We’re challenging you to add a little colour to your life. How many of you can eat a salad a day for a week? These salad recipes will make it easy so grab your grocery list and get shopping for the foods that will give you energy to get through your day.
A Quick, Easy And Healthy Lunch Box Idea: Tomato Bocconcini Salad
Running out of ideas for the lunchbox? Try this simple & healthy tomato-bocconcini salad, ready in 5 minutes.
Butter Lettuce, Avocado, Radish Salad with Mustard Dressing
Tender lettuce, spicy radishes and creamy avocado are topped with a zesty mustard dressing, sure to be at home on your dinner plate next to some buttermilk chicken [2]! This salad is very quick to make, and the dressing is as easy as one, two, three. Get the kids involved by getting them to tear lettuce leaves and shake a mason jar with the dressing ingredients inside to mix it up.
Creamy Broccoli Salad
This salad was inspired by a co-worker who brought it to work a few weeks ago. I love the crunchy raw broccoli with the bite of red onion, crunchy pecans, and sweet dried cranberries. I didn't use a lot of measurements in this salad, because I think it is pretty much a no brainer-just throw the broccoli in a salad bowl, add a little onion, then a handful or two of each of the nuts and cranberries. Try this in your kid's lunch box [4], with Easter dinner, or for tomorrow's dinner!
Fiesta Quinoa Salad
Nothing spells P-A-R-T-Y like a good quinoa salad, or at least like this fiesta-in-a-bowl! Not only is this salad chock full of protein, fibre, iron, potassium, and Vitamins A, B, C, E, and K, but it is also chock full of amazing flavor. Cilantro, cumin, and lime combine to make a taste explosion.
This salad can be a perfect vegan meal all on its own, but it also makes a great side dish for barbequed steaks, chicken, or even mushrooms [6]. It also goes fabulously with homemade margaritas. Now that’s what I call a fiesta!
Caesar Salad Bites
I love this recipe because it can be served as an appetizer, starter, or a meal. If baby romaine is unavailable, you can use endive or even iceberg lettuce wedges. Assemble just before serving to keep the lettuce crisp.
Maija's Copycat Wedge Salad
A few years ago we dropped my sister off for year one at her university of choice. After unloading our van into her residence room and taking her to the grocery store to stock her fridge, we opted to take her for one "last meal" before having to sustain herself on cafeteria food and whatever she made for herself with her toaster oven, microwave, and hotplate.
We chose a well-known steak restaurant and proceeded to order large meals with appetizers including this amazing salad I knew would be super easy to reproduce — Canned Soup Mom style!
Whether you're having a fancy dinner party or a laid back BBQ this salad that needs both a fork and knife to eat is impressive to look at but so easy to assemble you'll think your taste buds are deceiving you.
Watermelon, Mint, and Feta Salad
Watermelon is my favourite fruit by far—it's sweet and refreshing, especially on a hot summer's day. I've been eating a lot of watermelon over the past month or so because I've found that it's the perfect snack while I'm nursing my daughter. It's hydrating, high in fibre, and provides a healthy dose of two important antioxidants, Vitamin C, and Lycopene. Not to mention, it's the perfect way to satisfy my sweet tooth instead of going crazy on cookies and ice cream. Try pairing watermelon with vanilla yogurt, adding it to a smoothie or a fruit salad or eating it on its own.
This delicious watermelon and feta salad is super easy to throw together and will definitely impress your family and friends.
See the full recipe here [10].
Pineapple Ginger Salad with Grilled Steak
Salads are a staple in our house in spring, and certainly once summer is in full swing and it feels far too hot to cook. To make them more substantial and filling for the endlessly hungry teen of the house, we add some meat and a side of bread. This recipe has a slightly Asian style dressing, combined with fresh pineapple and slices of juicy barbecued steak. Make sure once you have removed your steak from the grill or fry pan to let it sit and rest so that all the juices stay intact—if you begin slicing immediately, all that goodness will run out onto your cutting board, leaving you with a dry steak.
See the full recipe here [11].
Get Your Freek On: Freekeh Greek-eh Salad
A few months I saw a package of freekeh in the grocery store, and I couldn't stop making jokes about it. It's super-freekeh. It's time to get your freek on. Let your freek flag fly. But it's no joke that this roasted wheat is the new supergrain in town! While I'm not ready to kick quinoa to the curb, I am always ready to add a delicious new grain to my repertoire, especially one with so many health benefits [12].
Freekeh is similar in texture and taste to brown rice, but contains four times the fibre, as well as more protein than most grains. It makes a great addition to stir-fries, and served cold it makes a tasty salad. This recipe was born of my desire to add more poetry to my life, or at least a different way to eat Greek salad. It's flavourful and satisfying, and incorporates lemon, one of the trendiest foods of 2014 [13]. Being food fashion-forward [14]AND being able to tell dinner guests they are about to get freekeh? Priceless.
Look for freekeh in the Middle Eastern section in your local grocery store.
See the full recipe here [15].
Zesty Thai-Style Pomelo and White Crunch Salad
With the cold weather lingering and spring around the corner, I’ve got my mind on fresh, tasty flavours. Inspired by one of my favourite destinations, I came up with this Thai inspired salad. Pomelo salads are a Thai staple, but the addition of some crunchy Asian vegetables takes this salad to the next level. Pomelos are in season now, a more mellow and drier version of a grapefruit. They are surprisingly addictive with Thai seasonings — be prepared to make these a new favourite.
This is really easy to pull together and is jammed with flavour and crunch. It is a refreshing change from a usual garden salad. Give it a try and serve it up with some chicken or pork on the side for a great weekday dinner.
See the full recipe here [16].
Ole Salad: A Mexican-Inspired Salad With Kick
Have you ever been inspired to create something at home that you ate in a restaurant? This Mexican-inspired salad recipe came from last summer, when my husband and I went on a short motorcycle trip. We dined in a great restaurant and ate the most amazing salad that I just had to try whipping up a replica in my kitchen. The sweet peppers, along with salty feta and creamy avocado really work together, with the Lemon-Honey dressing giving it that little extra kick. Don't skip roasting the corn, the smoky flavor is entirely worth it. I've given an approximate amount of what you'll need for the ingredients, but you can increase or decrease as you see fit depending on servings.