I like the vinegar salad with lemon juice instead of vinegar and no sugar or oil and lots of dill and a bit of garlic - it comes out like a sour pickle.
Asparagus and salmon salad - poach the salmon, cook asparagus until just done, chill, flake the salmon and chop the asparagus and add some finely diced onion and dress with olive oil, lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper. A bit of a luxury most places, but both salmon and asparagus are ridiculously cheap where I live.
Greek salad - dice cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and toss with greek olives, crumbled feta cheese, and a dressing made of olive oil, a bit of vinegar, lemon juice, salt, pepper and oregano.
You can do the same thing with random vegetables. I can't get good lettuce easily, so I'll make lettuceless salads - chopped onion (white or green), red or green peppers, snow peas (aka mange tout), celery, carrots, mushrooms, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, etc, cut into bite sized pieces. Olives, crumbled cheese or pinenuts go well too. You can dress it with storebought dressing, homemade dressing or just olive oil and balsamic vinegar (I do that, with a grinding of fresh black pepper).
Pasta salad - cook pasta and rinse with cold water. You can add various things, including canned corn, mushrooms, diced red pepper, tuna, celery, onion, olives, chopped dill pickles, etc, and dress with a vinagrette or cream based dressing.
Marinated mushroom salad - take small white mushrooms and blanch in boiling water. Mix with a vinagrette dressing and finely diced onion and let sit for a few hours.
