Delicious Cheese Toppings for Salad

The salty flavor of feta means you don't have to add any extra salt to your salad. Often, you don't even need to add dressing -- the creamy, moist texture of the cheese is enough.

• Quinoa and Feta Salad with Sweet Potatoes, Basil, and Garlic-Lime Dressing
• Butter Lettuce Salad With Feta, Mandarin Oranges, and Kalamata Olives
• Roasted White Bean and Tomato Salad with Feta and Pesto
• Carrot & Feta Salad with Paprika Dressing
• Fattoush Salad With Feta
• Pearl Barley Salad with Mushrooms and Feta
• Ch...MOREopped Salad With Feta

This salty, nutty Italian cheese is most often grated over pasta but it's equally delicious grated or shaved over salad. A delicious substitution for Parmigiano-Reggiano is Grana Padano.

• Arugula Salad With Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Raw Kale and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Parmigiano
• Lentil and Artichoke Salad with Parmigiano
• Celery Salad with Grana Padano Cheese
• White Bean & Tomato Salad Garnished with Sage & Grana Padano
• Green Salad with Grana Padano and Garlic Paprika Dressing
• Kale and...MORE Avocado Salad with Parmesan Dressing

Blue cheese has always been popular in salads, usually in a creamy blue cheese dressing. You can make your own blue cheese dressing or just crumble the cheese right over the greens. Salty, sharp blue cheese is balanced beautifully by slightly sweet flavors in a salad: try beets, candied nuts, dried fruit or slivers of apple or pear.

• Blue Cheese with Grilled Romaine
• Blue Cheese and Portobello Mushroom Salad
• Wild Rice with Blue Cheese and Cranberries
• Green Salad with Blue Cheese Vinaigrette

A few chunks or handfuls of grated cheddar can turn a light salad into a filling meal. Sharp cheddar is especially good.

• Fennel and Apple Salad with Sharp White Cheddar
• Farro & Arugula with Cheddar and Pumpkin Seeds
• Arugula & Cheddar Salad with Hazelnuts
• Mexican Olive Salad

The popularity of goat cheese in salads soared when chefs started garnishing salads with fried rounds of goat cheese. Fried or not, it's still a great cheese for salad, even if simply crumbled on top of greens.

• Greens with Fried Goat Cheese Croutons
• Red Quinoa and Goat Cheese Salad with Fennel and Corn
• Goat Cheese and Beet Salad
• Red Quinoa and Wild Rice Salad with Goat Cheese
• Curry Couscous Salad with Goat Cheese