How to put together a tasty, nutritious salad every time
Salads are one of my favorite things to make, I’m kinda known for my salads of all of the things I make.
Once you figure out the base of the salad and a dressing recipe you love, you can mix and match it with different ingredients for variety. I love variety because it means I am consuming a larger range of varying nutrients every time, which is good for the body.
Let’s get into how I developed most of my salads and the vinaigrette dressings I love:
Choose your greens
This will be the base of the salad so pick something you like.
Romaine lettuce, kale, arugula, etc. I usually add a handful per person eating. Arugula is my go-to green for salads.
When using kale in salads, massage a teaspoon or so of olive oil into the leaves to make the texture more appealing, easing up the crunchiness.
You can always add a few microgreens for extra nutrients.
Choose your veggies
You can do cold veggies or warm veggies, or mix an match. Cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, I tend to keep cold while I always cook mushrooms, potatoes, and zucchini when I add them to a salad. The veggies make up the majority of the variety, so have fun with it.
I always aim for a colorful variety of vegetables as different colors are often associated with higher amounts of different specific nutrients. Eat the rainbow!
Add something sweet
I love a little sweetness in my salad. I usually add a smaller amount of the sweet component than veggies, so it’s not in every bite.
Apples, dates, and dried cranberries tend to be my favorites to add.
Depending on the salad some fruits work better than others, so try it out.
Add some crunch
A change in texture helps to make the salad more exciting. Add a few cashews, almonds, hemp hearts, tortilla chips, pumpkin seeds, etc.
Make a great vinaigrette
My vinaigrette recipe almost always follows this structure:
1/2 parts olive oil
1/2 parts vinegar (white, balsamic, red wine)
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar
This structure builds a recipe that comes out great every time.
To takeaway
The more you experiment, the more you get to know what flavors go well together.
I find the salad dressing is what makes me really enjoy a salad. And changing up the ingredients keeps things fresh and new so it doesn’t feel like eating the same thing all of the time.
