Party Salads

[**Tinkerbell**]

When someone says, "Bring a salad!", what kind of salad comes to your mind first?

We have pasta salads, gelatin salads, whipped salads, potato salads, hot, cold, cooked, roasted and raw salads. Meat based, vegetable based, fruit, bean, rice and grain based, and then there are the green salads. The lettuce based salad might be the hardest to define because there are so many types and combinations of salad greens available.

In most families there is a specific salad type that is traditional holiday fare. One that everyone looks forward to having on the table. My mom's side of the family always has the "Green Fluff", aka: Pistachio Pudding salad, while I prefer a spinach based salad.

Whatever your idea of a salad is, you can find it posted on Food.com. Here are some examples of the various types of salads my family or fellow Food.com members have enjoyed.

Lettuce or Vegetable Based:



Spinach Pear Salad W/Bacon and Honey Dijon Dressing
Mixed Green Salad With Oranges, Dried Cranberries and Pecans
Wurzig Salad



Seven Layer Salad
Sesame Vegetable Salad
Vegetable Stir Fry



Broccoli With Cranberries Salad (photo by breezermom)
Delicious Broccoli Cauliflower Salad (photo by ~Nimz~)



Dixie's Chopped Vegetable Salad (photo by Rita~)
Marinated Vegetable Salad (photo by Zurie)


Pasta Based:



Cheese Tortellini Pesto Pasta Salad (photo by kzbhansen)
BLT Pasta Salad (photo by * Pamela *)
Tomato-Basil Pasta Salad (photo by Velouria)


Grain Based:



Confetti Bean and Rice Salad
Spicy Wheatberry Salad


Gelatin Based:



Strawberry Pretzel Salad (photo by Marg (CaymanDesigns))
Grandma Max's Layered Jello Salad (photo by Annacia)
Cranberry Jello Salad W/ Port Wine (photo by lauralie41)




Lime Jello Salad - Aka 'the Green Stuff' (photo by lazyme)
Creamy Jello-o Waldorf Salad (photo by HeatherFeather)
Mom's ' Molded' (Jello) Salad (photo by Mary K. W.)


Pistachio Pineapple Pudding (photo by lauralie41)

Holiday Best Cranberry Jello Salad
Pistachio Pudding Salad
Grandma Vi's Green Jello Salad
Strawberry/Pineapple Pretzel Salad (Paula Deen/Food Network)


Regional Salads:



Swedish Cabbage and Cranberry Salad
Old-Fashioned So. Georgia Cracker Salad (Extremely Easy)
The Ultimate Greek Salad (photo by GaylaJ)




Panzanella (Italian Bread Salad) (photo by dianegrapegrower)
Nicoise Salad (photo by dianegrapegrower)
Authentic German Potato Salad (photo by kiwidutch)

[duonyte]

This salad is a favorite with our family, although we also reduce the oil some these days - the dressing is so pretty with the other ingredients, Apple-Walnut Salad With Cranberry Vinaigrette

This salad is a traditional Lithuanian salad for the cold buffet. Every banquet or wedding dinner has this with the starters. I like it any time of the year, but fall with the fresh harvest of beets and potatoes is a natural time for it, Lithuanian Mixed Vegetable Salad (Darzoviu Misraine)

Tink, my mother used to make a jelled salad similar to what you describe - lime jello, pineapple, walnuts, cottage cheese, possibly celery. I don't really remember and I doubt any of us make it any more! I don't remember them being bad, it was just that there were so much more interesting things to eat!

[**Tinkerbell**]

duonyte wrote:
This salad is a favorite with our family, although we also reduce the oil some these days - the dressing is so pretty with the other ingredients, Apple-Walnut Salad With Cranberry Vinaigrette

This salad is a traditional Lithuanian salad for the cold buffet. Every banquet or wedding dinner has this with the starters. I like it any time of the year, but fall with the fresh harvest of beets and potatoes is a natural time for it, Lithuanian Mixed Vegetable Salad (Darzoviu Misraine)

Tink, my mother used to make a jelled salad similar to what you describe - lime jello, pineapple, walnuts, cottage cheese, possibly celery. I don't really remember and I doubt any of us make it any more! I don't remember them being bad, it was just that there were so much more interesting things to eat!

Both of those got added to my cookbook, duonyte. The beets in the Lithuanian salad add such a pretty color! And I'm always up for a new vinaigrette. I make raspberry a lot, but I don't remember ever making a cranberry flavored dressing.
My problem with the green pistachio fluffy stuff salad is that I don't eat Jello or whipped cream. I just don't like anything with those textures. I don't remember the flavor being bad, as I do like pistachio ice cream.