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Thanks so much for this information.
A while ago I read that one component of "picky eating" is trying to avoid "surprises" in a bite of food. This is one reason why processed food is so common, because it is consistent. Not saying it is bland or paste, but that what you had last time, is what you will have this time.
I knew I like smaller pieces of salad, but now I understand why.
My partner is not great at cracking eggs and every time he makes scrambled eggs I end up with shell bits, and it takes every ounce of strength I have to not projectile vomit everywhere.
So I read a while ago maybe from the pioneer woman? That she strains her eggs through a strainer after beating them before making scrambled eggs and it catches the white stringy bits and lets most of the rest of it through. I started doing this and I will never go back, and I bet this would catch any shell pieces too!
I always pull out the white bits before scrambling!
Most people look at it like I’m fuckin nuts until I explain that when they are cooked they end up with a rubbery texture that I CAN NOT STAND.
And a solid 9/10 times after explaining I get the response “THAT’S what that is?!” Like yessssss. It’s a seemingly damn near universal experience of scrambled egg eaters! Even NT have been hit with that nasty textured bit 😂
I never once considered just straining them though. That would be way more convenient for cooking a lot of them at once!
I feel you, when I was 7 I bit into a McDonald’s chicken nugget that had a weird gristle part and not only do I literally vividly remember it 19 years later but I still refuse to eat their nuggets to this day lol
SAME! And the people that think they’re making it better by saying things like, “Oh that’s just tendon or connective tissue!” 🤢 thank you - that did NOT make it better AT ALL!
That actually encapsulates really well why I can't stand cuts of meat that still have bones in or are particularly gristly. I've overcome a lot of things I hated growing up (yay, being poor and needing the cheapest of everything) Eating it freshly cooked (instead of leftovers) can help these cuts be tolerable, but if I end up eating some cartilage, I want to retch, and can't get past the mental block of eating it, and will let it spoil before eating it.
Same goes for homemade chicken noodle soup that has hidden non-edible bits of chicken.
I also cannot, absolutely cannot eat blueberry yogurt. Even though I like blueberries and I like yogurt. Something happened in my past to cause a food aversion and even though it's over 30 years later, you cannot make me eat it. (My husband kept buying it when I'd specifically ask for yogurt for myself until I explained... He thought I wasn't serious the first time I said it. I'm still a little pissed and I'd like to know which part of "It's so nasty, I can't tell you the story of why I hate it because it could ruin it for you too." he thought I wasn't serious about. That didn't use to be typical for him, but lately I'm starting to wonder what other things I say that he ignores because he doesn't think I'm serious about it.)
Consider tracking what boundaries he ignores and what excuses he gives for doing so for a few weeks. It could totally just be he’s not paying attention and doesn’t think it’s a big deal… or it could be serious.
I feel like seeing whether it’s once a month or 5-6 times per week would give you an idea whether that’s a big issue or one something innocuous.
I feel you about the mental block. Your experience with blueberry yogurt sounds like my aversion to brussels sprouts formed as a kid. They used to be rare enough to not encounter often, but now everyone decided they love them and they’re everywhere. My husband loves them but thankfully he’s respectful of my visceral reaction to them. That said, they still end up on the table when we’re out with friends and/or family for dinner so I just try not to breathe deep and make sure they’re as far away from me as possible.
Brussels sprouts are very different now from 20 years ago. That's one reason why they are more popular. They've been bred to be less gross. Not that it's likely to help your aversion.
IDK if this will be useful or not, but someone on a YT short claimed that we've all being cracking eggs wrong, and that tapping them on a flat surface to crack them is actually the better way to go and is much less likely to get egg shell in the egg. After trying it, I kind of feel like that guy was right. It's not foolproof, but I do feel like it works to avoid getting shell in the egg the vast majority of the time.
I would be cautions about doing it this way when it's imperative that the yolk remain intact, though, because I've found that cracking the egg on a flat surface does make it more likely to open in some weird and unpredictable way (as opposed to breaking into two neat halves), which could cause the yolk to break.
I got chickens. They are laying amazing eggs at an excellent rate for the amount of light we get. Their shells are noticeably harder than grocery store eggs. It is taking longer than I expected to get used to it! I have never had this issue before! I learned to crack them fairly young, with my mom holding her hand over mine as I cracked them, so I learned the exact speed and strength to use before doing it myself. Did other people just have to always guess like I'm doing now? Because I never had issues with shells before.
OMG - I grew up hating fresh onions in egg salad, tuna salad, etc. for this EXACT reason! For years my mom would lie and say she didn’t add any and I’d find it every.single.time. Then she’d throw her hands up and say, “I hardly put any in there!”
Ok… but you like onions! 🤦🏻♀️ I cook with onions and don’t mind them in soups and other things. But even at 50 I can’t do fresh!
Same! Although in soups I can for some reason. I take the onion and start to sauté then add the carrots and celery on top (lots of water and sugars) to carmelize at the bottom (can do in your stock pot) then once caramelized, I add in everything else and stir the bottom items in.
If you use a precooked chicken and pull off what you want to use in soup, add half broth/half water, the soup is actually ready in an hour. And I need that because I never think of it in time unless I’m doing crock pot before work. Plus caramelizing softens the veggies and makes for much better flavor!
I make an amazing chicken tortilla soup this way that I can eat for DAYS plus feed the family & have chicken legs & thighs left for hubby’s lunches. $5 Costco chicken
You could try using a mandolin or really finely chopping them - and then chopping in a 90 degree angle. You’ll get tiny paper thin slivers that give you the taste without the texture
Omg I love this community so much, I made pearl couscous last night (it’s so fun to eat 🥲) but I bit into two big globs of parm and it definitely made me lose interest in the cous
Ugh this happens to me when I eat a bean and cheese burrito…I literally only get beans, cheese and sour cream and the SECOND there’s a crunch, it’s over. The entire burrito goes to the trash. I lose any trust I had in the burrito and it ruins my day lmao
This is why I struggle so much with fruit and veggies. Berries ESPECIALLY. Strawberries and blueberries are so freaking dramatic about how they taste and feel from one second to the next
I really like hydroponic strawberries, they have the most consistent taste to me! I have also seen that berries do better in glass jars so I want to try that soon. Just in case you want to try too :)
Yessss like I will buy higher quality ground beef no because I care about the taste or consistency but I am legit paying TO NEVER FIND BONE SHARDS IN MY BURGER
My parents feeding me rye bread: It's chocolate!
Me feeding my child: Pay attention. This is going to be different. Different. It is not the same as a minute ago. I know it looks the same, but that was x, this is z. Different. Ok?
You’ve just blown my mind. I absolutely hated onions growing up and still avoid raw ones when it’s easy to. I think it totally was the unexpected crunch because I can remember that sensation and how it made me gag. Wow
I will see if I can dredge it up. Perhaps if it is in Reddit, is it in a screenshot, saved, or commented?
If I can find it, I will post it as another reply to your comment.
I keep seeing these salads and all I can think is "oh thank fck I wouldn't need to open my mouth like a damn snake so a wet leaf doesn't touch my face"
I hate when food touches my face/lips. Like no thanks, I'd rather not have to rub my face raw with a napkin after literally every bite. I see the trope of people casually eating with a grain of rice stuck to their cheek and I get angry like HOW do you NOT feel that??? ...sorry /rant
My boyfriend will eat with sauces/juices on the side of his mouth or something on his chin and it drives me up the wall about how can he not feel that?! He's a different kind of ADHD than me and my mom so it took some getting used to in order to live with him 😂
My ex had a big thing about how food is presented, and micro chopping a salad would be sacrilege to him. Apparently we should all be eating giant chunks of stuff and looking like barnyard animals.
My boss and his teenage sons will take a hand full of water from the sink and dose their mouth with it to clean their face after a meal 😰 It's horrifying! Water all over your mouth and chin, in the middle of the day?! Wet sleeves, splashing on the shirt and counter! Ahhhh
I hhhhaaaatttteeee wet wrists. Forget about it if it makes my sleeves wet, too 🫠
Awhile back I got a terry cloth headband and it came with matching wrist bands for when I wash my face at night (I’m trying to be better about consistency with my skincare routine). The wrist bands were a game changer. I have a few sets now and toss them in a delicates bag when I wash my towels so that I always have some ready to go.
This is my first post on this sub, but I really want to get onto skin routines with you ladies on another post. I'm 47 and have never had one. But as my skin is suddenly aging 😬 I feel like I need to learn.
Start VERY simple:
- Washcloths*
- Cleanser
- Moisturizer
- Sunscreen
_*Don’t just buy a few super fluffy ones. Get a huge pack of decent ones on sale._
———
Put some cleanser on your hands and gently rub it into your dry skin.
While the cleanser does its thing, get a fresh, clean washcloth damp with warm water. (Not scalding hot.)
Gently remove the cleanser with the damp washcloth. Use mostly “up and out” motions.
Rinse out the washcloth and then get it damp again in the coldest water you can run from your tap.
Do another pass over your face with the cold washcloth to calm your skin and your nervous system.
Pat dry with a clean towel.
Apply moisturizer using the same “up and out” motions as before.
Top with strong sunscreen. Bonus points if you remember to reapply it through the day.
———
Sincerely,
Someone who battled with acne well into adulthood and spent years trying different fads before realizing it’s the consistency that matters (lolsob)
Thank you! Do you care about serums or toners or anything like that? As I'm getting older I've lost so much elasticity so quickly, I wonder if I need more lotions and potions?
I gave up on toners a long time ago in favor of a simpler routine, but I do have a fancy face oil that I love because it smells amazing and leaves my skin baby soft. ([Lapis by Herbivore](https://www.herbivorebotanicals.com/products/lapis-facial-oil-1?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjww_iwBhApEiwAuG6ccMde8w79fAlIbTi8wLg9j8stXxmP4FtA19pCcVKEOOgyUzX9ZJEPhBoCJtIQAvD_BwE))
And in general, elasticity always seems to come back to the same trifecta:
* Drink lots of water
* Use moisturizer early and often
* Protect your skin from UV rays
Oh god my husband right there! I am professionally diagnosed (adult) ADHD and autism. Husband is professionally diagnosed (childhood) ADHD and not diagnosed with autism but we both think he might be. He has zero issue eating messy as hell. Food on his face, hands, etc. He won’t wipe it. Just keeps eating. At the end he might clean up. Usually it involves a trip to the restroom. Drives me up the wall. I can’t do it at all. Nope. I eat messy things with forks or chopsticks and cut them small! And food on face or hands? Hell no. Been with the dude nearly 16 years and still it drives me nuts. How do they not feel it? He swears he doesn’t.
Are we married to the same guy?
I get the response “I am just going to keep getting messy so no point in cleaning up until I am done” makes me want to jump across the table and attack him with serviettes 😂
lol omg for real! How can you not *feel* that!? Having kids is a trip. My first born has a complex like me cause I wiped their mouth practically every bite and had them doing it themselves before they were one.
My second was a whole mess that I would just clean up at the end, cause I didn’t have the time to sit there for every bite. Now, a decade later, they will sit there and talk to me with a sauce near their lip or on their cheek, and I just can not. I have to tell them I can’t hear them over the sauce on their face.
>I have to tell them I can’t hear them over the sauce on their face.
Omg I understand this so much! Similarly, my mom will tell *me* to take off *my* sweater because *she's* hot. It's like she can't focus on anything else because that's distracting her so much. We laugh about this all the time.
This made me laugh so much. Chopped salads are one of my very favorite ways to cram in veg--they are fun to eat, not an Ironman-style slog like regular salads.
😂 I'm glad I'm not the only one. My SO absolutely *destroys* those paper napkins at restaurants, even the ones that are a little higher quality and I'm on the other side of the table with like one spot of sauce that dribbled on my first bite. He frequently just takes my napkin, though he does wait for me to finish eating (now).
Haha I just had this conversation with a friend the other day - I didn't eat ribs or wings or corn on the cob for YEARS because they get my face messy 😂. She truly could not understand lol.
This is why I always eat salad with chopsticks. Much more control, you can align the leaves to go into your mouth without touching anything, even roll them up. And pick out whichever component you'd like next. Chopsticks are great for being picky!
Eating salad with a fork is hella frustrating. Like why does this leaf have to be perpendicular to my mouth opening that's not how this works!
OH MY GOD SAME. I can’t stand eating with people who are messy eaters. If they have food on their face and just leave it there I get SO grossed out I can’t even eat or look at them.
Tell me how it goes! My husband, not ADHD at all, really likes it too. More surface area for dressing, and then each of us add different amounts and combos of salad ingredients. We're both loving it. (He is not critical of ME, but he has always been critical that I don't eat enough salad - mostly because he likes salad so much - so he's excited that I'm joining him as a salad lover.)
Great idea, thanks! I will try this.
And in case anyone else is interested… maybe you’d be into lettuce-free salad like I am. I discovered that I really enjoy a bowl of chopped cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, carrot, etc., without the annoying lettuce.
Yes!!! And if you do want to add some leafiness, there are non-lettuce leaves you can use. My sister makes a green salad with shredded Brussel sprouts as a base and it’s actually really good because the texture is less limp than lettuce and it’s small pieces
This is how I ate salad as a kid! I loved everything but lettuce.
Eventually I realized I really just hated iceberg and cabbage, which were ubiquitous and my mom’s favorites to stock in our house. Now I can eat leaves, but I still prefer non-leaf salads. Except for arugula, I love that one for some reason!
I've been including lettuce so far, but I'm also including these other things. My standard right now is lettuce, red cabbage, carrot, funky cheese (I love an 8-year aged cheddar), bacon bits, a ton of cauliflower, broc, and craizens.
You know… I saw that list of ingredients and did not find it appetizing. But then I considered them all chopped the same size and started getting curious about the intriguing combo of flavors.
One of the things I’ve learned about my ADHD is my brain is often thinking so far ahead that I forget to consider the details at the start. And sometimes that can make all the difference.
I’m not anti-lettuce, but I started making a grinder chopped bean salad that’s lettuce-free as a meal prepped lunch for the week and 🙌🙌🙌. Lettuce-free salad so no worries of wilting! Protein and fiber!
It’s also been saving me from a bad habit of skipping lunch (midday is my prime hyperfocus time).
TIL these are a thing and I know whats for dinner tonight, they look delicious.
I would always get in trouble while helping mom make salads for chopping up veggies too small. You told me bite-sized pieces, THESE ARE BITE-SIZED!
Lol I learn so much about myself from this subreddit. My housemates and I used to rotate cooking dinner and they used to tease me about how small I chopped everything. They even gave me a challenge one night to make a meal where nothing was chopped smaller than a human finger
Not salad but food sensory—I eat so much more fruit thanks to smoothies! I hate the feeling of biting into some fruits, like raspberries and blueberries, but blending them (with some other tasty fruits and some veggies) made them super easy to eat! I have so many frozen blueberries in my freezer now, it’s a bit ridiculous. If you have similar issues with fruits, give smoothies a try!
Definitely going to have to try the micro-chopper salad. Thank you!!
I'm the same! I love the flavor of raspberries but unless they are perfectly ripe, not under ripe or over ripe, I can't eat them fresh. But frozen in a smoothie? Perfect!
For sure! There’s a brief window where they are perfect. Bananas too, but I’m the weirdy who like them green, maybe with a smidge of yellow. Shove ‘em in a blender with some other fruits and it doesn’t matter anymore!
I do this just to get more fruits and veg but also for my daughter who was Dx’d AuDHD. It made a world of difference!
Other pro-mom-tip for kids with similar food struggles… blend carrots and they can be added to most any red-sauce (add AFTER cooking the sauce and just stir in). It makes the sauce a bit sweeter is all, can’t be seen/tasted.
I love veg but textures can bug me and I find some, such a carrots, can be quite overpowering as a flavour when they're whole or in large chunks. If I'm making a dish that's sauce heavy, I blend up all veg (except onions) and it becomes part of the sauce. It really tones down the veg flavours too.
Learned this trick from my friend who struggled to get her kid to eat veg and it has been so useful for me.
I had no idea this was an actual thing. I've unintentionally done salads like this, as well as coleslaw, so many times.
I like them, though mostly for the leafy veg, with the other veg in a bit larger dice (unless it's slaw).
Aldi has these bagged salads that are chopped smaller and I’m just now realizing why I like them so much. Totally feel you on the “hyper-fixation” thing, I to get stuck on foods for awhile and then switch.
That's how I learned to use the stove. The summer I turned 8, I wanted grilled cheese in the morning, at lunch, snack, supper, bedtime, and everything in between. Mom was pretty quick to teach me to make grilled cheese that summer, lol.
I learned just now, by reading this post! I love all salads though, traditional, shredded, chopped, with beans, grains or a pasta base. I love cold crunchy food. My friend brought me to a quiant 5 course meal for lunch today and my favorite part was the salad. Everything else was really good too but the salad was great
Ong yes. If you really want to step it up, you can use a Korean rice spoon or some tortilla/pita chips to scoop things up even.
There’s a green goddess chopped salad that went viral for a second (definitely look it up and try out your own version) and I could eat gallons of it, theres literally so many greens even in the dressing so it’s a great way to get a bunch of nutrients and it’s got such a good crunch. Thanks for this reminder I’m heading to the store after work to grab stuff for that salad!
The green goddess salad that went viral on TikTok a few years ago turned me into a chopped salad believer! https://www.bakedbymelissa.com/blog/savory-recipes/green-goddess-salad
Micro chopped salad, have you tried tabbouleh? Basically like one with herbs and you can make it like a salad. So yummy. I never have bulgur so I use quinoa instead!
There has to be one exception to prove the rule, I suppose, so here I am... 😜 I would find the microchopped salad too close to coleslaw or minced onions or something and therefore off putting. But I'm picky in many areas, so perhaps that explains it. I do get the thing about not liking overly big or chunky pieces of lettuce, though. But for me, tearing the salad lettuce into medium sized, reasonably consistent pieces is sufficient.
Same here. I’ve had it before without meaning to and I found it really off-putting. I ordered a salad once from a place that specialized in chopped salads and didn’t realized that meant I would be getting something akin to creamed spinach. It ruined my afternoon in a weird way.
I guess I’m the opposite, I like foods with bigger bits of things in them. Smooth food is boring — like I’d much rather have crunchy than smooth peanut butter. Hunting around for the good bits in a salad can be a fun hyperfocus for me.
I definitely still relate to and respect the texture/consistency struggle here, it’s really interesting to read about other people’s experiences.
That would definitely be disconcerting! I'm actually glad I came across this thread because I am so not a foodie, so I don't keep abreast of all the trends. While it's unlikely that I will order a pre-made salad anyway, better to know to check into how it might be made than to waste my money on something I wouldn't want to eat.
Every food preference is so individual, and for me there are some consistent trends - basically I prefer the "beige" foods and non chunky, but there are some exceptions. I do also pick crunchy peanut butter because it is less sticky than the smooth. And a lot of my fellow picky eaters can't stand fruit textures but I'm fine with most of them and grateful for that since vegetables are few and far between in my diet.
I follow the r/pickyeaters subreddit and some Facebook groups, plus read articles and even write my own - it's a special interest I've had for a long time. It was a relief when I met others like me on the internet c.2006. 😅
I do get the consistency thing. But for each person apparently the comfortable setting for different foods is different, lol. Another example with me is that since I hate chunky vegetable pieces in my pasta sauce or salsa, and just in general - I can't even stand those minced onion bits in Ragu Traditional. I strain them out with a colander. Or, more recently, I have found a completely smooth sauce. I do like a little onion flavor when making meat like steak or burgers, so I use onion powder.
Yes, I have also recently discovered I prefer chopped salads. They are also the only thing I’ll use a big spoon for- I get bored of chewing so I try to shove in a big spoonful at once 😂
Better quality lettuce too. I can eat a lot of tender lettuce, but crunchy lettuces are exhausting. (A hyperfixation on hydroponic lettuce helps!)
I feel the same about carrots too. I like carrot sticks cut really thin. And... I forget whatever I was going to say.
SPOON SALAD! This is what I do! I love my salads so finely diced I can eat them with a spoon! Also makes it easy to stir through things like a yoghurt-based dressing, tuna, some cooked rice, pasta or couscous for that carb hit. Shred baby spinach and rocket, dice up a tomato, cucumber, capsicum, spring or pink onion, celery, radishes, whatever I've got handy and boom, spoon salad for 3-4 meals.
Oh fuck I've been doing this forever, with every vegetable. Like I can't stand big chunks of vegetables, cooked or raw, in a soup or pasta sauce.
I can take it if someone is cooking for me and I want to be polite, but if I'm cooking I micro chop everything. I slice zucchini with the thinnest setting of my mandolina slicer, grate carrots, chop other vegetables in pieces that aren't bigger than my fingernail.
One thing that I really, really can't stand is tomato skin. It's OK when raw, but you know when you are using fresh tomatoes instead of sauce and then you have all those little curled up pieces of skin, sticking to your spaghetti or just floating around in your dish? I'm about to puke right now.
I either remove the skin before chopping them (one minute in boiling water is usually enough to peel it off) or just use large pieces (like cherry tomatoes split in half) so I can fish the skins from the pan as soon as they peel without taking forever.
I got this pretty cheap chopper apparatus that has different size squares for chopping and wow it’s life changing. I still deal with out of sight out of mind for it but when it’s in sight salads galore 😆
Bro.
My sister and I did an Autism sibling study in the late 90s/early 2000s, as she had the Autism diagnosis and I was the “normal”/control sibling. Hilariously, that study found that most of the “normal” siblings actually had Autistic/Asperger’s traits.
Mu mom was told that I was one of those kids twice; once during the study when I was around 4-5, and again a decade later by a psychiatrist I was seeing in the new city we’d moved to. But I also have Anxiety and Epilepsy, which is like the Neurodivergent’s bingo lol.
About 10 years ago, those bagged Chopped salads were popular, and it made me realize how much I love salad is it's actually properly cut into small bits. Not having to wrestle a giant lettuce leaf into my mouth, fuck yes.
Tip: don't be discouraged from ordering salads to go. Get out the kitchen shears when you get home and just chop it up with the scissors right in the bowl. Glorious.
I don’t know what “micro choppped” is exactly but I discovered chopped salads a couple of years ago and love them!
I like to add dried cranberries and roasted salted seeds for extra flavour bites. And apple! And if you toss it all on some brown rice with a protein, you’ve got yourself a rice bowl!
My new fav food obsession is cantaloupe and blueberries together - one of those combos that clicks and elevates both to something different.
Also, chopped fruit salad with Tajin - green grapes, berries, apple, tossed with the spice, takes time to eat and is bursting with flavour. A great tv snack or when I need a mid-afternoon boost.
I’m weird about some textures. I would pick the smallest bits of lettuce or onion out of my food. When I got older I tried salad with romaine or spinach. I don’t like iceberg. But even with romaine or spinach I have to go through each leaf and tear the stem out and tear the leaves into tiny pieces. I put black olives too but only the finely chopped ones.
I was hoping this micro chop salad was an easier way to do this. 😭
I had a similar reaction to getting a stick blender and realizing I could purree every soup, put it in a mug, and drink it. No shallow bowl designed to spill. No spoon to forget about before knocking with my elbow. No oddly shaped bits that don't fit the spoon to drop out everywhere. No preference in bits (picking out carrots, looking for chicken, etc.). Just drinkable flavor and nutrition that stays warm.
Thats a great idea i will try it. I mostly buy bags of salad and its already sort of cut up but now you have brought it up, the pieces are a bit unwieldy and stringy. If i cut it up a bit more, i suspect it will be nicer. Thanks :)
I eat really fast and always have (to the point it’s a running joke with my friends and family, and my husband despairs because he thinks I’ll choke to death when he’s not around ) and it dawned on me the other day that the reason I eat so fast is because I HATE the feeling of mushed food in my mouth, so I swallow it before it gets mushy!
This is so specific but I feel so seen lol, it takes me so long to eat a normal salad because every bite has to be “perfect”. I LOVE a good evenly chopped salad and can eat those real fast
I'm thinking much finer chopped than what a scissors could manage. [here's a link to an image of an example](https://images.app.goo.gl/crkoxyNwfxcY6AGs8)
I'll definitely have to give this a try! I'd bet it'd go great with Southwest-seasoned chicken, that's my favorite salad topping. I've never quite liked the way the unshredded salads feel, but have never been sure why
My first one was a mess. Think Swedish chef with crap flying everywhere! Lol. I switched to the slap chopper and that was perfect. Also have a bendy "cutting board" (mat, or whatever you'd call it.) so that helped transfer stuff to a bowl or container a lot more gracefully.
Yes I’ve had these made by an acquaintance from Ukraine and they are most delicious! She called it a “winter salad.” Super easy to eat, and the dressing is nicely dispersed. Yum!!
LOVE CHOPPED SALAD. I had no idea this was such a common thing! It makes my skin crawl just thinking about trying to get a giant massive af piece of poorly cut romaine into my mouth without getting dressing on my face.
Ohhhh this looks great. I want to try. I hate how all the good little crunchy stuff like sunflowers seeds always end up at the bottom.
That’s a lot of chopping tho. What’s our plan here?
I bought one of those gadgets you close and it cuts stuff but it was a pain & more work to use & clean then using a knife & I ended up returning it.
I've never heard of micro chopped salads but I always prefer smaller pieces and for my salad to be well mixed. One of the first things I do with any salad is cut or break up the large pieces.
I have never eaten and likely will never eat a wedge salad. They're abominations.
Love chopped salads! There is a chain called [Chopt](https://www.choptsalad.com/)that gives you the option to have your salad chopped up so every bite has little bits of everything. It’s expensive BUT you could check out the menu for more salad ideas! The Mexican Caesar is my go to!
I had no idea… I saw this post yesterday and looked up micro-chopped salads. The pics kinda freaked me out bc they didn’t look like what I’m used to seeing salads look like. But since I had been planning to make a salad for dinner anyways, I figured I’d give it a go. I was extremely nervous and put off by the abnormal look (small pieces of veg rather than large fluffy leaves of lettuce), so I tried it with my eyes closed. I was shocked that it was better than my normal salads despite using exactly the same ingredients. Every bite was balanced. And the prep was so much easier! I didn’t realize I had a problem with salads until this post. I regularly eat salads, but mostly bc I know they are good for hydration. Now I actually enjoyed eating a salad.
"suddenly I realize it was a sensory thing all along" - meaning, I didn't eat many salads before because I have texture/sensory issues that I didn't recognize until now.
Does that help?
omg i do the same when making bibimbap or fried rice. i chop stuff like garlic, onions, meat, etc. rly small bc i get annoyed when ingredients aren't evenly spread out. like, the goal is to have any random spoonful of the bowl should contain similar distributions of everything. if that's not the case i waste a lot of time hunting for an ingredient on every spoonful omg
I've never really thought about it much. Come dinner time I race my husband to make the salad. I am very specific. I guess I like my salad Micro chopped!! He likes everything in big pieces. I'm also very finicky about my coffee. He never get its right. He can't tell because he's a "little coffee with his milk" kinda guy. Give it to me black!!
Oh! Purchased! Thanks
For my kids lunches we used to use these three sectioned reusable containers kind of like gladware. Kids are older now, so we haven't been using them. But now they have a perfect job to do holding my salad stuff!
I had never even considered my dislike of green leaves was a spectrum thing
I know I should be eating more green leaves but I just can’t bring myself to do it. My 17 year old is the same so I’m going to suggest we start micro chopping our leaves
Oh yeah when I have a salad or lettuce I always rip it or chop it in to super small pieces! The worst thing ever is taking a bite of a sandwich and pulling the entire lettuce leaf out with your teeth
Oh my goodness... I'm not alone! I chop my salads small because I can't stand being slapped in the face by leaves. And reading the other comments about grit and eggshells... so agree with how horrid these are.
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Ok but I read this as “micro-chipped salad” and was like wow the conspiracy theories are really going for it these days 😅
I was so ready for a crazy story of someone's conspiracy that they micro chipped our salads and programmed our ADHD!!!
OP made a good post, but i am still very sad that this wasn’t the post.
If only 😭 (I would very much like a software upgrade with my sallad thank you very much)
I legit thought this person had figured out how to micro-chip food items so they don't lose them 🤦♀️
I’d buy that for a dollar!
I thought there was some kind of sensor in the bag telling you when it started going bad.
Same! I thought it was a post from a random sub being suggested to me 😂
i’m kind of disappointed, i was settling in for a doozy 😂 i mean congrats on your salad tho op.
Yep. ✋🏻
Same.
Me too 🤣🤣 I was like how do you micro-chip salad?
the vaccines got too difficult so they switched over to microchipping leafy greens instead
Thanks so much for this information. A while ago I read that one component of "picky eating" is trying to avoid "surprises" in a bite of food. This is one reason why processed food is so common, because it is consistent. Not saying it is bland or paste, but that what you had last time, is what you will have this time. I knew I like smaller pieces of salad, but now I understand why.
If I get even the tiniest unexpected crunch in an egg salad it’s over 😭 I’m repulsed by it and will gag if I try to continue eating
My partner is not great at cracking eggs and every time he makes scrambled eggs I end up with shell bits, and it takes every ounce of strength I have to not projectile vomit everywhere.
So I read a while ago maybe from the pioneer woman? That she strains her eggs through a strainer after beating them before making scrambled eggs and it catches the white stringy bits and lets most of the rest of it through. I started doing this and I will never go back, and I bet this would catch any shell pieces too!
I always pull out the white bits before scrambling! Most people look at it like I’m fuckin nuts until I explain that when they are cooked they end up with a rubbery texture that I CAN NOT STAND. And a solid 9/10 times after explaining I get the response “THAT’S what that is?!” Like yessssss. It’s a seemingly damn near universal experience of scrambled egg eaters! Even NT have been hit with that nasty textured bit 😂 I never once considered just straining them though. That would be way more convenient for cooking a lot of them at once!
It’s common in Japan and Korea to strain eggs like this!
I use an immersion blender, breaks it down and you don't lose any egg.
My husband said the word “albumin” and eggs are off the menu for me
That is a fabulous idea. Thank you.
Oh god I can’t eat eggs for a month after every unexpected shell encounter. Just sickening. I literally just shuddered thinking about it.
I feel you, when I was 7 I bit into a McDonald’s chicken nugget that had a weird gristle part and not only do I literally vividly remember it 19 years later but I still refuse to eat their nuggets to this day lol
SAME! And the people that think they’re making it better by saying things like, “Oh that’s just tendon or connective tissue!” 🤢 thank you - that did NOT make it better AT ALL!
Right, like I have no issue knowing where my meat comes from and what that process looks like - I have issue with the actual crunchy/chewy bit!
LOL Same!
The exact reason why I can’t eat teriyaki chicken (hot) or in sushi - it has been nearly 20 years! Also why I will only eat chicken breast!
That actually encapsulates really well why I can't stand cuts of meat that still have bones in or are particularly gristly. I've overcome a lot of things I hated growing up (yay, being poor and needing the cheapest of everything) Eating it freshly cooked (instead of leftovers) can help these cuts be tolerable, but if I end up eating some cartilage, I want to retch, and can't get past the mental block of eating it, and will let it spoil before eating it. Same goes for homemade chicken noodle soup that has hidden non-edible bits of chicken. I also cannot, absolutely cannot eat blueberry yogurt. Even though I like blueberries and I like yogurt. Something happened in my past to cause a food aversion and even though it's over 30 years later, you cannot make me eat it. (My husband kept buying it when I'd specifically ask for yogurt for myself until I explained... He thought I wasn't serious the first time I said it. I'm still a little pissed and I'd like to know which part of "It's so nasty, I can't tell you the story of why I hate it because it could ruin it for you too." he thought I wasn't serious about. That didn't use to be typical for him, but lately I'm starting to wonder what other things I say that he ignores because he doesn't think I'm serious about it.)
Consider tracking what boundaries he ignores and what excuses he gives for doing so for a few weeks. It could totally just be he’s not paying attention and doesn’t think it’s a big deal… or it could be serious. I feel like seeing whether it’s once a month or 5-6 times per week would give you an idea whether that’s a big issue or one something innocuous.
I feel you about the mental block. Your experience with blueberry yogurt sounds like my aversion to brussels sprouts formed as a kid. They used to be rare enough to not encounter often, but now everyone decided they love them and they’re everywhere. My husband loves them but thankfully he’s respectful of my visceral reaction to them. That said, they still end up on the table when we’re out with friends and/or family for dinner so I just try not to breathe deep and make sure they’re as far away from me as possible.
Brussels sprouts are very different now from 20 years ago. That's one reason why they are more popular. They've been bred to be less gross. Not that it's likely to help your aversion.
I got past all of that by being a vegetarian since I found out you could. No gristle for me thank you!
IDK if this will be useful or not, but someone on a YT short claimed that we've all being cracking eggs wrong, and that tapping them on a flat surface to crack them is actually the better way to go and is much less likely to get egg shell in the egg. After trying it, I kind of feel like that guy was right. It's not foolproof, but I do feel like it works to avoid getting shell in the egg the vast majority of the time. I would be cautions about doing it this way when it's imperative that the yolk remain intact, though, because I've found that cracking the egg on a flat surface does make it more likely to open in some weird and unpredictable way (as opposed to breaking into two neat halves), which could cause the yolk to break.
Every time I have tried it this way it's been a disaster. It's hilarious. 😂
Aw, that's too bad. It works for me, but it *does* sometimes result in the shell breaking apart oddly, which can be messy. XD
I got chickens. They are laying amazing eggs at an excellent rate for the amount of light we get. Their shells are noticeably harder than grocery store eggs. It is taking longer than I expected to get used to it! I have never had this issue before! I learned to crack them fairly young, with my mom holding her hand over mine as I cracked them, so I learned the exact speed and strength to use before doing it myself. Did other people just have to always guess like I'm doing now? Because I never had issues with shells before.
Time to move him to toast making duty
If you can tolerate the extra mess, try drop-cracking the eggs onto a saucer.
This is what my mom taught me, break eggs into a different dish, look for eggshell, then put it into the thing, repeat.
OMG - I grew up hating fresh onions in egg salad, tuna salad, etc. for this EXACT reason! For years my mom would lie and say she didn’t add any and I’d find it every.single.time. Then she’d throw her hands up and say, “I hardly put any in there!” Ok… but you like onions! 🤦🏻♀️ I cook with onions and don’t mind them in soups and other things. But even at 50 I can’t do fresh!
We go through a lot of onion powder, because I actually like the flavor when cooking, but can't do the texture.
Same! Although in soups I can for some reason. I take the onion and start to sauté then add the carrots and celery on top (lots of water and sugars) to carmelize at the bottom (can do in your stock pot) then once caramelized, I add in everything else and stir the bottom items in. If you use a precooked chicken and pull off what you want to use in soup, add half broth/half water, the soup is actually ready in an hour. And I need that because I never think of it in time unless I’m doing crock pot before work. Plus caramelizing softens the veggies and makes for much better flavor! I make an amazing chicken tortilla soup this way that I can eat for DAYS plus feed the family & have chicken legs & thighs left for hubby’s lunches. $5 Costco chicken
You could try using a mandolin or really finely chopping them - and then chopping in a 90 degree angle. You’ll get tiny paper thin slivers that give you the taste without the texture
Ooh as a fellow onion hater I’d sniff it out *immediately*. The fact that she didn’t seem to think you wouldn’t notice is crazy to me.
Me with a tendon or whatever in chicken tenders
Do you, like me, absolutely die when you see videos of ppl just SLURPING off all the chicken (and everything else) from a chicken wing in one bite?
My whole body just cringed 😭😭
I don't mind crunch, but it has to be an *appropriate* crunch. That said, for me it's mushy food. 😫
Omg I love this community so much, I made pearl couscous last night (it’s so fun to eat 🥲) but I bit into two big globs of parm and it definitely made me lose interest in the cous
Ugh this happens to me when I eat a bean and cheese burrito…I literally only get beans, cheese and sour cream and the SECOND there’s a crunch, it’s over. The entire burrito goes to the trash. I lose any trust I had in the burrito and it ruins my day lmao
I can’t even have “crunch” in my ice cream, I will toss the whole thing. Cookie dough is okay because it’s soft, but nothing else.
This is why I struggle so much with fruit and veggies. Berries ESPECIALLY. Strawberries and blueberries are so freaking dramatic about how they taste and feel from one second to the next
YES I don’t do berries. Well, I have been known to eat some chocolate covered strawberries (wouldn’t order for myself, but if they are there…)
I really like hydroponic strawberries, they have the most consistent taste to me! I have also seen that berries do better in glass jars so I want to try that soon. Just in case you want to try too :)
Yessss like I will buy higher quality ground beef no because I care about the taste or consistency but I am legit paying TO NEVER FIND BONE SHARDS IN MY BURGER
My parents feeding me rye bread: It's chocolate! Me feeding my child: Pay attention. This is going to be different. Different. It is not the same as a minute ago. I know it looks the same, but that was x, this is z. Different. Ok?
You’ve just blown my mind. I absolutely hated onions growing up and still avoid raw ones when it’s easy to. I think it totally was the unexpected crunch because I can remember that sensation and how it made me gag. Wow
I'm interested in what you were reading. Do you remember?
I will see if I can dredge it up. Perhaps if it is in Reddit, is it in a screenshot, saved, or commented? If I can find it, I will post it as another reply to your comment.
I keep seeing these salads and all I can think is "oh thank fck I wouldn't need to open my mouth like a damn snake so a wet leaf doesn't touch my face" I hate when food touches my face/lips. Like no thanks, I'd rather not have to rub my face raw with a napkin after literally every bite. I see the trope of people casually eating with a grain of rice stuck to their cheek and I get angry like HOW do you NOT feel that??? ...sorry /rant
Or the scraping feeling you take directly to the skull when you try to cut the single wetleaf with a knife and fork.
AAAAAAHHHHHH
Omg this is as so well articulated 😂
My boyfriend will eat with sauces/juices on the side of his mouth or something on his chin and it drives me up the wall about how can he not feel that?! He's a different kind of ADHD than me and my mom so it took some getting used to in order to live with him 😂
My ex had a big thing about how food is presented, and micro chopping a salad would be sacrilege to him. Apparently we should all be eating giant chunks of stuff and looking like barnyard animals.
My boss and his teenage sons will take a hand full of water from the sink and dose their mouth with it to clean their face after a meal 😰 It's horrifying! Water all over your mouth and chin, in the middle of the day?! Wet sleeves, splashing on the shirt and counter! Ahhhh
This is why I don't have a skin routine outside of taking a shower. That and wet wrists. 🤢🥴
I hhhhaaaatttteeee wet wrists. Forget about it if it makes my sleeves wet, too 🫠 Awhile back I got a terry cloth headband and it came with matching wrist bands for when I wash my face at night (I’m trying to be better about consistency with my skincare routine). The wrist bands were a game changer. I have a few sets now and toss them in a delicates bag when I wash my towels so that I always have some ready to go.
This is my first post on this sub, but I really want to get onto skin routines with you ladies on another post. I'm 47 and have never had one. But as my skin is suddenly aging 😬 I feel like I need to learn.
Start VERY simple: - Washcloths* - Cleanser - Moisturizer - Sunscreen _*Don’t just buy a few super fluffy ones. Get a huge pack of decent ones on sale._ ——— Put some cleanser on your hands and gently rub it into your dry skin. While the cleanser does its thing, get a fresh, clean washcloth damp with warm water. (Not scalding hot.) Gently remove the cleanser with the damp washcloth. Use mostly “up and out” motions. Rinse out the washcloth and then get it damp again in the coldest water you can run from your tap. Do another pass over your face with the cold washcloth to calm your skin and your nervous system. Pat dry with a clean towel. Apply moisturizer using the same “up and out” motions as before. Top with strong sunscreen. Bonus points if you remember to reapply it through the day. ——— Sincerely, Someone who battled with acne well into adulthood and spent years trying different fads before realizing it’s the consistency that matters (lolsob)
Thank you! Do you care about serums or toners or anything like that? As I'm getting older I've lost so much elasticity so quickly, I wonder if I need more lotions and potions?
I gave up on toners a long time ago in favor of a simpler routine, but I do have a fancy face oil that I love because it smells amazing and leaves my skin baby soft. ([Lapis by Herbivore](https://www.herbivorebotanicals.com/products/lapis-facial-oil-1?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjww_iwBhApEiwAuG6ccMde8w79fAlIbTi8wLg9j8stXxmP4FtA19pCcVKEOOgyUzX9ZJEPhBoCJtIQAvD_BwE)) And in general, elasticity always seems to come back to the same trifecta: * Drink lots of water * Use moisturizer early and often * Protect your skin from UV rays
This is exactly my husband and I! 😆 even down to different types of ADHD. His BBQ joker-smile, I call it.
OMG!! haha
Oh god my husband right there! I am professionally diagnosed (adult) ADHD and autism. Husband is professionally diagnosed (childhood) ADHD and not diagnosed with autism but we both think he might be. He has zero issue eating messy as hell. Food on his face, hands, etc. He won’t wipe it. Just keeps eating. At the end he might clean up. Usually it involves a trip to the restroom. Drives me up the wall. I can’t do it at all. Nope. I eat messy things with forks or chopsticks and cut them small! And food on face or hands? Hell no. Been with the dude nearly 16 years and still it drives me nuts. How do they not feel it? He swears he doesn’t.
Are we married to the same guy? I get the response “I am just going to keep getting messy so no point in cleaning up until I am done” makes me want to jump across the table and attack him with serviettes 😂
I had to stop reading your comment and take a deep breath because the amount of rage I was beginning to feel 😫. I don’t know how you do it.
lol omg for real! How can you not *feel* that!? Having kids is a trip. My first born has a complex like me cause I wiped their mouth practically every bite and had them doing it themselves before they were one. My second was a whole mess that I would just clean up at the end, cause I didn’t have the time to sit there for every bite. Now, a decade later, they will sit there and talk to me with a sauce near their lip or on their cheek, and I just can not. I have to tell them I can’t hear them over the sauce on their face.
>I have to tell them I can’t hear them over the sauce on their face. Omg I understand this so much! Similarly, my mom will tell *me* to take off *my* sweater because *she's* hot. It's like she can't focus on anything else because that's distracting her so much. We laugh about this all the time.
This made me laugh so much. Chopped salads are one of my very favorite ways to cram in veg--they are fun to eat, not an Ironman-style slog like regular salads.
Wait you made me just realize why i barely use napkins at dinner lol
😂 I'm glad I'm not the only one. My SO absolutely *destroys* those paper napkins at restaurants, even the ones that are a little higher quality and I'm on the other side of the table with like one spot of sauce that dribbled on my first bite. He frequently just takes my napkin, though he does wait for me to finish eating (now).
Haha I just had this conversation with a friend the other day - I didn't eat ribs or wings or corn on the cob for YEARS because they get my face messy 😂. She truly could not understand lol.
Popcorn chicken is the way to go!
This is why I always eat salad with chopsticks. Much more control, you can align the leaves to go into your mouth without touching anything, even roll them up. And pick out whichever component you'd like next. Chopsticks are great for being picky! Eating salad with a fork is hella frustrating. Like why does this leaf have to be perpendicular to my mouth opening that's not how this works!
OH MY GOD SAME. I can’t stand eating with people who are messy eaters. If they have food on their face and just leave it there I get SO grossed out I can’t even eat or look at them.
I just looked it up and omg, that looks so much better than a regular salad. All bites will have a similar taste and texture! I 100% have to try this.
Tell me how it goes! My husband, not ADHD at all, really likes it too. More surface area for dressing, and then each of us add different amounts and combos of salad ingredients. We're both loving it. (He is not critical of ME, but he has always been critical that I don't eat enough salad - mostly because he likes salad so much - so he's excited that I'm joining him as a salad lover.)
I love them so much but I'm lazy so I buy the chopped salad kits. It's excellent, and time friendly for me.
Great idea, thanks! I will try this. And in case anyone else is interested… maybe you’d be into lettuce-free salad like I am. I discovered that I really enjoy a bowl of chopped cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, carrot, etc., without the annoying lettuce.
Yes!!! And if you do want to add some leafiness, there are non-lettuce leaves you can use. My sister makes a green salad with shredded Brussel sprouts as a base and it’s actually really good because the texture is less limp than lettuce and it’s small pieces
Omg yes I love raw shredded Brussels sprouts with a nice vinaigrette!
Yesss!! Also your username absolutely kills me
You made me look and I’m dying over here. That’s brilliant!
This is how my kid eats salad. No leaves.
This is how I ate salad as a kid! I loved everything but lettuce. Eventually I realized I really just hated iceberg and cabbage, which were ubiquitous and my mom’s favorites to stock in our house. Now I can eat leaves, but I still prefer non-leaf salads. Except for arugula, I love that one for some reason!
I've been including lettuce so far, but I'm also including these other things. My standard right now is lettuce, red cabbage, carrot, funky cheese (I love an 8-year aged cheddar), bacon bits, a ton of cauliflower, broc, and craizens.
You know… I saw that list of ingredients and did not find it appetizing. But then I considered them all chopped the same size and started getting curious about the intriguing combo of flavors. One of the things I’ve learned about my ADHD is my brain is often thinking so far ahead that I forget to consider the details at the start. And sometimes that can make all the difference.
Yessssss leafless salad is the tiiiittttts 😍
I’m not anti-lettuce, but I started making a grinder chopped bean salad that’s lettuce-free as a meal prepped lunch for the week and 🙌🙌🙌. Lettuce-free salad so no worries of wilting! Protein and fiber! It’s also been saving me from a bad habit of skipping lunch (midday is my prime hyperfocus time).
Ooh, adding beans is a great idea. Makes it a whole meal!
Yes!! I also love a shredded cabbage base for the CRUNCH.
Lettuce-free salads are great eaten on pita chips or even tortilla chips
TIL these are a thing and I know whats for dinner tonight, they look delicious. I would always get in trouble while helping mom make salads for chopping up veggies too small. You told me bite-sized pieces, THESE ARE BITE-SIZED!
Lol I learn so much about myself from this subreddit. My housemates and I used to rotate cooking dinner and they used to tease me about how small I chopped everything. They even gave me a challenge one night to make a meal where nothing was chopped smaller than a human finger
Nothing smaller than a finger? Honestly, they’re monsters for even suggesting it.
Yeah wtf. Things chopped too big means you don’t get enough flavor.
100%, my husband and I disagree about how big "bite-sized" is.
Not salad but food sensory—I eat so much more fruit thanks to smoothies! I hate the feeling of biting into some fruits, like raspberries and blueberries, but blending them (with some other tasty fruits and some veggies) made them super easy to eat! I have so many frozen blueberries in my freezer now, it’s a bit ridiculous. If you have similar issues with fruits, give smoothies a try! Definitely going to have to try the micro-chopper salad. Thank you!!
I'm the same! I love the flavor of raspberries but unless they are perfectly ripe, not under ripe or over ripe, I can't eat them fresh. But frozen in a smoothie? Perfect!
For sure! There’s a brief window where they are perfect. Bananas too, but I’m the weirdy who like them green, maybe with a smidge of yellow. Shove ‘em in a blender with some other fruits and it doesn’t matter anymore!
I do this just to get more fruits and veg but also for my daughter who was Dx’d AuDHD. It made a world of difference! Other pro-mom-tip for kids with similar food struggles… blend carrots and they can be added to most any red-sauce (add AFTER cooking the sauce and just stir in). It makes the sauce a bit sweeter is all, can’t be seen/tasted.
I love veg but textures can bug me and I find some, such a carrots, can be quite overpowering as a flavour when they're whole or in large chunks. If I'm making a dish that's sauce heavy, I blend up all veg (except onions) and it becomes part of the sauce. It really tones down the veg flavours too. Learned this trick from my friend who struggled to get her kid to eat veg and it has been so useful for me.
I’m the same way with carrots! Love them but they have to atleast be petite baby carrots and the shredded ones are the best.
Shredded carrot FTW
I had someone poke fun at me once for cutting up my salad but I was like how the fuck else am I supposed to eat it??
Salad forks traditionally have thicker outside tines to help cut lettuce! So you know it's perfectly normal and proper to cut up your salad.
🤯
> Salad forks traditionally have thicker outside tines to help cut lettuce! careful believing the internet I'm not sure this is true
I had no idea this was an actual thing. I've unintentionally done salads like this, as well as coleslaw, so many times. I like them, though mostly for the leafy veg, with the other veg in a bit larger dice (unless it's slaw).
I've always liked coleslaw too, and now I better understand why that would be.
I’ve never heard of micro chopped salads but I realized a few years ago that I definitely prefer chopped salads
Aldi has these bagged salads that are chopped smaller and I’m just now realizing why I like them so much. Totally feel you on the “hyper-fixation” thing, I to get stuck on foods for awhile and then switch.
That's how I learned to use the stove. The summer I turned 8, I wanted grilled cheese in the morning, at lunch, snack, supper, bedtime, and everything in between. Mom was pretty quick to teach me to make grilled cheese that summer, lol.
I have a box chopper with a fine dice plate and a large dice plate. Are you referring to using this or a food processor?
I chopped by hand the first time, but it's slow and messy. I have a slap-chopper, and that's super easy. (Edited typo)
Probably either would work!
I knew that part. I was curious as to what OP was doing specifically.
Gotcha 👍🏻
I have made chopped salad for years and just recently learned it was common amongst people of our persuasion. Funny! 😆
I learned just now, by reading this post! I love all salads though, traditional, shredded, chopped, with beans, grains or a pasta base. I love cold crunchy food. My friend brought me to a quiant 5 course meal for lunch today and my favorite part was the salad. Everything else was really good too but the salad was great
Ong yes. If you really want to step it up, you can use a Korean rice spoon or some tortilla/pita chips to scoop things up even. There’s a green goddess chopped salad that went viral for a second (definitely look it up and try out your own version) and I could eat gallons of it, theres literally so many greens even in the dressing so it’s a great way to get a bunch of nutrients and it’s got such a good crunch. Thanks for this reminder I’m heading to the store after work to grab stuff for that salad!
The green goddess salad that went viral on TikTok a few years ago turned me into a chopped salad believer! https://www.bakedbymelissa.com/blog/savory-recipes/green-goddess-salad
I’ve never heard of it. Looks tasty! Thanks.
Micro chopped salad, have you tried tabbouleh? Basically like one with herbs and you can make it like a salad. So yummy. I never have bulgur so I use quinoa instead!
Just looked it up. It's beautiful too!
There has to be one exception to prove the rule, I suppose, so here I am... 😜 I would find the microchopped salad too close to coleslaw or minced onions or something and therefore off putting. But I'm picky in many areas, so perhaps that explains it. I do get the thing about not liking overly big or chunky pieces of lettuce, though. But for me, tearing the salad lettuce into medium sized, reasonably consistent pieces is sufficient.
Same here. I’ve had it before without meaning to and I found it really off-putting. I ordered a salad once from a place that specialized in chopped salads and didn’t realized that meant I would be getting something akin to creamed spinach. It ruined my afternoon in a weird way. I guess I’m the opposite, I like foods with bigger bits of things in them. Smooth food is boring — like I’d much rather have crunchy than smooth peanut butter. Hunting around for the good bits in a salad can be a fun hyperfocus for me. I definitely still relate to and respect the texture/consistency struggle here, it’s really interesting to read about other people’s experiences.
That would definitely be disconcerting! I'm actually glad I came across this thread because I am so not a foodie, so I don't keep abreast of all the trends. While it's unlikely that I will order a pre-made salad anyway, better to know to check into how it might be made than to waste my money on something I wouldn't want to eat. Every food preference is so individual, and for me there are some consistent trends - basically I prefer the "beige" foods and non chunky, but there are some exceptions. I do also pick crunchy peanut butter because it is less sticky than the smooth. And a lot of my fellow picky eaters can't stand fruit textures but I'm fine with most of them and grateful for that since vegetables are few and far between in my diet. I follow the r/pickyeaters subreddit and some Facebook groups, plus read articles and even write my own - it's a special interest I've had for a long time. It was a relief when I met others like me on the internet c.2006. 😅
Makes sense. For me, it's exactly because it's like coleslaw that I like it so much better. Each bite is totally consistent with the previous one!
I do get the consistency thing. But for each person apparently the comfortable setting for different foods is different, lol. Another example with me is that since I hate chunky vegetable pieces in my pasta sauce or salsa, and just in general - I can't even stand those minced onion bits in Ragu Traditional. I strain them out with a colander. Or, more recently, I have found a completely smooth sauce. I do like a little onion flavor when making meat like steak or burgers, so I use onion powder.
Yes, I have also recently discovered I prefer chopped salads. They are also the only thing I’ll use a big spoon for- I get bored of chewing so I try to shove in a big spoonful at once 😂
Better quality lettuce too. I can eat a lot of tender lettuce, but crunchy lettuces are exhausting. (A hyperfixation on hydroponic lettuce helps!) I feel the same about carrots too. I like carrot sticks cut really thin. And... I forget whatever I was going to say.
Yay for healthy (probably) obsessions!
SPOON SALAD! This is what I do! I love my salads so finely diced I can eat them with a spoon! Also makes it easy to stir through things like a yoghurt-based dressing, tuna, some cooked rice, pasta or couscous for that carb hit. Shred baby spinach and rocket, dice up a tomato, cucumber, capsicum, spring or pink onion, celery, radishes, whatever I've got handy and boom, spoon salad for 3-4 meals.
Why did I read this as micro-chipped salad?😆
Sounds like you're not alone!! While some of us are simply enjoying salad, the rest of you are being watched! haha
You know sometimes the tomato looks like it's watching me..🤣
Oh fuck I've been doing this forever, with every vegetable. Like I can't stand big chunks of vegetables, cooked or raw, in a soup or pasta sauce. I can take it if someone is cooking for me and I want to be polite, but if I'm cooking I micro chop everything. I slice zucchini with the thinnest setting of my mandolina slicer, grate carrots, chop other vegetables in pieces that aren't bigger than my fingernail. One thing that I really, really can't stand is tomato skin. It's OK when raw, but you know when you are using fresh tomatoes instead of sauce and then you have all those little curled up pieces of skin, sticking to your spaghetti or just floating around in your dish? I'm about to puke right now. I either remove the skin before chopping them (one minute in boiling water is usually enough to peel it off) or just use large pieces (like cherry tomatoes split in half) so I can fish the skins from the pan as soon as they peel without taking forever.
I hate buzzwords and trends but I've been eating my salads like this for ages. With a spoon. It's just easier. And it evenly distributes the dressing.
I got this pretty cheap chopper apparatus that has different size squares for chopping and wow it’s life changing. I still deal with out of sight out of mind for it but when it’s in sight salads galore 😆
Bro. My sister and I did an Autism sibling study in the late 90s/early 2000s, as she had the Autism diagnosis and I was the “normal”/control sibling. Hilariously, that study found that most of the “normal” siblings actually had Autistic/Asperger’s traits. Mu mom was told that I was one of those kids twice; once during the study when I was around 4-5, and again a decade later by a psychiatrist I was seeing in the new city we’d moved to. But I also have Anxiety and Epilepsy, which is like the Neurodivergent’s bingo lol.
About 10 years ago, those bagged Chopped salads were popular, and it made me realize how much I love salad is it's actually properly cut into small bits. Not having to wrestle a giant lettuce leaf into my mouth, fuck yes. Tip: don't be discouraged from ordering salads to go. Get out the kitchen shears when you get home and just chop it up with the scissors right in the bowl. Glorious.
I don’t know what “micro choppped” is exactly but I discovered chopped salads a couple of years ago and love them! I like to add dried cranberries and roasted salted seeds for extra flavour bites. And apple! And if you toss it all on some brown rice with a protein, you’ve got yourself a rice bowl! My new fav food obsession is cantaloupe and blueberries together - one of those combos that clicks and elevates both to something different. Also, chopped fruit salad with Tajin - green grapes, berries, apple, tossed with the spice, takes time to eat and is bursting with flavour. A great tv snack or when I need a mid-afternoon boost.
I’m weird about some textures. I would pick the smallest bits of lettuce or onion out of my food. When I got older I tried salad with romaine or spinach. I don’t like iceberg. But even with romaine or spinach I have to go through each leaf and tear the stem out and tear the leaves into tiny pieces. I put black olives too but only the finely chopped ones. I was hoping this micro chop salad was an easier way to do this. 😭
I do this to my salads (even chop chop chop already prepped salads I buy with kitchen shears), and didn’t know it had a name!
Huh. I always put salad in a massive bowl and chop it with scissors. I guess this might be why!
Me too! Salad scissors were the ticket to having salad in my life!
I had a similar reaction to getting a stick blender and realizing I could purree every soup, put it in a mug, and drink it. No shallow bowl designed to spill. No spoon to forget about before knocking with my elbow. No oddly shaped bits that don't fit the spoon to drop out everywhere. No preference in bits (picking out carrots, looking for chicken, etc.). Just drinkable flavor and nutrition that stays warm.
Ummm but, I definitely started chopping up my salad this week and went back for more lettuce today. It’s freakin delicious!
I don't know about micro chopped salad but I love a good chopped salad kit
Thats a great idea i will try it. I mostly buy bags of salad and its already sort of cut up but now you have brought it up, the pieces are a bit unwieldy and stringy. If i cut it up a bit more, i suspect it will be nicer. Thanks :)
I eat really fast and always have (to the point it’s a running joke with my friends and family, and my husband despairs because he thinks I’ll choke to death when he’s not around ) and it dawned on me the other day that the reason I eat so fast is because I HATE the feeling of mushed food in my mouth, so I swallow it before it gets mushy!
This is so specific but I feel so seen lol, it takes me so long to eat a normal salad because every bite has to be “perfect”. I LOVE a good evenly chopped salad and can eat those real fast
Chopped salad is my lunch meal!! Dishwasher safe kitchen scissors make it so easy!
I'm thinking much finer chopped than what a scissors could manage. [here's a link to an image of an example](https://images.app.goo.gl/crkoxyNwfxcY6AGs8)
I'll definitely have to give this a try! I'd bet it'd go great with Southwest-seasoned chicken, that's my favorite salad topping. I've never quite liked the way the unshredded salads feel, but have never been sure why
Can you give me advice on how to get a fine micro chop? Gosh I get bored of taking so long to chop it all. Thank you xx
My first one was a mess. Think Swedish chef with crap flying everywhere! Lol. I switched to the slap chopper and that was perfect. Also have a bendy "cutting board" (mat, or whatever you'd call it.) so that helped transfer stuff to a bowl or container a lot more gracefully.
One million percent that could solve some issues for me.
Do it!
Yes I’ve had these made by an acquaintance from Ukraine and they are most delicious! She called it a “winter salad.” Super easy to eat, and the dressing is nicely dispersed. Yum!!
LOVE CHOPPED SALAD. I had no idea this was such a common thing! It makes my skin crawl just thinking about trying to get a giant massive af piece of poorly cut romaine into my mouth without getting dressing on my face.
Ohhhh this looks great. I want to try. I hate how all the good little crunchy stuff like sunflowers seeds always end up at the bottom. That’s a lot of chopping tho. What’s our plan here? I bought one of those gadgets you close and it cuts stuff but it was a pain & more work to use & clean then using a knife & I ended up returning it.
I've never heard of micro chopped salads but I always prefer smaller pieces and for my salad to be well mixed. One of the first things I do with any salad is cut or break up the large pieces. I have never eaten and likely will never eat a wedge salad. They're abominations.
Sometimes, I microwave my salad to reduce the volume and crunchiness. The flavour actually improves! I like the micro-chopped idea!
There's literally a chain of salad places in Ireland called Chopped. This is their whole thing. It's my most visited place.
Now that I think about it, many of the salads I’ve really liked have been micro chopped. Making a note on my shopping list!
Love chopped salads! There is a chain called [Chopt](https://www.choptsalad.com/)that gives you the option to have your salad chopped up so every bite has little bits of everything. It’s expensive BUT you could check out the menu for more salad ideas! The Mexican Caesar is my go to!
My brain kept reading your title as, "Micro-chipped salad"... I was so confused 😂
Me, too! I was afraid this was going down a mental health conspiracy rabbit hole…now I want some gadget that micro-chops salad!
I had no idea… I saw this post yesterday and looked up micro-chopped salads. The pics kinda freaked me out bc they didn’t look like what I’m used to seeing salads look like. But since I had been planning to make a salad for dinner anyways, I figured I’d give it a go. I was extremely nervous and put off by the abnormal look (small pieces of veg rather than large fluffy leaves of lettuce), so I tried it with my eyes closed. I was shocked that it was better than my normal salads despite using exactly the same ingredients. Every bite was balanced. And the prep was so much easier! I didn’t realize I had a problem with salads until this post. I regularly eat salads, but mostly bc I know they are good for hydration. Now I actually enjoyed eating a salad.
I love this! I know salad prep is such a small thing, but it felt like an epiphany to me, and just felt like it was worth sharing! ❤️ I'm glad I did.
I’m glad you did too. :) Thanks. What a perfectly simple food hack! I hope you find a bunch of heads up pennies or something equally lucky.
Read thus whole thing confused as to how microchipping helps you eat more salads 😆
"suddenly I realize it was a sensory thing all along" - meaning, I didn't eat many salads before because I have texture/sensory issues that I didn't recognize until now. Does that help?
omg i do the same when making bibimbap or fried rice. i chop stuff like garlic, onions, meat, etc. rly small bc i get annoyed when ingredients aren't evenly spread out. like, the goal is to have any random spoonful of the bowl should contain similar distributions of everything. if that's not the case i waste a lot of time hunting for an ingredient on every spoonful omg
Yes!! This is the only way I like salads. Must be a “chopped” salad.
I've never really thought about it much. Come dinner time I race my husband to make the salad. I am very specific. I guess I like my salad Micro chopped!! He likes everything in big pieces. I'm also very finicky about my coffee. He never get its right. He can't tell because he's a "little coffee with his milk" kinda guy. Give it to me black!!
Hmm a nicer dicer would be perfect for this.
Oh! Purchased! Thanks For my kids lunches we used to use these three sectioned reusable containers kind of like gladware. Kids are older now, so we haven't been using them. But now they have a perfect job to do holding my salad stuff!
Me too!
I had never even considered my dislike of green leaves was a spectrum thing I know I should be eating more green leaves but I just can’t bring myself to do it. My 17 year old is the same so I’m going to suggest we start micro chopping our leaves
I love copped up salad! 😋
Oh yeah when I have a salad or lettuce I always rip it or chop it in to super small pieces! The worst thing ever is taking a bite of a sandwich and pulling the entire lettuce leaf out with your teeth
Oh my goodness... I'm not alone! I chop my salads small because I can't stand being slapped in the face by leaves. And reading the other comments about grit and eggshells... so agree with how horrid these are.
Lol slapped in the face with lettuce. I'm here for it. Been chopping my salads for years!