My Salad Recipe - opinions?

[Sleestack]

I am serving 22 people a large dinner green salad with roasted chicken.

What do you think about this mixture of ingredients?

Romaine lettuce
baby spinach
red onion slices (pulled into rings)
Mandarin orange sections
sweet dried cranberries
shredded carrot
fine shreds mozerella cheese
croutons
topped with long slices of roasted chicken breast

Went with no nuts since I dont know about allergies.
I have a variety of dressings.
I have farm fresh eggs, but slices of hard boiled eggs almost seems to sound gross with the other things here. WDYT? I'd love to include eggs somehow in the meal... since I have a ton of wonderful fresh ones. I will also be serving garlic french bread slices, and a cake with berries for dessert.
Its a light meal, obviously.

How does the salad sound?
What do you think about eggs?


Thanks for helping me out!

 

[SDFgirl]

The salad sounds really good but I'd maybe leave the mandarin oranges out. Not everybody likes fruit in their salad and it might make it too watery.

Sounds like a yummy menu!

 

[Tink888]

It sounds delicious!!! I agree about leaving the eggs out, they seem like they'd go better in something heavier like a steak salad.

What about chopping them and leaving a bowl beside the salad and those who want them can add them on?

Are they brown eggs? Those might look nice in a decorative bowl and used as a table decoration.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I'd leave in the mandarin oranges and take out the onion, lol. Why not but both in bowls along with the eggs and people can add what the like? People are so funny about their food. Not me of course.

 

[MIGrandma]

I think the salad sounds great, except I couldn't eat the mozzarella cheese or the croutons - need to stay away from gluten and dairy. Why not have the salad greens in a big bowl and then put all of the salad toppings in separate bowls? That way people could add what they want, and not worry about looking rude in picking things off it they don't want/can't have.

If you don't want to add eggs to the salad, why not make a pretty tray of deviled eggs? And use a pastry bag/tip to pipe the filling into the eggs so it's pretty.

 

[dislaney]

I think it sounds great. I love mandarin oranges in my salad.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I love those small fresh mozzarella balls. I add them to salads, sometimes I leave them whole, sometimes I cut them in half.

 

[Tinijocaro]

I say put all the ingredients you mentioned, and let people pick out what they don't like. You can see from the small sampling on the DIS that people have individual tastes and you won't please everyone. They can pick out anything that offends them.

 

[disykat]

If you don't want to add eggs to the salad, why not make a pretty tray of deviled eggs? And use a pastry bag/tip to pipe the filling into the eggs so it's pretty.

This was my thought too!

 

[Sleestack]

Thanks for all the great ideas and opinions!!
I'm still tossing around ideas and thinking.....

 

[SpecialK]

I'm not a fan of cheese on salads. I agree with the "salad bar" idea, that way everyone could choose their own ingredients.

 

[mjkacmom]

While I like mozzarella, I've never seen it on a salad, with the exception of an Italian steak salad (fresh mozzarella, with roasted peppers - yum!). Blue cheese, feta, and goat cheese are what I usually see. I don't like shredded carrots. I usually do a fruit, a cheese, and a nut, but you can always put them off on the side.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I say put all the ingredients you mentioned, and let people pick out what they don't like. You can see from the small sampling on the DIS that people have individual tastes and you won't please everyone. They can pick out anything that offends them.

Amen. I can't do cheese either & mozzerella is not a good cheese for a salad anyway. Plus I would not want the croutons.

And ewww, any eggs on the salad and I would pass it up for sure.

Now I love cheese however I only do feta and that is on a greek salad.

 

[java]

For me the only cheese we ever put on salad is cheddar- (or parm in a caesar salad) so I would scrap the mozzerella - and I would lose the mandarin oranges too. (too watery)
What about using dried apple slices? (Panera does this in their chicken salad and it's delicious!)
they use blue cheese on their salad- but I'm allergic to that so I skip it.

I agree with the idea of making the "base"= carrot, lettuce, spinach, and chicken.
Then put the "add in's" in little bowls so that way people can make it how they like it. (I would do the eggs then along with some bacon pieces and the cheese, cranberries, mandarin slices, oniions ect.)

 

[pixiewings71]

Honestly, I would put the bowl of lettuce out and then put all the toppings off to the side. Put dressings in bowls out and put toppings out as well, then everyone can make their own salads.....

 

[disykat]

I'm really surprised by all the people who think mozzerella doesn't belong on salads. We have restaurants around here that put it on their salads and it's extremely popular. I put mozzerella on salads at home sometimes too.

 

[crazyme5kids]

Sounds like my kind of salad! I would eat it with eggs in it, but I would be taking the onion out (I don't care for raw onions).

 

[TheZue]

I think it sounds great! Is it a potluck sort of thing? If so there will be something everyone there will like and I would bet that everyone will pass on one dish or another. Personally I would LOVE that salad.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I'm surprised so many people think mandarin oranges are too watery for salad. Drain them well, and they are delicious in a spinach salad!

I would love your salad. And I like the idea of serving deviled eggs, or chop some for the salad.

 

[MIGrandma]

I'm surprised so many people think mandarin oranges are too watery for salad. Drain them well, and they are delicious in a spinach salad!

Me too! I love them on salads! I get the Mandarin Chicken Salad from Wendy's quite often for lunch, the mandarin oranges and not "watery."