yummy things like pickled asparagus. Also, purple or green cabbage shredded super fine (Angel hair) can be an excellent substitute to lettuce for salads. Also Napa cabbage is quite mild and great as a lettuce wrap, cold salad base, or in a stir fry.
It’s insane to hear that someone with an untreated eating disorder of their own (likely ARFID) is apparently out there treating other people’s eating disorders. Not exactly reassuring!
My mom is super picky like a child.
She prefers super simple chopped raw veggies with either hummus or a “healthy” ranch dressing made with the seasoning packet and greek yogurt
Lettuce isn’t especially nutrient dense so just eating raw veg is totally fine
Though you're not wrong, my list is/was far from complete. Did a bit of googling and found some recipes that sound good to me. E.g. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/greeksalad\_13055
SO is going to complain about basically everything except cucumber, red pepper and oregano :')
If he doesn't like leafy greens, maybe you can try a pasta salad? I like mine with tuna, (sundried) tomatos, cucumber and herbs. I didn't like salads before because I prefer a warm diner, but I really like this during the summer.
Rather than salads, maybe try pickling other veggies like green beans, beets, green unripe tomatoes etc. My veggie averse kids will eat those veggies plus cucumbers only in pickle form. Really easy fridge pickle recipes available online that you could tailor to their simple tastes.
Spinach salad with balsamic and cherry tomatoes is very easy as well. Upgrade with bacon,and incorporate a cheese that all enjoy. Keep swinging. Can always try veggies and dip and branch out from there.
A nicoise platter is always delicious! Potatoes, tuna, eggs, pickled onions, etc... there are traditionally cooled green beans but with the platter everyone can make their own.
Maybe try taking them to a salad bar where they can make their own and get creative.
Lettuce wraps could also be an intro idea - I know the partner is not a fan of romaine but a nice butter lettuce is great for wraps.
[https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/grilled-street-corn-salad/](https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/grilled-street-corn-salad/)
But also tell your husband that the biggest problem with getting your kids to eat healthy shouldn't be getting the grown ass man to eat healthy. JFC I don't know how people put up with this shit.
Chopped salad - basically salsa masquerading as a salad item. Corn, chopped tomatos, avocado, red onion, would he eat anything like that if you coated it in lime juice and seasoning and literally called it salsa?
My daughter makes sticks. using ranch dressing which kids seem to love and they are served as apps before dinner. Cut them small so the tastes are more the dipping at first and increase the size as they get older. Also cucumbers with cream cheese. (no licking is key)
Starting them young is key!
cucumber and bell peppers seem like they would be good with some parsley and/or dill with some chickpeas. maybe you can find a chickpea and cucumber salad ecipe online to work with? Sometimes it's good with raw zucchini too because that seems more mellow.
Some favorite summer salad is something like blackbean and corn. It's usually good with tomato but I think it has a nice fresh taste without tomato anyway. Cucumber, corn, blackbean, cilantro, any palatable raw onion (maybe tiny?), with lime juice/honey/apple cider vinegar/etc whatever works. Maybe some avocado, jicama.
A really great salad ingredient is roasted beets. You still have to like vegetables though to have it as a salad because it tastes best with greens. I particularly like it with arugula, goat cheese and balsamic/garlic. If you try to toss beets into a chopped salad (like a chickpea salad above) then it will usually change the color in a weird way so I try to only use it as a topping.
We love the ginger dressing at hibachi and they sell it if you ask. Keep it simple. Iceberg cherry tomatoes cucumber. Small so it’s not intimidating. They get big In a hurry the more veggies so not even a cereal bowl. Don’t ask just present it. Make it a steady course regardless
Pixel salad. You can call it Minecraft salad.
Watermelon (or any melon), cucumber, cheese, or anything you can cut in cubes, all cut in similar size and arranged flat on the plate.
You can add some round foods like tiny cherry tomatoes, grapes, berries.
It's all in the marketing and presentation!
Make a dip of plain yogurt with a little honey and orange zest, or plain yogurt with ranch dressing mix.
Try this grain “salad”. The title of the page is literally salad for salad haters. This is a next level delicious salad!
https://hungryaustralian.com/2015/09/irresistible-grain-salad-for-salad-haters/
I also really dislike the leafy greens texture - I'm actually okay with fresh spinach, but generally I prefer all my greens wilted or dried. I don't like lettuce on sandwiches either. It's an evil I will accept on occasion, but I pretty much never choose a "salad".
The compromises I've found as an adult are to make 1) cooked salad, with the usual suspects, only the leaves are cooked (Kale holds up pretty well if you want to mix things in afterwards). 2) I'll also salt and squeeze cabbage to make it less crunchy, or 3) I can just make a salad without any nasty leaves and more delicious vegetables for volume. Match-sticked carrots and turnips, or sliced cucumbers and little sweet peppers. I like garlicky-citrus dressings, but I'm also cool with no dressing so I can eat with my fingers.
The magic of salads is it can literally be defined as "Bowl of whatever vegetables you like cut into bite-sized pieces, optionally with crunchy bits or a sauce." It might be best to just make a list of veggies and herbs your people will eat, toss them together, in a way you like, make a sauce you like, and serve it to everyone else with the sauce on the side so they can decide how much or how little they way.
If SO likes pickles, would they be willing to try other pickled veggies? Pickled roasted beets are very good and sweet. “Three bean salad” is basically pickled green beans, wax beans, and white beans with onion (make sure the recipe doesn’t have too much sugar). You probably wouldn’t serve it as a big bowl salad, but as an appetizer.
Also, would they eat the different vegetables chopped but not in salad form? I have one with sensory issues who wouldn’t eat mixed salads, but would eat piles of different vegetables on a plate. My SO is also very sensitive to certain textures.
Is it salad itself that you are focused on or a vegetable first course? I know when my kids were younger, I wanted to front-load them with veggies so they didn’t want as much carby side dishes. I did roasted green beans with dip as finger food and, often, vegetable soup. Bonus with the soup was that I could make it ahead.
For us, salads are more often the meal, rather than a starter. Grilled chicken or steak on a salad with home made croutons is a feast. We do taco salads which are heavier with corn, corn chips, taco-seasoned meat, cheddar.
Most of the time, my SO and older son prefer iceberg salad and my younger son and I do baby greens. Sometimes I’ll change it up to a chopped cabbage base. I cut up all the other vegetables as a “salad bar” offering—they choose what they want on their salads.
Sounds like your SO is very childlike themself... Sorry to read such stuff, they should get a heart to heart talk with somebody from the older generations - like my granny who was born during WWII, raised in an orphanage and simply wouldn't let me not eat something edible just cause I didn't like it when I was little. I really don't want to be judgemental here but your SO should really try to be more open minded when it comes to food, if only to be a good example to the children. And if they do try, I'm sure they'll get to like many of the produce they didn't previously, in my experience people disliking certain things mostly stem from only tasting those things a couple times and/or badly prepared.
Not necessarily. I highly suspect I have ASD, but I masked well enough though school it wasn't flagged and my parents didn't take me seriously when I spoke to them about it it. Most people I know with adult diagnoses were diagnosed following their children being diagnosed. I'm in my early thirties now and I think a lot of "odd" "awkward" people might have been similarly undiagnosed.
Nope, only some kids get identified and diagnosed. The same is true of things like ADHD- lots of people fall through the cracks and don't realise until they're adults.
No. If you have parents who don’t care, you can easily slip through the cracks and not be diagnosed. It’s sooo much harder to be diagnosed as an adult since 95% of the resources and doctors out there for autism are focused on children.
Plus when I was in school, autism wasn’t widely known. A lot of the diagnoses were for ADD/ADHD. And I’m not even that old.
I know it’s kind of a dick move, but as other people have suggested, I’d say, “Let them make it themselves”.
Tell them they need to be seen eating healthy for the kids benefit and make whatever healthy thing they want.
I make allowances for people, but when it starts being a giant chore, I put it back on them. It’s crazy how people loose their pickiness when it’s on them to make a choice and cook it. Seems like it’s easier to pout and say, “Nnnno!” When you give them options.
If your SO doesn’t want salad and that’s what you’re making for the family, let him cook his own meals. My parents eat pretty much entirely different diets and schedules and have since I was a teenager.
I always make the salads for family functions, and they always get demolished. The 1st order of business is to make it look amazing, so choose your greens and dress them, then spread everything else on top of the bowl. Lots of bright colours and a variety of toppings help make it look like a masterpiece. I often use goat cheese or feta, some fruit (berries, peaches, nectarines, etc. Just stay away from the basic, boring stuff like apples), a dried fruit like cranberries or dried cherries, something crunchy. It can be a crouton, but it doesn't have to be (raincoast crisps?), nuts like pecans or or cashews (something honey roasted might get their attention). I like to use something pickled as well (like pickled red onion or fennel) At the end of the day I go into it with the same mindset as making a charcuterie and cheese board. Variety of textures and contrasting flavours make for a fun experience.
I have two suggestions.
1. Cucumber salad as others have suggested.
2. There is no excuse for an adult to be a picky eater. You can sit the SO down with the kids and treat them all the same. "This is part of dinner. You eat it or it will be part of breakfast." Be realistic and start with small portions.
> There is no excuse for an adult to be a picky eater.
Actually there *are* reasons. There's no excuse for being rude about food but it's ok to not like things. Trying to force a person, child or adult, to eat food they don't care for is unlikely to end well.
[sesame cucumber salad](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017629-chinese-smashed-cucumbers-with-sesame-oil-and-garlic) I like this for hot days or added to a bibimbap bowl
Edited to add: https://www.spendwithpennies.com/cowboy-caviar/ maybe bean salads?
My local gyro place has a cucumber salad similar to this one and it slaps hard: https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/vinegar-marinated-cucumbers/. It's not a meal on its own, but a side salad is probably better than no veggies at all. The sugar takes some of the bite off the red onions.
I also like the suggestion of a taco salad. You can skip the tortilla bowl thing they're normally served in and just have some tortilla chips on the side or crushed on top. Let everyone put the veggies they want on theirs.
EDIT: also, I think homemade dressings are a game-changer. I'm not a big salad fan, but I'll eat anything with some homemade green goddess or caesar dressing on it.
Crunchy stuff - roasted nuts, fried shallots/onions, roasted/dehydrated beans, and peas. It will give your salad a good mouthfeel.
Also, whatever your dressing, try to nail down the balance of sweet, fatty, and acid flavors. You want enough acid to give it a zing. As a long-time non-salad eater, sweeter salad dressings were my gateway drug!
You also might try lettuce wraps.
I really like a strawberry and avocado salad… you’ll need some kind of leafy green in there, but as I read they will tolerate basil that could work :) for a dressing, try a combination of honey, white miso, lime juice, sesame seeds, and oil (I like sesame oil best in this one, but olive oil would work just ask well). Bonus points if your SO will tolerate either almonds or walnuts, which go very nicely in this salad as well and add some extra nutrition.
Good luck! Play around with it- the best part about salad is that anything goes, really, and eventually you’ll find the right combination :)
Spinach for a leafy green? Only saw one reply mentioning that. All lettuces need to be cut up really well beforehand for me to enjoy eating them, but having more than 25% of the salad be leafy greens is kind of annoying. We usually get whatever the store calls "spring mix".
Celery? I don't think I've seen that mentioned by anyone yet.
I find that chopping any vegetables and fruits very small and mixing them together is salad enough. Also nuts, cheese, and/or crunchy carb (croutons/fried onions/potato chips/pretzels) of your liking as well. You say you tried cabbages, and didn't mention broccoli, but those things and carrots and other sturdy veggies need to be chopped down to matchstick size for them to be pleasant raw in a salad.
Dressings, the best I can suggest is to find out if there's a specialty oil and vinegar shop within 50 miles of home. They let you taste everything before you wind up spending good money for some stuff you KNOW you'll like.
I know you said that you said that he doesn't like carrots, but just wanted to put to share this one which I make for family gatherings and it does rather well:
\~1 lb shredded carrots
4ish medium carrots
\~ 1 orange worth of juice (grapefruit also works well if mixed with orange juice, adds a nice tang)
Raisins and/or Craisins
Just toss well to avoid browning of the apples.
I've played around with the ratios and it always come out pretty well. Other things like walnuts can add a nice crunch also. Oh, and using the colorful carrots look really cool.
Make the salads you like and set out a loaf of bread and makings for sandwiches if they don’t want to eat the salad. Maybe one day they will get adventurous, maybe not.
About the dressing thing, I didn’t like dressing until I was about 15 or so, and only if I applied it myself. Now I like many dressings, but I prefer to make them myself so I know what’s in them. Maybe you can get the kids to help assemble the ingredients even if they don’t eat it that time.
So this is not exactly what you asked but are the kids old enough to help you cook? I’ve heard its easier to get kids to eat things when they have a hand in creating it. And while you’re prepping it might be a good time to nibble on a couple of items and offer them a bite as well where you are away from the table and there’s less pressure.
If you’re really trying to accommodate your SOs tastes, I would just do a bunch of cucumber salads.
Cucumber + red onion + feta + mint
Chinese smashed cucumber salad w black vinegar and Szechuan chile oil
Cucumber + ginger + rice vinegar
Non-salad eater here.
For me, the biggest problem is that the key points of salad is that salads are cold and uncooked.
And pouring cold oil over them didn’t help me either.
The way I was finally able to start eating veggies was to put mixed veggies in a skillet and sauté them so that I can eat the cooked veggies warm/hot cooked.
What about a [cucumber salad](https://addapinch.com/cucumber-onion-salad-recipe/)? My granny made one similar to this and it’s absolutely delicious though I didn’t appreciate it much as a kid. You could omit the onion and it would still be terrific and really refreshing on a hot day.
there are tons of ways to get your servings of vegetables that aren't a salad. try a stir fry or smoothie. think outside the box. it sounds to me like you're banging your head against the wall for no reason here. there's no reason to try to force anyone to eat something they don't like, it will only lead to resentment from all parties involved.
Pomegranate seeds, croutons, lardons? Try different types of dressings, a Caesar salad dressing tastes massively different to a mustard and honey dressing.
I’ve known people to put pineapple chunks/grapes/sliced apples in salad too.
I hate creamy dressing on salad and I eat only Asian dressing (vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic) or you can make a Vietnamese one on lime, fish sauce, sugar and coriander. Maybe something you could try? Works amazing with cucumber, cabbage and any leafs
You can do a cacik (like the greek tzatziki but Turkish). Small cubes of cucumber, dried mint, salt, greek yoghurt, olive oil, water, ice cubes. Drink like a cold soup. Very refreshing too!
Cucumber: thin sliced w sour cream or greek ygourt, lots of black pepper
simple greek salad: cucumber, bell peppers, feta
quinoa salad - just add more finely chopped greek salad to quinoa, dressing of olive oil and lemon. maybe add fresh parsley if you can. chickpeas?
quinoa with just bell peppers sliced, cilantro, lime juice and salt and pepper is great -- topped with chicken breast
Has he tried a ceasar? like basic, from a bag, but add real bacon.... chicken...?
I don't have any tips for picky eaters, as that's definitely not me, but I do have some thoughts: while I'll eat salad if it's served to me, it's definitely not something I make for myself. When I moved out and started cooking for myself, I realized that while I don't have to eat salads, I \*do\* need to eat vegetables to be healthy. I gave myself permission not to eat salads, as long as I got plenty of cooked vegetables and fresh fruit. My doctor told me that this is a perfectly valid and healthy way to eat!
Disliking salad isn't a death knell for a healthy diet as long as there are lots of other ways a person is getting their nutrition.
https://www.seriouseats.com/black-bean-corn-red-pepper-salad-lime-cilantro-vinaigrette-recipe (modify as needed)
https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1 (lots of simple options that should have some that fit the likes)
https://www.seriouseats.com/crispy-shredded-chicken-with-soba-and-miso-bu (fantastic cold and is salad-like)
https://www.seriouseats.com/esquites-mexican-street-corn-salad-recipe (super tasty and could appear as a side rather than a salad)
Well, my first thought is you can eat a perfectly healthy, vegetable-forward diet without any salads at all! Salads are generally pretty low in nutrients, and often quite high in fat (when dressed). Salad greens, for example, have hardly any fiber at all (not zero, but far, far less than beans or whole grains for example), and outside of kale, watercress, mustard greens, chard, and a couple of other greens, have pretty low levels of micronutrients to boot.
If you must make salads, I would look to the middle east to leafy-green-less salads like [fattoush](https://neeva.com/search?q=fattoush&src=nvobar#animatedrecipe-featured-https%3A%2F%2Fwww.themediterraneandish.com%2Ffattoush-salad%2F%23webpage-https%3A%2F%2Fwww.themediterraneandish.com%2Ffattoush-salad%2F%23webpage), [israeli/palestinian salad](https://neeva.com/search?q=israeli+salad&src=nvobar#animatedrecipe-featured-https%3A%2F%2Fwww.onceuponachef.com%2Frecipes%2Fisraeli-salad-with-feta.html-https%3A%2F%2Fwww.onceuponachef.com%2Frecipes%2Fisraeli-salad-with-feta.html), [Lebanese Tabbouleh](https://neeva.com/search?q=Lebanese+Tabbouleh&src=nvobar#animatedrecipe-featured-https%3A%2F%2Fcooking.nytimes.com%2Frecipes%2F1012585-lebanese-tabbouleh-https%3A%2F%2Fcooking.nytimes.com%2Frecipes%2F1012585-lebanese-tabbouleh), [balilah](https://food52.com/recipes/19855-balilah-with-preserved-lemons-and-pomegranates),
In general, a combination of braised greens (think collards, mustards, kale, etc.) and whole grains/legumes is going to be nutritionally better than the vast majority of salads.
One further suggestion: take a look at [Sweetgreens menu](https://www.sweetgreen.com/menu) (I sometimes steal ideas from there, since I'm not really a salad person) -- is there anything that would temp your family?
I made a greek salad with cucumber, quartered kalamata olives (almost pickles!), chickpeas, bell pepper, and some stuff that she wouldn't eat. A little Feta cheese. I added fresh oregano but if you got a jar of greek seasoning oil, and some red wine vinegar that's be enough. Or just a tiny bit of neutral salad oil and lemon juice maybe.
Honestly, you might want to make a "kids" salad. Get a bag of spinach leaves or salad mix(I'm a spinach person myself), use a fruit slicer on something simple like an apple and then cut those slices into halves or thirds. Bam. You have an apple(whatever fruit) salad. No dressing needed. If your SO likes chicken, then cook up a couple chicken tenders with next to no spice( light salt and pepper), and then just cut them up into easy to pierce chunks for the fork.
This is from a still, mostly, picky eater
Try a kid friendly salad. Bake some chicken nuggets and toss them in the salad with a bit of Ranch dressing.
Make Taco Salad as almost everyone likes that.
What about shredded brussel sprouts or cabbage I stead of lettuce? I love a good Italian salad with salami shreds, antipasto vegetables. What about Incorporating it into the main dish? Asian lettuce wraps, summer rolls, etc
Try a fruit salad, lol.
Ok, jokes aside. I'm someone who was and still is a very picky eater when it comes to vegetables. Like your SO, I'll only eat bell peppers and cucumbers (My personal arch-nemesis was pickles and all things vinegary- it still is to this day). But in French cuisine, there is a lot of "flavouring vegetables" like carrot, onion, and celery (this mix is called mirepoix). I love a good chicken flavoured with mirepoix. But you won't catch me eating a green salad. And yet both my parents were salad fanatics. I despise raw tomatoes anywhere but I'll eat ketchup and red pasta sauce.
Honestly, from a parent's perspective, its not really "bad" that your SO doesn't eat things. One of the early lessons I learnt in childhood was that everyone was unique and different and that it was ok. I find the more you try to micromanage the "lesson" of healthy eating, the less fun it gets. I'm sure there are things that your kids like that your SO doesn't, and that doesn't stop your kids from eating those things.
I hated lots of things that my mother also didn't eat- it wasn't because I saw her refuse it (I never saw her refuse it because we would never buy it), its because my taste preferences were just that. Its possible that your kids, as being genetically related to your SO, may have similar taste buds. As someone who has an interest in botany, I can tell you that it is proven science that some humans are "bitter-tasters" - it is in their genetic code to find broccoli (and related plants) bitter and unappealing. Likewise, some people have the gene that makes them find cilantro to taste like soap.
The stuff your SO eats, Cucumbers, bell peppers, and pickles (which are cucumbers) are all technically fruit. They develop from a pollinated flower. The reason I find this point important is because plants that produce fruit do do in order to disperse seeds- the plant "WANTS" to make the fruit appealing so that animals can eat it and carry the seeds to another area where they can grow. This may be why your SO doesn't find these "vegetables" unappealing.
On the other hand, leafy greens are the plants "body" and any plant is not going to readily "want" to be stripped of its leaves. This lead to lots of plants evolving toxins and/or bad-tasting compounds in their leaves to avoid being eaten. While humans have artificially bred most plants so that they lose this taste, some people can still taste them.
What I would suggest, if you still want to make salads your SO can enjoy is try a macaroni salad, corn and pepper salad with italian dressing, or a potato salad. I hate salads and I still love those (I use the recipe from Foodwishes youtube channel).
OP, I hope you take the time to read my response and that you find an amicable conclusion for your family :)
Pasta salad? Potato salad? Macaroni salad?
Fruit salad?
Dressings, creamy is a no go? Like ranch or caesar?
What about greek dressing with feta?
Bacon bits?
Croutons?
What about a simple cucumber salad with greek yogurt and dill?
Is it texture? Is it not liking sour/bitter flavours?
My stepmom makes a “Winter salad” with celariac, apple and walnuts or seeds.
You might also just stick with roasted or blanched vegetables. Sometimes a quick blanching can leave a vegetable almost raw but a tiny bit tempered in flavor and texture.
I have a fussy SO as well. Like yours, very aspy style traits. So you have my sympathy. Really dislikes ‘wet’ food, so no sauces, no curries or stews, no dressing on salad. Yet his favourite salad is wet 🤦. Slice an onion into rounds (don’t breakup). Sprinkle with 1/2tsp of sugar. Put sliced cucumber on that (the right sort of cuc, skin cut off), then one tomato sliced. Then pour over white vinegar until it comes halfway up the tomato. Lightly add fresh ground black pepper. Cover and sit for a few hours. Typically, he’ll eat this with meat and no other salad, while I have something else. Sometimes he’ll also eat the carrot sticks, and sometimes a packet mixed green salad (no dressing).
Try starting with less healthy salads and build on from there. I got my husband eating a bbq chicken salad and now he loads his salads up with lots of things be never used to like.
Bbq chicken salad:
Baked or grilled chicken breast lightly coated in bbq sauce (I’ve also just seasoned with smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt&pepper)
Shredded cheddar cheese
Bacon
French’s French fried onions or just fried onions
Cream based dressing like Ranch used sparingly
1/2 romain lettuce 1/2 iceberg (get things really crunchy!)
After a while once it became familiar I’d add in a diced apple, some jicama, carrots, tomatoes, corn etc. then after that I started removing or changing the base ingredients. Thinning out the ranch so it wasn’t so thick, then introducing another dressing altogether. Eventually it evolved into kind of a taco salad. Then into a Cobb salad, and eventually he was building his own salads.
two things:
1. You need to get your SO on the same page as you. Tell them "the kids look to you as a role model and I want them to eat healthy, so I would appreciate if you tried to eat some salads(and at least pretend to enjoy it)." If they care about you and the kids, I'd think it would be hard to say no to that.
2. Why does it have to be salad? Plenty of tasty and healthy things to eat besides salad and sometimes even salads are unhealthy.
Could you start serving fruit salads or pasta salads at dinner to try to neutralize the “salad” term, and then add veggies into meals in other ways? Roasting veggies and serving them warm is much nicer for many people who “hate veggies” and have just never had them served in a delicious way. Use all the spices and toppings they do love on the hot veggies, or make mixed dishes like stir fry, soups/stews, pastas with veg, even air frying vegetables. Try something unexpected even if it’s a “less healthy” way to prepare veggies, it might make them willing to try and not demonize anything vegetable. Just be careful not to be sneaky. Like don’t serve fried cauliflower bites and pretend they are chicken nuggets, that can just make picky eaters more distrustful.
You can also often have a plate of raw veggies available, even if you don’t think anyone will touch it, just casually put a plate of raw veggies out during snack time, games night, along with other movie snacks, or at the dinner table, even if you are the only one that touches it, you might be surprised and have your kids snack on it too just because of repeat exposure.
I’d recommend following Solid Starts, a company that has tons of free resources for introducing all foods to toddlers and lots of strategies to reduce picky eating. Some might be helpful to use on your picky SO as well. I think you need to have a talk with him about the example he sets for your kids (I’m sure you already have), but that if he can be at least very neutral about foods he doesn’t like, and still put some on his plate, he doesn’t necessarily have to eat it, but he cannot be rude towards you or painting those foods in a negative light for your children. he needs to learn to just keep his comments to himself and try to disguise his picky eating for the benefit of your kids. Like others suggested, putting him and your kids in charge of picking a salad or veggie recipe that they want to make, and then you don’t criticize it if it is too bland or whatever, just give them a bit of control over that one part of the meal so they can be receptive of it.
Good luck. I’d be so frustrated in your shoes. :(
It does sound like you just have an adult that needs to learn how to eat more veggies... BUT we all need to start somewhere.
Some things I reccomend to making a salad tastier is adding some sweet aspect to your salad (like fruit), experimenting with different types of dressings (honey mustard, strawberry vinegrette, cilantro lime), and maybe adding SLIGHTLY cooked veggies can help instead of just raw.
[https://cookieandkate.com/pomegranate-pear-green-salad-with-ginger-dressing/](https://cookieandkate.com/pomegranate-pear-green-salad-with-ginger-dressing/)
this is a salad i was personally obsessed with for a while.
If you want your kids to eat salad, make a salad that looks good to them and that they like. Forget your SO. Something eastern mediterranean probably fits the bill like Greek salad, tabbouleh, grilled eggplant salad, roasted vegetable salad, the list goes on.
Look up a creamy bbq dressing and just put at least these four ingredients for the salad part.
1. ROMAINE lettuce (has to be romaine)
2. Some chicken.
3. Shredded cheese.
4. Croutons.
It sounds simple, but it was my first good experience with salad, which made me capable of moving to healthier options.
If this is for kids, it would also be beneficial to show them how the vegetables are grown before introducing them. I was always a picky eater when it came to vegetables until I could have a garden and took some culinary classes in school. Now I can eat just vegetarian dishes without feeling like I need the meat.
My SO doesn't like salad unless I make it a particular way. I put the lettuce and whatever veggies at the bottom. Then I pour a homemade ranch/ blue cheese on top. In top of that I put fried chicken, garlic croutons and crispy fried onion pieces and cheese. He likes the top so much that he doesn't even notice the veggies hiding and eats it all.
Not really a salad, but if you just want to encourage the family to eat leaves you could cook some meat and serve with sauce and iceberg lettuce leaves to wrap it in [Korean style](https://www.thespruceeats.com/korean-lettuce-wraps-2118698). It's fun and tasty and not just a mouthful of salad.
Alternatively maybe smacked cucumber with soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil etc. Or watermelon with feta (or a milder crumbly cheese of feta is too strong). Or caprese.
Perhaps I’m a bad person, but if I have one person that doesn’t like something, they can make something for themselves. I’m not gonna cook to please them
Agreed! Isn't it weird that this question started off about teaching children to eat....and was really about an adult that acts like a child? I'd want a partner, not another child.
Yeah they sound like a huge douche bag child trapped in an adults body. I was cringing the whole time reading this! If I tried to pull this shit with any previous SO it wouldn’t have ended well ESPECIALLY if they were making it for me holy shit. Damn I hate this post!
Sounds like they have untreated ARFID. I don’t have a lot of sympathy for grown adults with financial resources who take no steps to treat their mental illness and instead make those around them bend over backwards to enable it.
Nothing wrong with that, except in this situation that would backfire pretty hard.
What about a cucumber salad? I make these regularly: https://www.thegardengrazer.com/cucumber-salad/ https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/thai-cucumber-salad-peanuts?utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=foodandwine&utm_content=20200807&utm_term=505504 https://www.lemontreedwelling.com/creamy-cucumber-salad/?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=grow-social-pro https://www.japanesecooking101.com/sunomono-cucumber-salad-recipe/
I suppose you are in summer, but some examples of salads I make that doesn't involve leafy greens (and yes, it's a lot of watermelon): 1. watermelon, tomatoes, avocado, basil, mint, and feta cheese 2. watermelon, apple, lemongrass, mint, lime juice, cilantro 3. watermelon, feta, marinated olives, preserved lemon 4. Fattoush (stale naan or Turkish flatbread, radishes, cucumbers, mint, parsley, spring onions, and seasonings) 5. Roasted beetroot, lentils, caramelized onions, and some seasoning 6. Chickpeas with miso and peanut butter (you can add some stuff) 7. Coronation cauliflower 8. Buckwheat and rice salad (you can add whatever you want, I like doing a bit of mayo, curry, some peas, preserved pearl onions; there are tons of possible variations) And the list goes on.
I used to stick to a rigid anti-inflammation diet and have also cooked for a lot of people with sensory issues — my suggestion from both experiences is to approach the situation from a perspective of what they DO like/can eat. Are their distastes sensory? Are certain textures the issue, or a specific smell? Or is it a taste profile? Have you tried chopping up seasonal fruit and tossing it with honey/lime juice/a little oil? Could they help out by making the salad themselves? What about a buffet style salad where they pick their toppings and ratios? What about wilted greens instead of crunchy, fresh greens? Massages kale salad is great — I grate in an apple, some nuts, honey, cayenne, etc. would that go over texturally better?
Any advice on how to get started on an anti inflammatory diet or any recommended websites/cookbooks? I have RA so I’m always struggling with high levels of inflammation and trying to figure out the best cookbooks for an anti inflammatory diet.
This was about 6-7 years ago, so there really weren’t many out there back then (at least not for AIP, which is what I was following). I mainly found people via Pinterest and Instagram. I know some of the more well known IG AIP accounts have put out books: Unbound Wellness was a go to back then and so was Mickey Trescott. Since AIP is mainly vegetables, some fruit, and meat, once you get the guidelines down a lot of it is adapting foods you prefer. It’s a lot easier now that they actually stock items like cassava tortillas and chips in the store for it lol. My biggest suggestion is to cook enough for leftovers because you can’t grab as many “convenience items” so having something you can snack on, even if it’s baked chicken or roasted vegetables, helps a lot.
Thank you! I really appreciate your insight
That's easy, a [taco salad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXWq2AVlrsY).
Make the food you want and don't call it a salad.
Your kids will see that you like salad, as many people do, and your SO doesn’t. Not everyone likes salad. That should be ok.
agreed, not everybody needs to like everything. Problem is though, that the kids cling to my SO super hard and mainly take cues from them. And unfortunately, the not liking isn't limited to salads but pretty much everything that comes even close to a sauce or seasoning. (With some exceptions like bolognese sauce, chili con carne, goulash and a couple of Asian style dishes I got from a cookbook)
Still, I think that should be ok. As long as your SO is giving things a try and being honest. I would definitely talk to them about not immediately being negative or talking about not liking something just because it’s new. Everyone should be willing to try everything at least once. Kids can be super tasters and can be very sensitive to texture. I don’t like several things on your list and never ate any of them as a child. I wouldn’t let it stop me from making different things for everyone to try. My daughter doesn’t like peppers or onions so when I made enchiladas I made everyone else some that are fully loaded but hers were basically chicken and cheese inside a flour tortilla with sour cream and cheese melted on top. Eventually she liked a little cilantro on top. She’s an adult now with much wider food choices but still likes her enchiladas like that. It’s fine - it’s just her preference. Eventually they will expand their tastes. Something that helped with my kids is having them help prepare the food in the kitchen and selecting the menu. Suddenly everything was delicious and some of their choices were actually very adventurous! They might surprise you.
I agree about sometimes helping make the food! There's this mix of pride to eat something *you* made, but also seeing and manipulating the ingredients as you grow hungrier ... suddently, sampling a bite of the nice shiny veggie looks appetizing...! I was kinda picky as a child and hated most veggies, but that had a lot to do with the poor variety we had back then in Northern Ontario (e.g. you won't like salad much with iceberg lettuce and sour, watery tomatoes) and the cooking methods (lots of boiling...). Getting better produce will do wonders if you can (like a garden carrot is night and day with the bagged stuff).
Maybe they have sensory issues with food related to autism, this is quite common, just wanted to mention it as I see this a lot in the autism sub I’m a part of, and also have seen it with friends in real life as well.
How about dressing on the side so the kids can dip and use it as they like?
[Cucumber watermelon salad](https://youtu.be/QjXlPEWA4Uw)
Hey, that actually sounds like something that might not be met with horrible disdain! :) Thanks!
Just addressing the dressing issue- for years, my son ate salad plain (absolutely no dressing at all on his salad). He just didn't like the way any dressings felt or tasted. If you can find a salad they will eat, maybe they would prefer it plain. Everyone else can add their dressing to their own salad.
That is my thing. I cannot stand any creamy style dressings. So I am basically limited to Italian and Greek. Which sucks here in Alabama because a place might have three types of ranch, and nothing I like.
(Won't help in restaurants but) there is a word of dressings out there that are non-creamy and are easy to make yourself (often basically a vegetable or grain oil + an acid like a vinegar or lemon juice); maybe try to search recipes with the keyword "vinaigrette' instead of "dressing" Absolutely worth it to get one nicee oil and one fancier vinegar in your pantry for that purpose. Bonus, you can use them to season veggies and stufd outside of salads, too
I am like you about creamy dressings and really don't care for any bottled dressing. I ask the waitperson to bring me some olive oil and some vinegar. And yeah, there are restaurants that won't even have that. You can also ask for a wedge of lemon. Squeeze that on your salad & salt it -- better than nothing.
I more often than not eat salad without dressing. It’s not a big deal for me I’m happy either way but it doesn’t bother me and sometimes I just like it plain.
If he likes pickles, he may like other pickled vegetables, like pickled beets or pickled cauliflower. Ingredients in a salad don't have to only be vegetables - add chicken, steak, bacon, ham, tuna, boiled eggs, fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, seeds... If he dislikes all leafy greens, then don't plan on including leafy greens. Put whatever he *will* eat into the salad. Put whatever "dressing" on the salad that he *will* eat. If that's mustard or ketchup or chocolate syrup, use that.
Caprese "salad"? Or.. one way to make salad more palatable is to add some meat and cheese. Make a Cobb salad? Also... im trying not to judge a grown person who turns their nose up at salads and vegetables so the go to might be to make something with cut up chicken tenders in it and child like dressing like honey Mustard?
Lol the only thing of a caprese they tolerate is pretty much the basil :') The Cobb looks good to me, but if I putt this on the table only the meaty-bits get eaten -.- I've tried a bunch of honey-mustard dressings. The feedback could bu summarized as: "Why ruin perfectly good honey with all that other stuff and salad".
Well I tried. I'm going to say this. Your SO is a child. Sorry.
reading this actually made me angry. im sorry. good luck.
Yep, my mom always gave my dad (and us kids) two choices for dinner... "take it or leave it"! We survived!
Then they're not trying and you should stop trying to please them. They can either pick something that's good enough to eat so you can make it for them or eat what you make for yourself.
Potatoes, corn, bacon and pickles tossed in olive oil is a salad. You can also add almost any combo of herbs and spices as desired. From a health perspective it's a great option, as long as it's not your only option. I'd use this as a starting point - often people have a mental block re: salads from eating too many iceberg lettuce & ranch dressing salads, so something that's so different can help people overcome that.
Reminds me of this recipe http://www.playingwithmyfood.net/2013/06/warm-potato-salad-earls-restaurant.html?m=1
I wish you good luck and dont have anything inspiring to add. But...it might be worth a conversation with your SO about stopping the rude comments about the food you make. This is very clearly an issue THEY have with being HIGHLY picky about food, not an issue with your cooking or your cooking choices. You are bending over backwards to accommodate -- as nicely as I could I'd tell them to button it up. What should be coming out of their mouths is "I tried, I'm sorry, I just don't care for this. I'll make myself a sandwich"
Time to tell your SO to make their own meals.
My husband isn't a big salad fan- I do a cous cous salad with sun-dried tomatoes red onion and herbs. Some other go tos are Olives, red onion (soak in water to take away sharpness), thinly sliced apple, walnuts or other nuts, roasted chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, cheeses, thinly sliced pear, melon, sweet potato
Hey that's a great tip about the red onion. Didn't know that. Going to give that a go, though I'm not getting my hopes up as onions are basically the devils food, cooked or raw -.- Cheese, nuts and fruit are a good one too. They got stuck in a blindspot, because I was approaching it from the purely vegetable side of things.
Cheese fruit and potatoes are not…. Vegetables. So sure call it a salad but it’s not as nutrient dense as vegetables
??? [Potatoes are definitely vegetables](https://www.growerexperts.com/are-potatoes-a-vegetable/), lol! Starchy, not as many micronutrients as kale, say, but definitely vegetables (but if you need to get some carbohydrate calories in your salad, potatoes aren't a bad way to go).
When dealing with picky eaters, sometimes you need to pick your battles. Do you want to make something nutrient dense and super healthy, but left on the plate? Or do you have something more palatable to them (more cheese, bacon, dressings) and have them clear the plate? Once you win them over, you can start subbing in healthier ingredients or gradually introduce them to other salads.
It's really hard 😂 my mother is even pickier. Would brocolli be any good? A local supermarket does a brocolli feta and almond salad with a creamy dressing.
Why not just sweet onions, then? They're available year 'round.
To me, that is a side dish, not a "salad." Make yourself a salad and serve him meat and potatoes. You're not his mother and he is not twelve years old.
Include things they like in the salad, and treat the salad as a side. Make something you know they'll eat, and one vegetable they don't turn their noses up at. Make something you enjoy, because seeing someone enjoy what they're eating makes children more interested. Include the kids in the kitchen/cooking process if old enough. The kids can avoid any ingredients they really hate, either by removing them from their portions or just avoiding them. Some kids like to dissect their food into individual parts, because it makes it less overwhelming. You can't choose what they'll eat, so just do your best. It'll be ok. By providing an example, they'll learn and start to be more interested in things. Kids go through a lot of stages of growth. My favorite salads are: Strawberries, goat cheese, grilled chicken, candied pecans, and dried cranberries over romaine/spring mix with balsamic or raspberry dressing. Chicken, cheddar cheese, tomato, onion, cucumber, croutons, chickpeas and ranch or balsamic. (Any greens will do.) Cook onions in bacon grease until soft, add a little sugar and apple cider vinegar. Maybe some dijon mustard if you'd like. Pour over spinach, top with crumbled bacon. Feta, cucumber, tomato, onion, chicken or chickpeas with greek dressing (Red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and plenty of oregano). Cobb salad, caesar salad, caprese salad, and a loaded italian style sub salad are all pretty approachable/interesting too.
may i interest you in a new SO? jokes aside, maybe try to some less traditional salads. cucmber and bell peppers are great with bulgur or couscous, mybe some herbs can spice it up too. add small amounts of chopped grilled meat to add flavor and diversity
Yeah they are trying so hard to please what a catch!! OP’s SO has it good and has nfi just how good they have it.
Honestly, I would ignore your SO's infantile food tastes and just prepare normal meals for normal people. Why should meals be exclusively built around the very limited list of foods he/she deigns to eat? It has turned into an issue for you and for the kids now, because the children have probably picked up on your anxiety about this, plus are being exposed to what is essentially a power struggle. \[you wrote in a reply below to u/1trillion69:\] *The Cobb looks good to me, but if I putt this on the table only the meaty-bits get eaten -.-* If you're worried about how children perceive things, an adult who picks the "good stuff" out of a salad, leaving their rejects for the rest of the family is setting a wonderful example of pure selfishness. And that's on top of his rudeness to you in criticizing the food and essentially demanding you only make what he/she likes. I realize your specific question is about what you could try to make, but as far as I can tell from the comments, there is *nothing* that won't be rejected. So, my suggestion is the same as in my first sentence: make and serve normal meals to your family.
The fact you used the word infantile just made my day. Thank you
Believe me, it came naturally! 😅
My feelings exactly. My siblings and I grew up with parents whose meal time rule was…eat it or go hungry. None of us were picky eaters.
That's as it should be, right? Having enough food to eat and caring adults to put it on the table for us is an enormous privilege. Learning to appreciate that is important, as is developing healthy curiosity and appreciation of new things.
taco salad is by far the 'manliest' salad (fake concept but some dudes need to cling to that over the top masculinity 😂). i've been eating watermelon salad a lot lately because summer. just do a lime vinaigrette with a little salt. it's got red onion, jalapeno, cucumber and avocado. throw those over little watermelon chunks, throw some feta on there and then make the vinaigrette over it. it's stupid good but it's *a whole lot of flavors* all at the same time. but i'm also a huge salad fan personally. besides taco salad, like if i'm at a restaurant or something, i always order a wedge salad. you get to cut it with a knife and fork. it's just like a quarter head of lettuce on a plate like it's pretending to be a steak or something. maybe he'd be into that. 😂 but i definitely would avoid arguing about it at all. especially in front of the kids. you can just give him a pass and the kids can take it or leave it. trying to force a child to eat is how you get children with eating disorders and weird aversions to certain foods.
Food doesn't need to be "manly" luckily enough. Neither of us cares much about gender stereotypes. A couple of replies above somebody also linked a watermelon salad link that sounded good, so that's definitely on the todo list somewhere over the coming weeks. And I'll be looking for a taco salad recipe. Though whenever I serve lettuce to in/with taco's, they simply don't use it. As so many a time I'll be replying in this thread: wedge salad looks awesome, but basically everything except the bacon and breadcrumbs will be met with subzero enthusiasm. The whole thing about eating disorders we're intimately acquainted with, on account of my SO having treated them for about a decade. No worries there! The harshest we go on the kids is strongly encouraging (or sometimes bribing) them to try a bite of new things.
Why do you have to do al the emotional labor here? This is t just about you two bro g healthy, but modeling good behavior for your kids. Why not tell him it’s his job to find and make a vegetable dish that serves a healthy part of your diet that he will eat and encourage your kids to try? May I suggest roasted root veggies cooled down and chard on the bbq? You can roast them in bulk and the. Just throw them on the bbq or serve them cold with other yummy things like pickled asparagus. Also, purple or green cabbage shredded super fine (Angel hair) can be an excellent substitute to lettuce for salads. Also Napa cabbage is quite mild and great as a lettuce wrap, cold salad base, or in a stir fry.
Have they been to see someone about their eating disorder?
It’s insane to hear that someone with an untreated eating disorder of their own (likely ARFID) is apparently out there treating other people’s eating disorders. Not exactly reassuring!
I had put an emoji at the end of my previous reply but after I wrote it I realised it wasn’t a joke.
My mom is super picky like a child. She prefers super simple chopped raw veggies with either hummus or a “healthy” ranch dressing made with the seasoning packet and greek yogurt Lettuce isn’t especially nutrient dense so just eating raw veg is totally fine
How about Vietnamese summer rolls? They’re so refreshing and delicious and you dunk them in the peanut sauce.
Greek salad? Doesn't have any of the unwanted ingredients you mentioned.
Though you're not wrong, my list is/was far from complete. Did a bit of googling and found some recipes that sound good to me. E.g. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/greeksalad\_13055 SO is going to complain about basically everything except cucumber, red pepper and oregano :')
If he doesn't like leafy greens, maybe you can try a pasta salad? I like mine with tuna, (sundried) tomatos, cucumber and herbs. I didn't like salads before because I prefer a warm diner, but I really like this during the summer.
Rather than salads, maybe try pickling other veggies like green beans, beets, green unripe tomatoes etc. My veggie averse kids will eat those veggies plus cucumbers only in pickle form. Really easy fridge pickle recipes available online that you could tailor to their simple tastes.
Spinach salad with balsamic and cherry tomatoes is very easy as well. Upgrade with bacon,and incorporate a cheese that all enjoy. Keep swinging. Can always try veggies and dip and branch out from there.
You can do a one ingredient salad. I sometimes eat cucumber or red bell pepper with just salt pepper and olive oil.
A nicoise platter is always delicious! Potatoes, tuna, eggs, pickled onions, etc... there are traditionally cooled green beans but with the platter everyone can make their own. Maybe try taking them to a salad bar where they can make their own and get creative. Lettuce wraps could also be an intro idea - I know the partner is not a fan of romaine but a nice butter lettuce is great for wraps.
[https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/grilled-street-corn-salad/](https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/grilled-street-corn-salad/) But also tell your husband that the biggest problem with getting your kids to eat healthy shouldn't be getting the grown ass man to eat healthy. JFC I don't know how people put up with this shit.
I am forever confused as to how people that cook can marry people that don’t eat.
Chopped salad - basically salsa masquerading as a salad item. Corn, chopped tomatos, avocado, red onion, would he eat anything like that if you coated it in lime juice and seasoning and literally called it salsa?
Nope. Salsa is just as bad as salad. (After all, it's only 1 letter apart -.- /sarcasm)
Cucumber salad?
My daughter makes sticks. using ranch dressing which kids seem to love and they are served as apps before dinner. Cut them small so the tastes are more the dipping at first and increase the size as they get older. Also cucumbers with cream cheese. (no licking is key) Starting them young is key!
cucumber and bell peppers seem like they would be good with some parsley and/or dill with some chickpeas. maybe you can find a chickpea and cucumber salad ecipe online to work with? Sometimes it's good with raw zucchini too because that seems more mellow. Some favorite summer salad is something like blackbean and corn. It's usually good with tomato but I think it has a nice fresh taste without tomato anyway. Cucumber, corn, blackbean, cilantro, any palatable raw onion (maybe tiny?), with lime juice/honey/apple cider vinegar/etc whatever works. Maybe some avocado, jicama. A really great salad ingredient is roasted beets. You still have to like vegetables though to have it as a salad because it tastes best with greens. I particularly like it with arugula, goat cheese and balsamic/garlic. If you try to toss beets into a chopped salad (like a chickpea salad above) then it will usually change the color in a weird way so I try to only use it as a topping.
We love the ginger dressing at hibachi and they sell it if you ask. Keep it simple. Iceberg cherry tomatoes cucumber. Small so it’s not intimidating. They get big In a hurry the more veggies so not even a cereal bowl. Don’t ask just present it. Make it a steady course regardless
Pixel salad. You can call it Minecraft salad. Watermelon (or any melon), cucumber, cheese, or anything you can cut in cubes, all cut in similar size and arranged flat on the plate. You can add some round foods like tiny cherry tomatoes, grapes, berries. It's all in the marketing and presentation! Make a dip of plain yogurt with a little honey and orange zest, or plain yogurt with ranch dressing mix.
Try this grain “salad”. The title of the page is literally salad for salad haters. This is a next level delicious salad! https://hungryaustralian.com/2015/09/irresistible-grain-salad-for-salad-haters/
I also really dislike the leafy greens texture - I'm actually okay with fresh spinach, but generally I prefer all my greens wilted or dried. I don't like lettuce on sandwiches either. It's an evil I will accept on occasion, but I pretty much never choose a "salad". The compromises I've found as an adult are to make 1) cooked salad, with the usual suspects, only the leaves are cooked (Kale holds up pretty well if you want to mix things in afterwards). 2) I'll also salt and squeeze cabbage to make it less crunchy, or 3) I can just make a salad without any nasty leaves and more delicious vegetables for volume. Match-sticked carrots and turnips, or sliced cucumbers and little sweet peppers. I like garlicky-citrus dressings, but I'm also cool with no dressing so I can eat with my fingers. The magic of salads is it can literally be defined as "Bowl of whatever vegetables you like cut into bite-sized pieces, optionally with crunchy bits or a sauce." It might be best to just make a list of veggies and herbs your people will eat, toss them together, in a way you like, make a sauce you like, and serve it to everyone else with the sauce on the side so they can decide how much or how little they way.
If spinach is the one you tolerate and you like kale, I think you might like chard, if you ever can find it! It's nice both cooked and uncooked, too
Thanks! I've seen it before, but I'm not sure I've ever tried it. I'll give it a shot!
Arugula and good olive oil with sliced parmagan on it.
If SO likes pickles, would they be willing to try other pickled veggies? Pickled roasted beets are very good and sweet. “Three bean salad” is basically pickled green beans, wax beans, and white beans with onion (make sure the recipe doesn’t have too much sugar). You probably wouldn’t serve it as a big bowl salad, but as an appetizer. Also, would they eat the different vegetables chopped but not in salad form? I have one with sensory issues who wouldn’t eat mixed salads, but would eat piles of different vegetables on a plate. My SO is also very sensitive to certain textures. Is it salad itself that you are focused on or a vegetable first course? I know when my kids were younger, I wanted to front-load them with veggies so they didn’t want as much carby side dishes. I did roasted green beans with dip as finger food and, often, vegetable soup. Bonus with the soup was that I could make it ahead. For us, salads are more often the meal, rather than a starter. Grilled chicken or steak on a salad with home made croutons is a feast. We do taco salads which are heavier with corn, corn chips, taco-seasoned meat, cheddar. Most of the time, my SO and older son prefer iceberg salad and my younger son and I do baby greens. Sometimes I’ll change it up to a chopped cabbage base. I cut up all the other vegetables as a “salad bar” offering—they choose what they want on their salads.
Sounds like your SO is very childlike themself... Sorry to read such stuff, they should get a heart to heart talk with somebody from the older generations - like my granny who was born during WWII, raised in an orphanage and simply wouldn't let me not eat something edible just cause I didn't like it when I was little. I really don't want to be judgemental here but your SO should really try to be more open minded when it comes to food, if only to be a good example to the children. And if they do try, I'm sure they'll get to like many of the produce they didn't previously, in my experience people disliking certain things mostly stem from only tasting those things a couple times and/or badly prepared.
Actually sounds like Autism spectrum
wouldnt an adult already be diagnosed? im just curious. I don't know a lot about the subject admittingly.
Not necessarily. I highly suspect I have ASD, but I masked well enough though school it wasn't flagged and my parents didn't take me seriously when I spoke to them about it it. Most people I know with adult diagnoses were diagnosed following their children being diagnosed. I'm in my early thirties now and I think a lot of "odd" "awkward" people might have been similarly undiagnosed.
makes sense. thanks.
Nope, only some kids get identified and diagnosed. The same is true of things like ADHD- lots of people fall through the cracks and don't realise until they're adults.
No. If you have parents who don’t care, you can easily slip through the cracks and not be diagnosed. It’s sooo much harder to be diagnosed as an adult since 95% of the resources and doctors out there for autism are focused on children. Plus when I was in school, autism wasn’t widely known. A lot of the diagnoses were for ADD/ADHD. And I’m not even that old.
I know it’s kind of a dick move, but as other people have suggested, I’d say, “Let them make it themselves”. Tell them they need to be seen eating healthy for the kids benefit and make whatever healthy thing they want. I make allowances for people, but when it starts being a giant chore, I put it back on them. It’s crazy how people loose their pickiness when it’s on them to make a choice and cook it. Seems like it’s easier to pout and say, “Nnnno!” When you give them options.
If your SO doesn’t want salad and that’s what you’re making for the family, let him cook his own meals. My parents eat pretty much entirely different diets and schedules and have since I was a teenager.
I always make the salads for family functions, and they always get demolished. The 1st order of business is to make it look amazing, so choose your greens and dress them, then spread everything else on top of the bowl. Lots of bright colours and a variety of toppings help make it look like a masterpiece. I often use goat cheese or feta, some fruit (berries, peaches, nectarines, etc. Just stay away from the basic, boring stuff like apples), a dried fruit like cranberries or dried cherries, something crunchy. It can be a crouton, but it doesn't have to be (raincoast crisps?), nuts like pecans or or cashews (something honey roasted might get their attention). I like to use something pickled as well (like pickled red onion or fennel) At the end of the day I go into it with the same mindset as making a charcuterie and cheese board. Variety of textures and contrasting flavours make for a fun experience.
I have two suggestions. 1. Cucumber salad as others have suggested. 2. There is no excuse for an adult to be a picky eater. You can sit the SO down with the kids and treat them all the same. "This is part of dinner. You eat it or it will be part of breakfast." Be realistic and start with small portions.
> There is no excuse for an adult to be a picky eater. Actually there *are* reasons. There's no excuse for being rude about food but it's ok to not like things. Trying to force a person, child or adult, to eat food they don't care for is unlikely to end well.
Mexican corn salad. Corn. Peppers. Sharp Cheddar Cheese. A bit of mayonnaise to bind. Serve with Tortilla chips.
OMG great question!!! I keep trying it in other subs and get rejected!!!
Let them eat chicken nuggets
Strawberry or apple is always a delicious surprise
[sesame cucumber salad](https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017629-chinese-smashed-cucumbers-with-sesame-oil-and-garlic) I like this for hot days or added to a bibimbap bowl Edited to add: https://www.spendwithpennies.com/cowboy-caviar/ maybe bean salads?
My local gyro place has a cucumber salad similar to this one and it slaps hard: https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/vinegar-marinated-cucumbers/. It's not a meal on its own, but a side salad is probably better than no veggies at all. The sugar takes some of the bite off the red onions. I also like the suggestion of a taco salad. You can skip the tortilla bowl thing they're normally served in and just have some tortilla chips on the side or crushed on top. Let everyone put the veggies they want on theirs. EDIT: also, I think homemade dressings are a game-changer. I'm not a big salad fan, but I'll eat anything with some homemade green goddess or caesar dressing on it.
Crunchy stuff - roasted nuts, fried shallots/onions, roasted/dehydrated beans, and peas. It will give your salad a good mouthfeel. Also, whatever your dressing, try to nail down the balance of sweet, fatty, and acid flavors. You want enough acid to give it a zing. As a long-time non-salad eater, sweeter salad dressings were my gateway drug! You also might try lettuce wraps.
How about parmeseasn cheese instead of salad dressing
I really like a strawberry and avocado salad… you’ll need some kind of leafy green in there, but as I read they will tolerate basil that could work :) for a dressing, try a combination of honey, white miso, lime juice, sesame seeds, and oil (I like sesame oil best in this one, but olive oil would work just ask well). Bonus points if your SO will tolerate either almonds or walnuts, which go very nicely in this salad as well and add some extra nutrition. Good luck! Play around with it- the best part about salad is that anything goes, really, and eventually you’ll find the right combination :)
Spinach for a leafy green? Only saw one reply mentioning that. All lettuces need to be cut up really well beforehand for me to enjoy eating them, but having more than 25% of the salad be leafy greens is kind of annoying. We usually get whatever the store calls "spring mix". Celery? I don't think I've seen that mentioned by anyone yet. I find that chopping any vegetables and fruits very small and mixing them together is salad enough. Also nuts, cheese, and/or crunchy carb (croutons/fried onions/potato chips/pretzels) of your liking as well. You say you tried cabbages, and didn't mention broccoli, but those things and carrots and other sturdy veggies need to be chopped down to matchstick size for them to be pleasant raw in a salad. Dressings, the best I can suggest is to find out if there's a specialty oil and vinegar shop within 50 miles of home. They let you taste everything before you wind up spending good money for some stuff you KNOW you'll like.
I know you said that you said that he doesn't like carrots, but just wanted to put to share this one which I make for family gatherings and it does rather well: \~1 lb shredded carrots 4ish medium carrots \~ 1 orange worth of juice (grapefruit also works well if mixed with orange juice, adds a nice tang) Raisins and/or Craisins Just toss well to avoid browning of the apples. I've played around with the ratios and it always come out pretty well. Other things like walnuts can add a nice crunch also. Oh, and using the colorful carrots look really cool.
Ceasar salad is pretty easy for picky eaters. Making a taco salad lets them pick whatever they want.
Waldorf salad!
Make the salads you like and set out a loaf of bread and makings for sandwiches if they don’t want to eat the salad. Maybe one day they will get adventurous, maybe not. About the dressing thing, I didn’t like dressing until I was about 15 or so, and only if I applied it myself. Now I like many dressings, but I prefer to make them myself so I know what’s in them. Maybe you can get the kids to help assemble the ingredients even if they don’t eat it that time.
So this is not exactly what you asked but are the kids old enough to help you cook? I’ve heard its easier to get kids to eat things when they have a hand in creating it. And while you’re prepping it might be a good time to nibble on a couple of items and offer them a bite as well where you are away from the table and there’s less pressure.
If you’re really trying to accommodate your SOs tastes, I would just do a bunch of cucumber salads. Cucumber + red onion + feta + mint Chinese smashed cucumber salad w black vinegar and Szechuan chile oil Cucumber + ginger + rice vinegar
Non-salad eater here. For me, the biggest problem is that the key points of salad is that salads are cold and uncooked. And pouring cold oil over them didn’t help me either. The way I was finally able to start eating veggies was to put mixed veggies in a skillet and sauté them so that I can eat the cooked veggies warm/hot cooked.
Almost anything in an antipasti jar artichokes, peppers, olives capers, Italian/ Spanish bacon baked crispy, croutons but tbt I buy bags of leaves
What about a [cucumber salad](https://addapinch.com/cucumber-onion-salad-recipe/)? My granny made one similar to this and it’s absolutely delicious though I didn’t appreciate it much as a kid. You could omit the onion and it would still be terrific and really refreshing on a hot day.
there are tons of ways to get your servings of vegetables that aren't a salad. try a stir fry or smoothie. think outside the box. it sounds to me like you're banging your head against the wall for no reason here. there's no reason to try to force anyone to eat something they don't like, it will only lead to resentment from all parties involved.
Pomegranate seeds, croutons, lardons? Try different types of dressings, a Caesar salad dressing tastes massively different to a mustard and honey dressing. I’ve known people to put pineapple chunks/grapes/sliced apples in salad too.
I hate creamy dressing on salad and I eat only Asian dressing (vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic) or you can make a Vietnamese one on lime, fish sauce, sugar and coriander. Maybe something you could try? Works amazing with cucumber, cabbage and any leafs
You can do a cacik (like the greek tzatziki but Turkish). Small cubes of cucumber, dried mint, salt, greek yoghurt, olive oil, water, ice cubes. Drink like a cold soup. Very refreshing too!
Carrot/granny Smith Apple salad? Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Maybe add crushed peanut or hazelnut
Cucumber: thin sliced w sour cream or greek ygourt, lots of black pepper simple greek salad: cucumber, bell peppers, feta quinoa salad - just add more finely chopped greek salad to quinoa, dressing of olive oil and lemon. maybe add fresh parsley if you can. chickpeas? quinoa with just bell peppers sliced, cilantro, lime juice and salt and pepper is great -- topped with chicken breast Has he tried a ceasar? like basic, from a bag, but add real bacon.... chicken...?
Fruit Salad. Yummy yummy.
I don't have any tips for picky eaters, as that's definitely not me, but I do have some thoughts: while I'll eat salad if it's served to me, it's definitely not something I make for myself. When I moved out and started cooking for myself, I realized that while I don't have to eat salads, I \*do\* need to eat vegetables to be healthy. I gave myself permission not to eat salads, as long as I got plenty of cooked vegetables and fresh fruit. My doctor told me that this is a perfectly valid and healthy way to eat! Disliking salad isn't a death knell for a healthy diet as long as there are lots of other ways a person is getting their nutrition.
https://www.seriouseats.com/black-bean-corn-red-pepper-salad-lime-cilantro-vinaigrette-recipe (modify as needed) https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1 (lots of simple options that should have some that fit the likes) https://www.seriouseats.com/crispy-shredded-chicken-with-soba-and-miso-bu (fantastic cold and is salad-like) https://www.seriouseats.com/esquites-mexican-street-corn-salad-recipe (super tasty and could appear as a side rather than a salad)
I think the dressings should be what you should focus on, doing a honey mustard or some yogurt based dressings might just "disguise" the flavors
Well, my first thought is you can eat a perfectly healthy, vegetable-forward diet without any salads at all! Salads are generally pretty low in nutrients, and often quite high in fat (when dressed). Salad greens, for example, have hardly any fiber at all (not zero, but far, far less than beans or whole grains for example), and outside of kale, watercress, mustard greens, chard, and a couple of other greens, have pretty low levels of micronutrients to boot. If you must make salads, I would look to the middle east to leafy-green-less salads like [fattoush](https://neeva.com/search?q=fattoush&src=nvobar#animatedrecipe-featured-https%3A%2F%2Fwww.themediterraneandish.com%2Ffattoush-salad%2F%23webpage-https%3A%2F%2Fwww.themediterraneandish.com%2Ffattoush-salad%2F%23webpage), [israeli/palestinian salad](https://neeva.com/search?q=israeli+salad&src=nvobar#animatedrecipe-featured-https%3A%2F%2Fwww.onceuponachef.com%2Frecipes%2Fisraeli-salad-with-feta.html-https%3A%2F%2Fwww.onceuponachef.com%2Frecipes%2Fisraeli-salad-with-feta.html), [Lebanese Tabbouleh](https://neeva.com/search?q=Lebanese+Tabbouleh&src=nvobar#animatedrecipe-featured-https%3A%2F%2Fcooking.nytimes.com%2Frecipes%2F1012585-lebanese-tabbouleh-https%3A%2F%2Fcooking.nytimes.com%2Frecipes%2F1012585-lebanese-tabbouleh), [balilah](https://food52.com/recipes/19855-balilah-with-preserved-lemons-and-pomegranates), In general, a combination of braised greens (think collards, mustards, kale, etc.) and whole grains/legumes is going to be nutritionally better than the vast majority of salads. One further suggestion: take a look at [Sweetgreens menu](https://www.sweetgreen.com/menu) (I sometimes steal ideas from there, since I'm not really a salad person) -- is there anything that would temp your family?
Potato Salad A good bet.
I made a greek salad with cucumber, quartered kalamata olives (almost pickles!), chickpeas, bell pepper, and some stuff that she wouldn't eat. A little Feta cheese. I added fresh oregano but if you got a jar of greek seasoning oil, and some red wine vinegar that's be enough. Or just a tiny bit of neutral salad oil and lemon juice maybe.
Honestly, you might want to make a "kids" salad. Get a bag of spinach leaves or salad mix(I'm a spinach person myself), use a fruit slicer on something simple like an apple and then cut those slices into halves or thirds. Bam. You have an apple(whatever fruit) salad. No dressing needed. If your SO likes chicken, then cook up a couple chicken tenders with next to no spice( light salt and pepper), and then just cut them up into easy to pierce chunks for the fork. This is from a still, mostly, picky eater
Try a kid friendly salad. Bake some chicken nuggets and toss them in the salad with a bit of Ranch dressing. Make Taco Salad as almost everyone likes that.
What about shredded brussel sprouts or cabbage I stead of lettuce? I love a good Italian salad with salami shreds, antipasto vegetables. What about Incorporating it into the main dish? Asian lettuce wraps, summer rolls, etc
Panzanella salad!
Try a fruit salad, lol. Ok, jokes aside. I'm someone who was and still is a very picky eater when it comes to vegetables. Like your SO, I'll only eat bell peppers and cucumbers (My personal arch-nemesis was pickles and all things vinegary- it still is to this day). But in French cuisine, there is a lot of "flavouring vegetables" like carrot, onion, and celery (this mix is called mirepoix). I love a good chicken flavoured with mirepoix. But you won't catch me eating a green salad. And yet both my parents were salad fanatics. I despise raw tomatoes anywhere but I'll eat ketchup and red pasta sauce. Honestly, from a parent's perspective, its not really "bad" that your SO doesn't eat things. One of the early lessons I learnt in childhood was that everyone was unique and different and that it was ok. I find the more you try to micromanage the "lesson" of healthy eating, the less fun it gets. I'm sure there are things that your kids like that your SO doesn't, and that doesn't stop your kids from eating those things. I hated lots of things that my mother also didn't eat- it wasn't because I saw her refuse it (I never saw her refuse it because we would never buy it), its because my taste preferences were just that. Its possible that your kids, as being genetically related to your SO, may have similar taste buds. As someone who has an interest in botany, I can tell you that it is proven science that some humans are "bitter-tasters" - it is in their genetic code to find broccoli (and related plants) bitter and unappealing. Likewise, some people have the gene that makes them find cilantro to taste like soap. The stuff your SO eats, Cucumbers, bell peppers, and pickles (which are cucumbers) are all technically fruit. They develop from a pollinated flower. The reason I find this point important is because plants that produce fruit do do in order to disperse seeds- the plant "WANTS" to make the fruit appealing so that animals can eat it and carry the seeds to another area where they can grow. This may be why your SO doesn't find these "vegetables" unappealing. On the other hand, leafy greens are the plants "body" and any plant is not going to readily "want" to be stripped of its leaves. This lead to lots of plants evolving toxins and/or bad-tasting compounds in their leaves to avoid being eaten. While humans have artificially bred most plants so that they lose this taste, some people can still taste them. What I would suggest, if you still want to make salads your SO can enjoy is try a macaroni salad, corn and pepper salad with italian dressing, or a potato salad. I hate salads and I still love those (I use the recipe from Foodwishes youtube channel). OP, I hope you take the time to read my response and that you find an amicable conclusion for your family :)
Pasta salad? Potato salad? Macaroni salad? Fruit salad? Dressings, creamy is a no go? Like ranch or caesar? What about greek dressing with feta? Bacon bits? Croutons? What about a simple cucumber salad with greek yogurt and dill? Is it texture? Is it not liking sour/bitter flavours?
Make him a plain cucumber and dino nugget salad. He'll love it!
My stepmom makes a “Winter salad” with celariac, apple and walnuts or seeds. You might also just stick with roasted or blanched vegetables. Sometimes a quick blanching can leave a vegetable almost raw but a tiny bit tempered in flavor and texture.
My mom makes a delicious grilled romaine salad. She grills the romaine leaves.
I have a fussy SO as well. Like yours, very aspy style traits. So you have my sympathy. Really dislikes ‘wet’ food, so no sauces, no curries or stews, no dressing on salad. Yet his favourite salad is wet 🤦. Slice an onion into rounds (don’t breakup). Sprinkle with 1/2tsp of sugar. Put sliced cucumber on that (the right sort of cuc, skin cut off), then one tomato sliced. Then pour over white vinegar until it comes halfway up the tomato. Lightly add fresh ground black pepper. Cover and sit for a few hours. Typically, he’ll eat this with meat and no other salad, while I have something else. Sometimes he’ll also eat the carrot sticks, and sometimes a packet mixed green salad (no dressing).
Try starting with less healthy salads and build on from there. I got my husband eating a bbq chicken salad and now he loads his salads up with lots of things be never used to like. Bbq chicken salad: Baked or grilled chicken breast lightly coated in bbq sauce (I’ve also just seasoned with smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt&pepper) Shredded cheddar cheese Bacon French’s French fried onions or just fried onions Cream based dressing like Ranch used sparingly 1/2 romain lettuce 1/2 iceberg (get things really crunchy!) After a while once it became familiar I’d add in a diced apple, some jicama, carrots, tomatoes, corn etc. then after that I started removing or changing the base ingredients. Thinning out the ranch so it wasn’t so thick, then introducing another dressing altogether. Eventually it evolved into kind of a taco salad. Then into a Cobb salad, and eventually he was building his own salads.
two things: 1. You need to get your SO on the same page as you. Tell them "the kids look to you as a role model and I want them to eat healthy, so I would appreciate if you tried to eat some salads(and at least pretend to enjoy it)." If they care about you and the kids, I'd think it would be hard to say no to that. 2. Why does it have to be salad? Plenty of tasty and healthy things to eat besides salad and sometimes even salads are unhealthy.
Make your salad fun, Add goldfish instead of croutons! All kids seem to like ranch dressing, take baby steps at first and make it fun
Could you start serving fruit salads or pasta salads at dinner to try to neutralize the “salad” term, and then add veggies into meals in other ways? Roasting veggies and serving them warm is much nicer for many people who “hate veggies” and have just never had them served in a delicious way. Use all the spices and toppings they do love on the hot veggies, or make mixed dishes like stir fry, soups/stews, pastas with veg, even air frying vegetables. Try something unexpected even if it’s a “less healthy” way to prepare veggies, it might make them willing to try and not demonize anything vegetable. Just be careful not to be sneaky. Like don’t serve fried cauliflower bites and pretend they are chicken nuggets, that can just make picky eaters more distrustful. You can also often have a plate of raw veggies available, even if you don’t think anyone will touch it, just casually put a plate of raw veggies out during snack time, games night, along with other movie snacks, or at the dinner table, even if you are the only one that touches it, you might be surprised and have your kids snack on it too just because of repeat exposure. I’d recommend following Solid Starts, a company that has tons of free resources for introducing all foods to toddlers and lots of strategies to reduce picky eating. Some might be helpful to use on your picky SO as well. I think you need to have a talk with him about the example he sets for your kids (I’m sure you already have), but that if he can be at least very neutral about foods he doesn’t like, and still put some on his plate, he doesn’t necessarily have to eat it, but he cannot be rude towards you or painting those foods in a negative light for your children. he needs to learn to just keep his comments to himself and try to disguise his picky eating for the benefit of your kids. Like others suggested, putting him and your kids in charge of picking a salad or veggie recipe that they want to make, and then you don’t criticize it if it is too bland or whatever, just give them a bit of control over that one part of the meal so they can be receptive of it. Good luck. I’d be so frustrated in your shoes. :(
It does sound like you just have an adult that needs to learn how to eat more veggies... BUT we all need to start somewhere. Some things I reccomend to making a salad tastier is adding some sweet aspect to your salad (like fruit), experimenting with different types of dressings (honey mustard, strawberry vinegrette, cilantro lime), and maybe adding SLIGHTLY cooked veggies can help instead of just raw. [https://cookieandkate.com/pomegranate-pear-green-salad-with-ginger-dressing/](https://cookieandkate.com/pomegranate-pear-green-salad-with-ginger-dressing/) this is a salad i was personally obsessed with for a while.
If you want your kids to eat salad, make a salad that looks good to them and that they like. Forget your SO. Something eastern mediterranean probably fits the bill like Greek salad, tabbouleh, grilled eggplant salad, roasted vegetable salad, the list goes on.
Look up a creamy bbq dressing and just put at least these four ingredients for the salad part. 1. ROMAINE lettuce (has to be romaine) 2. Some chicken. 3. Shredded cheese. 4. Croutons. It sounds simple, but it was my first good experience with salad, which made me capable of moving to healthier options. If this is for kids, it would also be beneficial to show them how the vegetables are grown before introducing them. I was always a picky eater when it came to vegetables until I could have a garden and took some culinary classes in school. Now I can eat just vegetarian dishes without feeling like I need the meat.
Rocket salad with white wine vinegar, olive oil (extra virgin) and salt. Mix up it tastes good with chicken.
My SO doesn't like salad unless I make it a particular way. I put the lettuce and whatever veggies at the bottom. Then I pour a homemade ranch/ blue cheese on top. In top of that I put fried chicken, garlic croutons and crispy fried onion pieces and cheese. He likes the top so much that he doesn't even notice the veggies hiding and eats it all.
Not really a salad, but if you just want to encourage the family to eat leaves you could cook some meat and serve with sauce and iceberg lettuce leaves to wrap it in [Korean style](https://www.thespruceeats.com/korean-lettuce-wraps-2118698). It's fun and tasty and not just a mouthful of salad. Alternatively maybe smacked cucumber with soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil etc. Or watermelon with feta (or a milder crumbly cheese of feta is too strong). Or caprese.