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.

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

Blue cheese has always been popular in salads, usually in a creamy blue cheese dressing. You can make your own blue cheese dressing, vinaigrette, 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.

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

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.