I put down Bleu Cheese because that's what I insitictively ordered as a kid or teenager. However, the reality of it is that the brand of bleu cheese made a world of difference. Nothing can touch the bleu cheese from Bob's Big Boy. I used to put it on my Big Boy combo's salad and order a side of it in which to dip my fries.

I would now say that Thousand Islands seems to be more reliable. It's almost always good whereas Bleu Cheese is more variable.

I do NOT like Italian dressing...it's kind of boring. However, the Italians think we're weird because we put "mayonnaise on our salad," as one commented to me.

What type of dressing do you prefer?

i fluctuate between 1000 island and ranch. I agree that brand does matter. I make my own 1000 island with Best Foods mayo, heinz ketchup and sweet pickle relish.

Raspberry vinagrette (sp?)

Mayonnaise or Thousand Island. God I love mayo...

Ranch, Caesar, and Italian. As said before though, not all dressing is create equal.

Raspberry vinagrette (sp?)

Either that, or italian

I like olive oil + something acidic + pepper and salt and maybe some minced garlic.

Raspberry vinagrette (sp?)

+1. Really like that, or ranch.

Speaking of salads, I tried a new Israeli restaurant in the Chand (Chandler, AZ--suburb where I work) tonight--had a tasty Medterranean salad (aka greek salad) w/ taziki sauce, some of the best hummus I've had in a while, and a delectable chicken sharma plate.

I like quite a few flavors... Italian, Creamy Italian, Caesar, Peppercorn Ranch, Ranch, 1000 Island and some of the Vinagrettes. I have to keep swapping to avoid getting bored.

However, I really like the new Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch... try it.

Speaking of salads, I tried a new Israeli restaurant in the Chand (Chandler, AZ--suburb where I work) tonight--had a tasty Medterranean salad (aka greek salad) w/ taziki sauce, some of the best hummus I've had in a while, and a delectable chicken sharma plate.

Right, love that crumbled feta cheese on the salad and love tsatziki (sp) sauce as well. But, what I've found is that a whole swath of ethnicities do Greek/Mediterranean cuisine and the further east they come from, the less authentic it gets. That being said, Greeks run the best Greek restaurants. Lebanese and Palestinian types also have some real nice flavors in their cuisines, though one can tell it's a little different from what the Greeks will put together.

I'm saying this because, near my work, there are some Mediterranean restaurants run by Afghans or Indians and, you know what, I walk in and one is overpowered by the scents...particularly of curry. If I'm looking for souvlaki or kabobs, I don't want a whole slew of curry based dishes on the menu and nothing that looks Greek/Lebanese. I was starving one day and told a friend of mine to meet me at this restaurant for lunch. We get there and it was nothing like we had expected, so we headed to a Mexican restaurant.

Hey, you're in PHX, do you like Daphne's? Not bad for a chain.

I like quite a few flavors... Italian, Creamy Italian, Caesar, Peppercorn Ranch, Ranch, 1000 Island and some of the Vinagrettes. I have to keep swapping to avoid getting bored.

However, I really like the new Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch... try it.

I love Caesar dressing. I was about to buy some and looked at the nutritionals. A basic serving has something like 31% of your daily fat values. Holy $h!. Peppercorn ranch is also delicious.

However, I don't like anything spicy. If I see that word, I run.

THAT was a tough one, especially 'cause you put French and Catalina, my two favorites...

I gave Catalina the slight nod over French.

I'm also getting into more of the vinaigrette dressings these days... tomato and balsamic are my favorite out of those.

I avoid any and everything mayonnaise-based.

Hey, you're in PHX, do you like Daphne's? Not bad for a chain.

Haven't tried them, but looked it up and there is one right down the street from the Israeli place I ate at tonight...will have to try them.

Yes, lots of similarities across various Med. cuisines (hummus, pita bread, etc) but lots of differences. There is a Moroccan place in the Denver burbs that I love, have been eating there for over 10 years now, has the best spicy chicken shwarma w/ yellow rice that I know. Great lamb kabobs also.

There was a great Israeli place up in Scottsdale that I got take out from last year when I was working there, alas, they are out of business now.

Sometimes I just love the simple stuff...bread and olive oil to dip it in.

Greek mmmmmmmm

Haven't tried them, but looked it up and there is one right down the street from the Israeli place I ate at tonight...will have to try them.

Yes, lots of similarities across various Med. cuisines (hummus, pita bread, etc) but lots of differences. There is a Moroccan place in the Denver burbs that I love, have been eating there for over 10 years now, has the best spicy chicken shwarma w/ yellow rice that I know. Great lamb kabobs also.

There was a great Israeli place up in Scottsdale that I got take out from last year when I was working there, alas, they are out of business now.

I used to love gyros until I went to Austria and had a doner kebab (Turkish) there. It's like a gyro, only with crispier panini'd bread and a spicier tangy sauce. Sooo good. There's a place near where I live that has an Americanized version of doner, which is tasty, but it's just not right - it's supposed to be 2 Euro street food.

Persian food is good, too... shares a lot with other Med cuisines, though maybe more meat intensive. I love yellow rice.

"rainch" as we say it in the south.

LOL.

I also eat Italian and, if I'm feeling frisky, French.

I used to love gyros until I went to Austria and had a doner kebab (Turkish) there. It's like a gyro, only with crispier panini'd bread and a spicier tangy sauce. Sooo good. There's a place near where I live that has an Americanized version of doner, which is tasty, but it's just not right - it's supposed to be 2 Euro street food.

Persian food is good, too... shares a lot with other Med cuisines, though maybe more meat intensive. I love yellow rice.

Ya, doner can be delicious. I have a friend who's wife is Turkish. She can cook...I've had some incredible home cooked meals w/ them. I like Persian also.

Caesar. I used to love pouring on the French also. These days, I eat much lighter and sometimes use no dressing on the salad.

Russian. I realize I'm a wierdo.

Also, I find that depending on the brand of dressing, sometimes Russian and French can be extremely similar.

Raspberry vinagrette (sp?)

Can't stand it!

Ughhhhh....

I like the whole Vinnegar and Oil thing, or really good blue cheese.

Chris

sometimes Russian and French can be extremely similar.

No. Not weird at all. Russian is good and I just got a bottle of it during a 99 cent salad dressing sale.

They are VERY similar to each other, though I think Russian is sweeter and French is more tart.

Russian. I realize I'm a wierdo.

Also, I find that depending on the brand of dressing, sometimes Russian and French can be extremely similar.

What? Every "Russian" dressing I've had has been very similar to Thousand Island...so not weird at all to me.

Edited September 5, 200915 yr by Croc

i love the newmans own light dressings. light balsamic, italian, sun dried tomato.

try maple grove farms of vermont, their balsamic and raspberry or cranberrry balsamic, no calories basically and they taste pretty good.

Thousand Island or Italian. Honestly, it depends on what type of salad I'm eating.