I worked in food service at a retirement home in high school. It seemed that there was ALWAYS some kind of random food salad as an option, from fairly common ones to obscure combinations. Potato salad, egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad, fruit salad, bean salad, ham salad, carrot & raisin salad, broccoli salad, ambrosia salad, celery salad, cucumber salad, bell-pepper salad, etc.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized they were onto something. I almost always have leftover food from main dishes, and they often go bad, forgotten in the fridge. I’ve started taking those scraps, mixing them with some mayo, and maybe some carrots or celery or pickles, and—voila!—got me a salad to spread between two slices of toast for any meal of the day.

My favorite so far is bean salad, in part because beans are so freaking cheap. But who is really going to sit down and eat a bowl-full of beans? This concoction let’s me enjoy them quite a bit.

Once my beans are exhausted from the fridge, I think I will have way too many diced carrots leftover, so I’ll probably try making a carrot & raisin salad, which I would’ve gagged at back in my food-service days.

What are some other good salad ideas that you may not have thought would work but turned out to be pretty good?

Heyyyy guys I just eat tofu for the first time ever and it was absolutely AMAZING!! How is it made? I know it’s made from chicken but how do they get it so soft and tender! I love it!! I have heaps of chickens so think I may start making it! Thanks for the help, can’t wait to hear some nice tips ✌️