Destroying Salad-Haters with Facts & Logic
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
- A ton of plants taste their best in the Summer time. Don't let this season pass you by without making some delicious salads at home! These are all the reasons to hate salads, plus recipes to overcome the issue ⬇️
0:00 - A Preference for Sandwiches
Simple Panzanella: cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1...
More Complex Panzanella: thefeedfeed.com/lorindabreeze...
Italian Sub Sandwich Style Salad: www.bonappetit.com/recipe/big...
1:03 - The Requisite Number of Ingredients
Sangchu Geotjeori: www.themissinglokness.com/201...
2:02 - A Desire for Density
Crispy chickpea chopped salad: www.howsweeteats.com/2020/01/...
Jalapeno Ranch Chopped Salad: cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1...
Gladly Chopped Salad: abountifulkitchen.com/the-ori...
Detox Salad: cleananddelicious.com/chopped...
2:31 - Aversion to Knifework
Onion Chopper: amzn.to/3vXu31l
Mandolin: amzn.to/3bmXJ0L
3:37 - Textural Woes
Green Goddess Salad: www.bakedbymelissa.com/blog/s...
Food Network's Version: www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/f...
4:21 - Unsustainable Novelty
Shirazi Salad: cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1...
5:13 - Lack of Inspiration
Basic Kale Salad: www.eatingwell.com/recipe/788...
Steakhouse Salad: www.bonappetit.com/recipe/ste...
5:50 - General Tips
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if this video adds a decade to your life expectancy you owe me nine dollars. www.patreon.com/shaq
I think it might 😬
Ok I'll tip you when we're both 70
Shaq, it's like you were reading my mind with each point you brought up in the video.
BTW, did you just low-key recommend people buy a SlapChop? :)
If this video with delicious salad dressings retracts a decade from my life expectancy, I expect you to donate me 9 dollars!!
Hey dude. You’re the best guy on TH-cam. I appreciate you for all your fast, witty and funny videos. You kill it
Important points also:
-don't put ingredients you don't like just because they're supposed to be there. I for one have banned celery from my diet and completely replaced lettuce for more flavourful greens, like cabbages and mustard.
-play around with ways to "cook" raw ingredients: replace cabbages with sauerkraut, dehydrate garlic for some extra crunch, marinade onions and pickle cucumbers
-Don't be ashamed of not eating the healthiest salad: better to eat bacon in a salad than in a cheeseburger.
-Salads don't have to be wet, try putting some sweetpotato chips or some farofa.
Pickled red onions for me are such a game changer. They work in so many dishes, and many salads
This ! It's better to eat 90% of a salad than avoid it entirely due to that 1 unwanted ingredient
Fact. Even for the dressing. It is better to est a nutritious and conplex salad with a heavy dressing than to eat a bowl of mac and cheese. Its about balance.
@@kingtoyou7806 shoutout to Ethan Whatsisname on youtube
Yep, thats what I do. I find lettuce just boring so I just don't use it often. One of my goto salads is: Couscous, Feta, Bell Peppers, Cherry/Grape/whatever small tomatoes, Cucumbers, onions, garbanzo beans, and whatever dressing I feel like using.
I love that you considered aversion to the prep process due to disability, not only "don't wanna." I know this is superfluous in your comment section, but you are really putting out the best videos on this cursed site.
I totally agree! My hands are garbage, and it was nice to be acknowledged in a cooking video. :)
True! Usually when cooks acknowledge short-cut gadgets they say "You can use this...if you're LAME and PATHETIC" and it's like sir - my hands do not work.
Exactly. Every time a product comes out that shortens or simplifies a process, people love to immediately flame it and call people who use it "lazy" and it is so frustrating. It clearly isn't for them, yet they have no problem making content about how "redundant" or "stupid" the product is 🙄
@@Amarata67 exactly, I hate how people refer to as not being able to do prep work as lazy, when some of us can’t due to disorders and still really want to. I miss all of the things I could do so much
Yes! As someone with both joint pain and some mental stuff going on- I am 100% going to get a chopper gadget like that now. Any energy I can save through the day brings a massive reward.
Food density isn't a sticking point I had even considered, but true enough, shoveling a fistful of leaves into my mouth makes for a less than groovy eating experience. I'm gonna try to make tabbouleh, thanks for coming through in the clutch Shaq
the benefits of growing up as a chubby little boy trying to stuff as much food into my mouth as possible are finally presenting themselves in the form of a salad video
I never had the proper term to express this feeling. I've always looked to eat foods with 'high food density' since it always felt more satisfying and filling to stuff my mouth and chew. Acknowledging this fact in the form of a term really helps me understand why salads feels so unsatisfying at times. Thanks as always shaq.
@@internetshaquille if you can find Mexican smoked salt. You won't be disappointed.
It's 20$/ lbs . But a tiny amount changes a dish to different levels....
You can always use rice. Made a rice salad with Shaq's dressing and it was GOOD!
How the is this comment 14 hours old but the video says it’s 2 hours old my brain hurts
The most fascinating part of this video was learning WHY I don't like salads. Many of these complaints resonated with me strongly. Hopefully the solutions will be just as fruitful.
Fruitful you say :)))
Speaking of which, fruit salads are awesome
Vegeteful you mean
@@khalil4030 Fun fact (if you don't think it's fun, I totally understand): the word "vegetable" originally meant "non-animal life", and by the 18th century was applied to any edible plants / roots / whatever.
A channel that doesn’t come to you unless he’s really got something to say, then he comes out and says it. Peak TH-cam content
Shoutout for mentioning arthritis as a valid concern for folks wanting to eat healthier and using choppers, lots of "goofy" products were made specifically for people with less ability to do a common thing, and choppers are one of them. I'll never be able to quickly and cleanly cut veggies in a reasonable amount of time, so I use mine damn near every day just to be able to eat more veggies and not become "dumb sandwich guy". (this took 3 minutes to type, imagine my trying to cut veggies for salads for guests in a reasonable amount of time.)
How do you maintain or sharpen the blades in one of those? However useful they are to certain people, it makes me uncomfortable to see so many niche and seemingly consumable items mass produced. I would always choose quality and versatility over quantity with kitchen gadgets, but maybe I'm too able and too cynical to get it?
Surely one could design a jig with a set of parallel blades that could be individually removed and sharpened, that would produce strips on the first cut, and could produce dice with a second cut?
@@armadillito I mean if the mandolin veggie slicer in the video is anything like mine, the blades should be removable and therefore able to both sharpen and replace without having to replace the WHOLE gadget
@@armadillito unfortunately these products have to be marketed for everyone and mass produced in order to be affordable to ppl with disabilities who are often in fixed income. There are certainly better ways of managing this but capitalism is as capitalism does.
Dude - I write this without sarcasm and without hyperbole - that tip about having spoonful-based salads for density is GENIUS. I never thought it that but I hate the airiness of leafy greens and feel like I’m starving myself, but something like tabbouleh (and maybe also make it chip- or pita-scooped dish) would definitely feel more like I’m being satiated
That "food density" thing is actually really useful to folks with ASD and sensory issues such as myself. Air filled foods are just irritating to eat so having something like you suggested is such a useful tip, thank you!
Things like this are the exact reason i love this channel
What is an air filled food???
@@zvezdoblyat salad leaves, obviously😅
Tbh, the structure puts me off, but i like that i can choose what to eat next. Seeing it and choosing it with my fork.
@@radschele1815 Same, I like having big chunks of stuff instead of tiny diced things in my salad, so I can really predict a whole mouthful. A lot of salad recipes sound delicious in theory but have sooo much texture with everything small. Those quinoa salads looked like a nightmare to me. 😅
I drunkenly bought a salad cookbook at the suggestion of a friend at a July 4th party, and while it's every bit as "wine mom" as it sounds (the foreword is by Martha Stewart) the one thing I've really benefitted from is the shopping guide. It does a great job breaking down pantry, fridge, and fresh ingredients, how long they last, and the best time to buy them. Being an effective grocery shopper has always been a challenge for me, and there's really not a lot of guidance on the subject that I've been able to find, so that made an otherwise silly cookbook worthwhile for me.
What's the name? Would love to check it out myself.
Also would love the title! I can't grocery shop to save my life
@@oooomz7578 @BlackKat1112 The book is called Salad Freak by Jess Damuck.
What’s it called????
@@zoemartin1761 he just said “salad freak”
Thank you for mentioning disabled cooks and validating the use of gadgets for chopping food. It really meant a lot to me 🥺🥺🥺
couldn't agree more. my dad has an avid love of cooking and suffered a stroke recently that has severely reduced his mobility. chopping gadgets have definitely helped him stay in the game and continue to enjoy cooking. i really respect when youtubers manage to think of people like my dad, thanks shaq.
ALSO. Grocery store salad kits. If you're just exploring ways to incorporate more veg into your meal plan, it's good inspiration for exploring the types of flavors you like together without over-investing in a ton of greens and toppings. And you can add stuff to 'em!
They so good in terms of portioning as well. And they arent all that more epensive than buying the ingredients seperate.
@@mudawott absolutely. In my neck of the woods they're like $5 and make 1 big salad or 2ish side salads, and since I only have me to feed, it's a bargain.
+1. I buy two kits from Trader Joe’s with two avocados and that’s super cheap lunch for Monday-Thursday
@@elle1107 its currently the cheapest way to get lettuce here in Australia. It helps a lot with my veggie intake to just get a salad bag since i have awful executive functioning skills and they are usually tasty.
found out how much I love spinach with strawberries and blueberries this way
top with feta, shaved almonds and balsamic for the slapppiest salad of your life
I destroyed my boring salad disdain by discovering exciting dressings I could make at home! You offhandedly mentioned The Lemonade Cookbook a while back, and it really has some of the most awesome dressing recipes that have really improved my basic pile of veg and occasional protein. Lime vinegrette, Vidalia onion & bacon vinegrette, green goddess, fermented black bean vinegrette(!!) really got me out of my typical Ranch/Caesar/Italian staples and heightened my face stuffing enjoyment.
At this point I know a video is worthless if there’s no pajamagirl comment on it. I can now rest knowing this post was blessed
@@internetshaquille
You mentioned in this video that you have a 2 minute humus recipe, but I looked in your description and didn’t find a link there. Then I did a search for “Internet Shaquille humus,” and no humus recipe came up. Help? I have so many boxes of pita chips to eat, but am sick of the store bought kind. I want a good quick recipe, because I’m disabled with a terrible back, so I can’t stand in the kitchen too long cooking.
P.S. The OP changed their name - no more “pajamagirl.” Haha
One type of salad I often make when I am very lazy is just a bunch of scallions, white beans, tuna, olive oil, lemon, and Italian seasoning. It's very fresh and very filling, and most of the ingredients can be bought in bulk and left in your pantry for other stuff
I make nearly this same salad every week, but use garbanzos instead of white beans. Throw a couple olives in if I'm craving salt or celery if I'm craving crunch. It's easy and hits all the notes.
That sounds delicious. I want to find a recipe for this
You and Adam Ragusea feel like the only food youtubers who actually want you to cook things
Psh yeah cus they're taking a cut from Big Lettuce
which makes it kinda funny they hate eachother lol
Check out chef John over at food wishes if you want another one! All the dishes he does are super accessible and well explained (and he’s hilarious as a nice bonus)
I second food wishes as another TH-cam chef who provides actual meals that you can make in a reasonable amount of time and also taste good.
@@jordankolbert hate implies a level of care I doubt either really has about the other. They're just diametrically opposed in philosophy. Shaq makes short and to the point videos, Adam does his long historical deep dives.
Thanks for mentioning how some people benefit from no-knife chopping methods due to illness and injury. Warms my heart how dedicated you are to getting everybody enjoying home cooking, no matter their circumstances.
2:00 i think this kind point isnt only about mouthfeel, but also in big part about feeling satiated. You can eat as much lettuce as you can stomach (pun intended), you'll always be craving something more filling an hour later. A lot of people picture a pile of shredded iceberg when they think of a salad, when it's so much more than that. You can always add beans, cheese, nuts, cured meats or bits of chicken or whatever it takes to make for a nurishing meal. Really when you think about it, a burrito is just a salad wrapped in a tortilla.
i experience almost all of these issues and most of them are linked to being autistic and various sensory issues so this is really nice to hear someone just being straight forward and not trying to underhandedly shame me when i say things like about not liking salad so thank you so much for this !!!!!!!
"salad bites aren't dense enough" is quite literally my exact problem with them. this video has inspired me to stop being lazy and actually do it myself.
My Tip # 8: Don't buy Fat Free, Low Fat, Low Calorie, and Low Sugar Salad Dressing. Better yet, make it yourself.
They serve their purpose, but it's hard to go back for more (at least for me). I found the off-flavor and the "There's something missing" taste comes from the abundance of artificial sweeteners and salt are added to compensate.
So make your own. Get a sturdy garlic press and you will be on the path to find your hidden valley.
Ever dipped your hot buffalo wings in fat free Ranch and found it didn't help with the burning? Or ever get the munchies for something fatty after the meal? You need the fat.
"whoever created the packaging for whole goat cheese logs was on dummy mode that day” will never not make me laugh
Arthritis person here! I'm so glad that you not only mentioned aversions to eating salad, but also reasons that make it hard for people to make them. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and for these videos
I used to hate salads till I realised I hated the way my parents made salads (I hate iceberg lettuce ,cucumbers and full sized tomatoes all of which they use in their salads). Once I started making my own with a mixed leaf lettuce mix with a bunch of spinach with onion, cherry tomatoes, peppers etc I started having a side salad at least two or three times a week. If you hate what you think of as a basic salad (as I did) it may pay to experiment with the stuff you like.
In the last few years I've been making salads almost daily for lunch and I've come up with a basic formula, in order to build the salad that results in a filling and tasty meal that might be helpful for some: grains, greens, meats or beans, veggies, fun toppings (cheese, nuts, fruits, herbs, fried onions! Etc), dressing.
Also worth noting, salads don't have to be raw! A salad with roasted root vegetables like sweet potatoes, cauliflower, artichoke etc. are amazing in colder months!
Roasted vegetables - another use for an air fryer.
Until recently I rarely ate salads, or even veggies for that matter. Mostly due to laziness, I decided to say screw it and started buying grocery store premade salad kits, the kind where you have to assemble the salad at home. This was great as it's already portioned, and easy to do (assembly is like 1-2 minutes so it's fast too). This has gotten me to branch out into making my own salads, so it's a great starter step
I appreciate you being charitable about the texture issue
Honestly, I wish more people knew about mizeria (yes, that's its Polish name!). Easiest salad that also works wonders in the morning with scrambled eggs, yet is at place with pork chops or meatloaf.
Basics: cut up cucumbers into cubes, thinly chop some green onion, add enough sour cream or plain yogurt to coat everything, salt and pepper to taste. Adding chopped dill is wonderful, and a splash of white vinegar is nice too. Got fresh tomatoes? Either replace the cucumbers or add them to it.
Very basic yet very satisfying!
My mom makes an even easier version: peel and thinly slice a cucumber, toss it with some salt, let it stand for a while so it releases the water, add vinegar, pepper and dill to taste. That's it. I've never heard of mizeria with tomatoes, though.
this sounds awesome, im gonna make it this week. thanks for sharing!
@@CatBloom42 I doubt it's really proper mizeria with tomatoes (more like sałatka z pomidorami i śmietaną kwaśną), but it's stylistically very similar, and growing up my mom would make them interchangeably.
I've only had the vinegar only version a few times ever, mostly at other people's houses/restaurants (my mom wasn't a fan of vinegar, funny enough). Very tasty though with vinegar only, and it still works great for savoury dishes.
That sounds delicious!! I can't wait to try it! 😋
Looks like every household here has their own recipe :D
What my mom always does, is : slicing cucumbers thinly on a mandoline, adding lots of salt, mixing well and massaging them a bit so that salt really gets into them, then putting them aside for at least few minutes to release some of this extra moisture, discarding that salty af juice. Adding sour cream or thick Greek-style yogurt, a sqeeze of lemon juice - done! No dill, cause it's already sprinkled on whole cooked potatoes ;)
My boyfriend really surprised me, cause for him it was just obvious that mizeria contains chopped fresh white onion. He also prepares this version with chopped tomatoes, but he doesn't call it mizeria, just ''sałatka pomidorowa'', or ''pomidory w śmietanie''.
This man is still raising me into adulthood one video at a time
Finally! Someone considers density as a component!
tl;dr tip: chop your leafy salads to increase density!
I don't have food texture or sensory issues, but it annoys me when I fill up a fork, put it into my mouth, and my mouthful was half air. It's my complaint about penne and other big tube pastas (unless paired with a medium-thick sauce that can fill the tubes).
As someone who has lost more than my fair share of fresh produce to the ADHD tax, salads got so much easier when I allowed myself to use non-fresh produce. Canned Chickpeas are obvious, but consider sliced beets [especially tossed with the vinegar & seasonings of your choice for a quick pickle], three bean salad & variations thereof; grab some dried fruits when you're picking up those nuts and cut them down into bite-sized chunks or matchsticks [or just tear them up if it's like dried mango], and especially my summer favorite: frozen peas.
Throw whatever you think a serving size of peas is into a wide bowl to thaw while you prep the rest of the ingredients for your salad [or microwave them for a few seconds if you're faster in the kitchen than I am] for a satisfyingly cold & slightly sweet pop which contrasts nicely to either the goat cheese/creamy dressing heavy style of salad or the veggie-heavy/lemon juice with just a little oil end of things.
I needed this comment! I keep buying stuff and then spacing it bc of ADHD. Thank you for your suggestions!
This is awesome!! Do you have anymore ADHD friendly recipes to share?!
My biggest tip is to figure out what you can still do when your brain is goo and then do that, even if it's not what seems like the "optimal" way.
Like, I will often prefer to heat/cook things in the oven because I am better at responding to a timer than to the microwave's ding. Because of that, one of my fallbacks is a frittata since it can hold any in-season or leftover veggies you want, takes 20-30 minutes to cook, and I usually get several meals out of it.
I got an immersion blender as a gift and that's turned me on to cold soups [I'm all about salmorejo lately but @acooknamedMatt has been putting out a ton of ideas I still want to try] this summer. Put them right into your old takeout containers, bonus is that it's visible so you'll be more likely to remember to eat them.
Finally: bullshit meals. If you've got a big project or some other stressful period coming up and you know you'll probably forget to eat, stock up on whatever bullshit foods you know you'll actually shove in your face that are almost like a meal. For me, that's jerky, hummus, good crackers, and some sorta highly flavored juice like cranberry or pomegranate so I can flavor my water enough to stay hydrated.
Also, I assume if you're in this comments section you've already looked at Shaquille's back catalogue, but his way of explaining things helped me with several dishes that previously were too daunting, so don't neglect them. :)
I really appreciate these tips! I am forever wanting to use the veggies and then inevitably look at them 2 weeks later. And there's no way I can manage to shop for groceries AND make the meal in the same evening.
This man knows exactly what I need when I need it
Been making my own salads for months and circling these ideas through trial and error, and then Shaq comes in and just drops 6 minutes of straight wisdom that takes all the mystery out of salad making. Bravo sir
i think one of the things i love about Internet Shaq is that he’s honest and straightforward, but he also actually shows care. that and his presentation is always immaculate. even if he offends me here and there, i can’t stay mad forever. thanks for caring Shaq, love ya man.
Thank you so much for bringing up disabilities for the chopper. So many of those "goofy" infomercial products are just things used by or useful for disabled people
I can’t stop eating meat. Almost feels like an addiction. If my meal doesn’t contain meat I feel unsatisfied. I feel like the density of the bite might play into this. I never thought of it like that. Thanks homie.
Another thing you can do is just add steak or chicken slices, or oil-packed tuna, to your salad. I just make the vegetable part of the salad, plate it, and put the proteins right on top. Sometimes I have a slice of bread on the side to mop up any dressing that's left on the plate at the end.
If you have bits of dry ass chicken from 3 days ago just toss em in a salad
Personal recommendation: make a good steak, slice it thinly after letting it sit (a bit thicker than beef in Chinese takeout), then toss that with greens and something crunchy like bell pepper or onion, a little oil or dressing but not much so you don't lose the steak's flavor.
Shaq actually has a whole video about incorporating vegetables into your meals that touches on this a little bit. I've been trying to cut meats out of most of my meals, and I've found some success with recipes that use other ingredients as protein substitutes, especially if they have a consistency and density that's comparable to steak or chicken when prepared right. I realized that for the most part, the thing I REALLY missed about meals with meat was the sensation of a full stomach it gave me. I need a dish that will keep me from raiding the pantry for snacks for a good couple hours, minimum!
I've been eating meals with garbanzo chickpeas in the place of diced chicken for a few months now, and those add a satisfying texture to a dish while also being very filling ingredients. Similarly, tofu has a really efficient distribution of proteins and vitamins that your stomach needs to trigger the "I feel full and satisfied" feeling in your brain, and giving it a consistency and taste similar to meats isn't particularly hard. I press the moisture out of blocks of it, cut them into cubes, sear them in a pan after coating with some corn starch, and toss em in a basic general tso's sauce with some sauteed broccoli, and it's incredible.
By all means, continue eating meat, no judgement(I still have a burger when eating out with friends with no remorse), but if you ever want to try adding a few recipes to your usual rotation without it, there's a lot of good ideas and resources online that can help you wean off of it. I recommend it, it really helped expand my palette and got me interested in dishes I wouldn't have wanted to try before.
@@JohnWhatshisdoe I’ll definitely do some research. I didn’t even realize that’s what I was missing. There’s a Thai place with amazing noodles right by my house. I’ll have to get tofu next time I go.
"The point of making a salad is to eat a salad" actually a really thought provoking statement
I love that someone finally identified my main problem with salads being DENSITY. It makes perfect sense and I'm so glad I finally know what my main problem with it was
A lot of these videos give me a kind of "Don't be lazy" vibe and honestly that's the kick I need to get in the kitchen 🤣
I too love getting my salad tossed
My favorite salad that I make several times a week for lunch at work (requires very little dicing):
- a generous amount of spring mix (already washed!)
- feta cheese
- cranberries
- seeds and nuts
- chicken (I buy plain, already cooked fajita chicken from the store and use kitchen scissors to slice what I need for a single serving)
- fruit (a small apple that I slice into large chunks right before eating, or a small pear or berries or two large figs from my trees in the yard)
- sometimes an avocado (if there’s a ripe avocado available, I’ll use it!)
- a few crispy, baked bagel bites I found at costco perfectly sized for topping salads
- I use SkinnyGirl raspberry vinaigrette dressing, super low calorie!!! Only 5 calories per serving!!!! Tastes great!! No oil/no sugar! My favorite!
This salad is delicious and I find myself craving it!!! Very energizing! I also eat a 60 calorie yogurt for breakfast or to supplement my lunch salad. To drink, I’ll add a Stevia soda or maybe tea!
Your chickpea recipe from a few years ago (I'm using the air fryer now to cook them cause I'm lazy, 8-10mins @180c) with a leafy greens based salad I think adds a nice contrast in flavour and density to a salad for minimal effort
Salads have a really wide spectrum of quality, from incredibly good to mind bogglingly awful.
If it exists, it's because SOMEONE out there likes it. Different strokes for different folks.
@@JustinKoenigSilica wrong
I will never get over how much value and information your channel provides for your viewers. I've been subscribed for many years and I still get extremely excited over every single video you upload. Thanks for all your hard work.
thank you anna :)
Thank you - you put into words something I've always felt about salad but never could fully articulate. Thank you for making this.
:,)
That spring mix/garlic vinaigrette salad sounds perfect for a lazy sack of crap like me who hates assembling salads with lengthy ingredient lists
Damn this might be your best one yet chief. I keep finding non-traditional salads like tabouleh and slaw style salads that are much more filling and crunchy that I love, but never realized I should just make all my salads like that at home. You're the GOAT
I really love salads actually, but the easiest way I’ve incorporated salads into my diet has been the gadgets absolutely! I got my tiny julienne from DAISO (a Japanese dollar store) for literally a 1.50, and I use it everyday. Best cheap gadget ever.
FINALLY SOMEONE ADDRESSES THE LOW DENSITY IN SO MANY SALADS! It's so nice to hear that I'm not the only one who hates salads with bites that are 99% air. I've been trying to voice this concept but felt like it's too stupid to say since I was literally a child lmao
Must watch to the end for a truly life-changing experience
On point title leading to dense and informative content. Keep rockin' shaq.
And this is how I figured out why I like some salads but not others. It’s the density. The mouthfeel. This makes so much sense. Thank you for pointing that out wow.
You are one of the best content creators around if not the best, I have gone on a binge watching your content and your content is direct, witty ,well informed, empathetic ,well edited and well delivered. I am extremely impressed there are content creators at your level still floating around on youtube and I hope you will be able to always make a living from content creation simply for the sheer benefit your audience gains from content like this being available.
one of my tips for the Chopping Haters amongst us (me) is making a salad where one of the base ingredients is cabbage! cabbage is much easier to chop into nice bite-sized chunks because it sort of shreds itself. i just carve some off a full head & wrap the rest up in plastic. one head of cabbage lasts a very long time too!
great vid!
some things that work for me:
I've been using my microwave to soften things like cabbage and broccoli before adding them to salads. instead of buying leafy greens that go bad before I can eat them all, veges like cabbage, kale, broccoli etc all last a long time in the fridge. a short blast in the microwave makes them way more palatable without much fuss.
also salad spinner is a must for me. I hate cleaning leafy greens so I try to make it as easy as possible.
just my two cents. thanks for the great video!
Props for not shitting on those tools. I'm big on using a few, good quality, basic tools to do everything, but they do have their uses.
My go-to salad when I don't feel like eating anything else is chopped lettuce, raisins, and trail mix lathered in olive or coconut oil. Done in 5 minutes, everything can be substituted as a snack, and I can nibble on it throughout the day if I make too much. Salads can truly take any form and function, from high production to basically rabbit food. They're great.
big brain alert
What an absolutely perfect video, legit might be his best video yet.
Literally the ONLY thing I could think of for another problem people have with salads is that it's cold, solely because I have a friend who will not put anything in his mouth that is colder than body temperature. But he's an odd case so I can't be mad you didn't touch on it.
Dan’s video with Kenji talks about glutamates and nucleotides, and how the two work together to increase umami. This is one reason why Caesar salad is so satisfying. (Parm and sardines)
Did you mean inosinates?
I am an absolute spinach devotee. I find that because the leaves are denser and flatter (esp baby spinach), they don't allow for as much air as a pile of floofy lettuce. Its also very good for you, is more filling, and the flavor is strong enough to be interesting but weak enough to play along with whatever you throw in there (unlike arugula), be it sweet or spicy, fruit or veggie, meat or bread.
My salad mix goes something like this: base (mixed greens or spinach), grape tomatoes, pickled onions, bell peppers, beans (garbanzo or black beans), dairy (shredded cheese, cottage cheese, or sour cream), meat (chicken breast or ground turkey/pork), grains (rice, quinoa, or pasta), and dressing (Italian, balsamic, or salsa). Usually clocks in around 800 calories and ends up weighing close to 1.5 pounds. Been eating some variation of the mixture above for over 3 years. Still not tired of it.
Wait I’m so obsessed with you mentioning density because that totally explains my gripe with lettuce-based salads but my love affair with tightly chopped shovel-into-my-gullet salads.
I think exposure, understanding what a salad is and having a sense of adventure really contribute to enjoying salads. I was not a big salad person until I worked the garden Manger at a catering company. Broaden my horizons and exposed me to salads of other cultures as well as realizing the versatility of vegetables. OMG, one of my former coworkers, a Thai lady, showed me how to make spicy Som Tam (green papaya salad)...that rocked my world.
The metacommentary is what keeps me coming back for more, even though the content per se is also cogent and thought-provoking.
Shaq makes the best outros I stg
Oh my God my mom is from Shiraz and just when you showed the diced cucumbers, tomatoes and onions with the chopper, I thought that looked like a good Salad Shirazi start! happy to see it get a shout in the video!
I bought some spring mix right before I watched this and it went bad by the time the video was over
i didn't realise I hated salads because they weren't dense enough. you may have changed my life
that strawberry, feta, pecan salad is basically a sweeter version of my go-to, which is raw unsalted walnuts, blue cheese and cubed apple slices. :)
If you think his version sounds too sweet give my version a go.
I usually pair with a quick balsamic vinaigrette, and I vary up the leafy greens I use. I like kale in salads and kale + a lemon based dressing is delicious. You could also use something like arugula/rocket or mustard greens for more of a peppery flavor. I also would recommend mixing multiple types of greens together.
This sounds even better, to me!
The second Patreon I ever subscribed to, and still one of the best. Incredible work.
I love the practicality and variety of your tips and recipes! I've been really enjoying taking advantage of seasonal produce during these summer months, so this video will definitely augment the meals to come 😋 many thanks!
Thank you so much for gathering recipes, while yes anytime I could Google my recipes but knowing some tried and true recipes of what I am craving it is so much easier to cook. Also the chip method I am definitely trying that !!
Not sure why it never occurred to me to have a non-lettuce-y salad, but the texture of leafy greens has been my biggest deterrent to eating salad. All the cubed and very thinly shredded salads look and sound incredible, and now I’m actually excited to try one! Thanks for sharing.
the information density of your videos is just SO GOOOD i love it keep up the good work man i just get so much inspiration and good ideas from your videos i can't thank you enough
Thank you so much for making this. This is the video I’ve been looking for forever!
Love this video, gonna be using this as a reference for future salad needs, ty so much
Your videos help to feed my soul and my stomach, and I'm sure putting your advice into practice has added some years to my life. Thanks for doing your thang, and peace! ✌️
thank you for mentioning people with joints etc issues. kitchen scissors and pull chopper are my best friends 😔
It’s extremely rare that people talk about the texture of vegetables and how it can be hard for some people to work with! I've been trying to add more vegetables to my diet, and the chips trick might be a great way to do it!
I clicked away from this video before the ad read, immediately came back to watch it because I enjoy yours so much and it felt disrespectful to skip, then realized there was none. Just wanted to share a sincere comment about how much I love your content :,)
I really appreciate videos like this. We all want to eat healthier, and I think the encouragement and simplification makes it more likely to happen.
About a week ago I literally started making the effort to introduce salads into my regular diet and quite conveniently you make this video!! Thanks man!! 🥗😋
aaaa the shallow bowl comment was super helpful. I get sooo upset when everything falls to the bottom, and I feel like I just can’t distribute them properly.
TH-cam brought me to your channel randomly, I'm glad I came. I love the style of these videos, the information, and your recap in the description makes this handy reference material.
I know this video is a year old, but hey it's still relevant
I’m so glad you touched on texture. Food textures is always such a big thing to me that people give me a hard time about, but I honestly just couldn’t bring myself to eat a lot of this food because of the texture. Now that I’m older and a little more in control of it, I’ll definitely be using your tips to try and works towards a healthier lifestyle. Thanks for all you do!
I really appreciate that you addressed texture and density, I’m autistic and struggle mostly with sensory issues which has made me a very picky eater and texture can make or break a meal for me. I’m kind of bad at eating vegetables because of both the texture and taste can be really difficult to get past, but I’m gonna try out some of your tips to try and make salads more enjoyable! :)
Thank you for this video! I needed exactly something like this. I am trying to eat healthier, but I didn't know how to make salad, what ingredients go well together, how to make a salad using what you have and so on and so forth.
Great work as always!
I feel good knowing I'm not the only person out there who loves eating salad. People always think I'm faking it and saying I love salad because I'm a girl and we're "supposed to" or whatever. Then they see me eating it with this goofy grin on my face the whole time. But I literally love everything about the tastes of the veggies, the greens, the texture, it's the most amazing experience! Okay, this is weird I know but whenever I eat a salad, I save a little of everything to make the last bite "perfect" and savor it in my mouth for a couple minutes, very slowly.
I'm starting to incorporate salads into our meals and this video comes at the right time! Thank you!!!
Your oration style exceptionally tasteful, Internet Shaquille. Glad to see your channel growing!
Yes the density thing! It always bugs me and I couldn’t express it! Excellent content , thanks for the perfect balance of informative, witty, and sharp!
Mister Shaq, as a red-blooded American I commend you again on another amazing video dishing out your food knowledge to the masses. Subarashii!!
I do have a request that is dire but not urgent. If possible can you put together a fine video on stocking the fridge with fresh foods and how to use them throughout the week. Arigato my Gato.
Thank you so much! I love eating salads but I don't particularly like preparing them. This video gives me some good ideas.
This video was great! I've been trying to feed my family more salads for months and can use these questions to fine-tune why they keep dragging their feet.
Thorough and concise as always. The points about density and texture are beautifully thoughtful. Introducing someone to salad by "disguising" it as a dip is a clever sort of trick I've been using since I was a kid with some textural food issues.
My diet and palate is still pretty juvenile, but without tortilla chips I'd probably still be subsisting on all the basic forms of chicken and potatoes.
Others have commented on this, but I wanted to say that I really appreciated the mentioning of different motivations for using a chopper. A lot of us fall too quickly into the habit of deriding goofy-looking time/energy-saving devices without thinking about whose life might benefit from their inclusion. It's the same principle as how many "as seen on TV" gadgets are actually tools for people with motor function difficulties.
One of my favorite salads is a little bit complicated because you have to make a Caesar dressing from scratch, but the only other ingredient is just finely chopped raw broccoli. The salt and lemon juice in the Caesar dressing "cooks" the broccoli and infuses it with so much flavor, it's very delicious
Ah someone of Persian descent, never in my life will I tire of Shirazi salad with grilled meat and pita. It's simply one of the best summer meals you can ask for.
The point about meal/bite density is the kind of extremely true issue I didn't even realize was the one I had. Will totally follow that advice.
That dip tip is game-changing. I'll give it a try.
The only salad I really **like** is a sauteed cabbage, apple, and onion salad. I do have issues with leaf texture, so warm hearty cabbage works well for me.
You're the GOAT incase that hasn't been said lately. That ending bit was genius. Thanks for the inspiration and since I'm 531 comments in you're one of the reasons I started a youtube channel. Thanks for being great. Also, I love the new kitchen. I just started to notice it.