I’ve been on a huge salad-kick recently and have personally vetted out SO many recipes from the Gram. There have been a few that made the roster as recurring items in my kitchen that I highly recommend you try out asap (or at least stood out enough for an honorable mention).
Lentil & Cabbage Salad w/ Honey Walnut Dressing
Ingredients:
Salad • 2c. dried green lentils • 2c. green cabbage, chopped finely • 2c. cherry tomatoes, halved • 3 green onions (or more to taste), chopped finely • 2/3c. feta cheese, broken up • Salt
Dressing • 1/3c. toasted walnuts • 1 large garlic clove • 1TBsp. honey • 1/3c. apple cider vinegar • 1/3c. extra virgin olive oil • 1/2tsp. salt • 1/4tsp. fresh cracked black pepper
- Start cooking the lentils, we will want these to cool before mixing the salad
- Chop all veg! Go ahead and mix into a large bowl
- In a high-speed blender combine all ingredients for dressing. *note* if your walnuts are not already roasted, go ahead and heat 1TBsp. of olive oil over medium high heat to toast your walnuts, approx. 3-5mins once oil is hot, stirring constantly to avoid burning.
- Add your cooled lentils, feta, and dressing.
Recipe by @kat_can_cook from her Hungry Lady Salad Series. Even my mom, who might actually be the pickiest eater alive, enjoyed this one.
Lasts approximately 1 week in the fridge, thanks to the hardy base of cabbage, your salad won’t get too soggy over the days. Tangy and filling, this salad is one of my favorites to make ahead for the week.
Easiness: 7/10; because you actually have to cook the lentils & get the blender dirty
Color & variety: 3/10
Taste: 10/10
Sweet Pineapple Quinoa Salad
By @eatmoreplants.no
Ingredients:
Salad • 1c. uncooked green lentils • 1c. uncooked quinoa • 2c. chopped broccoli • 1 red onion • 0.5 fresh pineapple • 100g arugula
Dressing • 0.5c raw cashews • 0.25c water • 2TBsp lemon juice • 2 cloves garlic • 4TBsp plant milk • Salt & pepper to taste
We love fruit in a savory salad, this one makes the list for the uniqueness factor!
Easiness: 6.5/10; few different components that require cooking and I don’t personally find quinoa the easiest grain to master, blending nuts isn’t suited for every blender
Color & Variety: 9/10
Taste: 6/10; the dressing was too sweet with the pineapple for me and little bland. The base ingredients of the salad went together really well so I might try this again with an altered dressing in the future.
The Most Addicting Colorful Kale Salad
Ingredients:
Salad *the salad base is more of how ever much you like, all amounts are approximate* • 2lbs. brussels sprouts, chopped finely or shaved • 1 bag broccoli slaw (or go ahead and julienne the stems of one head of broccoli + purple cabbage for extra color) • Sprinkle of toasted sunflower seeds • 1c. chopped dried apricots • 1 bundle green onions, chopped finely • 1/2c. feta cheese (or to taste – original recipe calls for goats cheese) • Kale (as much as you like) • Original recipe calls for roasted chicken, chopped
Dressing • 3/4c. soy sauce • 3/4c. rice wine vinegar • 3/4c. extra virgin olive oil • 2TBsp. honey • 2TBsp. coconut sugar • Handful chives, finely chopped • 3 cloves garlic, crushed • 1/4c. sesame oil
This recipe comes from @thetipsyhousewife “You’re going to make this salad and you’re going to have it in your fridge at all times. It’s that good.” I altered the recipe slightly, including opting to not simmer the dressing and to mix all ingredients raw for ease. But I will say that I this was my go-to salad for 2 weeks straight, love the textures, love the sweetness of the apricots and the saltiness of the feta.
- Chop up your veggies & dried fruit mix with all remaining salad ingredients (keep the dressing separate until ready to enjoy keeping the veggies crisp all week)
- shake together all dressing ingredients, I cut the original recipe into 1/3 and made fresh dressing, as needed. I haven’t kept this longer than 3 days but @thetipsyhousewife notes that the dressing can be kept in the fridge for 2 weeks
Easiness: 9/10
Color & variety: 8.5/10
Taste: 10/10
Thai Inspired Salad Over Rice
This next recipe comes from @sezzy.brown with a rice base instead of greens. It still makes the cut as a salad because it’s loaded with raw veg and can be made to exclude the rice if you wanted.
Ingredients:
Salad • 1c. cooked rice (I like jasmine) • Handful diced tofu • 1 small cucumber, diced • ½ avocado diced • 1 large carrot, shredded • Handful purple cabbage, sliced • Edamame (not from original recipe but added protein and greens) • 2-3 green onion, chopped (again, not from the original recipe but I love onions)
Dressing (I personally alter the dressing a little because I’m not a huge fan of mayo or vegan mayo as the original calls for) • 1TBsp soy sauce • 1tsp chili oil • 1tsp sesame oil • Sprinkle sesame seeds
Optional: package toasted seaweed
I’ve had a lot of success chopping up all the components and storing separately in the fridge to assemble as needed. With this super simple dressing, you don’t need to mix it ahead of time, I typically eyeball each amount onto the salad directly and mix.
Easiness: 9/10; you have to cook the rice but after the initial prep, this is the easiest salad on the list
Color & variety: 10/10
Taste: 10/10; the other salad that I rank 10/10 on this list has a stronger denser sauce and flavor. This salad is light, fresh and doesn’t need a lot to hold its own.
Parmesan Artichoke Salad
Another Hungry Lady Salad, courtesy of @kat_can_cook
Ingredients:
Salad • 2 cans artichokes in water, drained & air fried • 2 cloves garlic, minced • Extra virgin olive oil • Salt • Fresh cracked black pepper • 6c. brussels sprouts, halved or quartered • 4 stalks of celery, chopped • 1 can white beans, drained
Dressing • 1 small shallot, minced • 2tsp Dijon mustard • 1 lemon, juiced • 1/2c. parmesan grated • 1/2c. extra virgin olive oil • Salt & pepper to taste
Not a salad that I would eat every week on repeat like some of the recipes above, but every once in a while, you can get your artichoke super foods and cheesy goodness covered.
Easiness: 8.5/10
Color & variety: 8/10; not so much color but this one is packed with ingredients that I don’t typically utilize in my diet, so it checks the variety box for me personally.
Taste: 8/10; this is solely based on how much dressing you want to add. The brussels sprouts can make this salad really dry if you don’t load up BUT the dressing is cheese + olive oil so the more you add the higher you drive the calories.
Quite a few of these salads favor cruciferous vegetables which are nutrient dense, low calorie, high in fiber and best of all pretty tolerant against getting soggy so you can prep these salads for the week without worry. The best part of exploring salads is adding a ton of fresh natural ingredients to your diet. Let me know if you give these a try or if you have a favorite recipe of your own.
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