I’m dedicated to fresh, vegetarian and vegan eating. Salads are a huge part of that. The issue: Salads can get repetitive and boring. As a black woman, I love flavor and I don’t skimp on it even with salads. I’ve found these 5 salad recipes that I want to share with your that are tasty and flavorful as well as positive for your waistline. For the ones that include meat as part of the ingredients, you can replace it with thing like tofu, seitan, or more fruits or veggies.
Grilled Chicken and Wheat-Berry Salad from Health.com – This salad is a complex yet delicious mix of veggies, fruit, and protein all at once. It’s perfect for the clean eating part of our challenge because it’s got a little bit of everything. The mixture of yogurt dressing and mustard provides a boost of flavor and calcium. Wheat-berries are whole wheat nuggets of nutty flavor. The wheat bran is not removed on wheat-berries so they are full of nutrients like iron, vitamin B, protein, and trace minerals
Ingredients: Wheat berries, bay leaf, spinach, green apple, red bell pepper, cucumber yogurt dressing, Dijon mustard, chicken breasts, salt, pepper and green onion
Calories: 332
Curried Scallop-Apple Salad from Eating Well – “Curry complements seared scallops, tart apples and sweet dried cranberries while toasted almonds add crunch in this quick fall dinner salad. Serve with toasted whole-wheat baguette and a glass of sauvignon blanc.” I could not have said it better myself. Oh, the Maryland seafood lover in me LOVES this salad
Ingredients: olive oil, shallots, curry powder, apple cider, salt, cider vinegar, sea scallops, ground pepper, mixed salad greens, tart apple (Granny Smith), dried cranberries and sliced almonds
Calories: 291
Couscous and Fruit Salad from Fitness Magazine – This recipe is super simple and very filling. Make sure that you use whole grain couscous so that your meal is all “whole food”. It also makes for a great side dish with fish (salmon) or chicken.
Ingredients: olive oil, orange juice (fresh is better than regular), cider vinegar, shallots, salt, pepper, whole-wheat couscous, nectarine, mixed fresh berries (such as blueberries and raspberries), sliced almonds
Calories: 259
Simplified Salad Niçoise from CleanEatingMag.com – Get the taste of the french classic salad without all of the fat. Great salad for fish lovers who want to try something different, but with reasonably priced ingredients.
Ingredients: eggs, green beans, redskin potatoes, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, anchovy paste, clove garlic, olive oil, romaine lettuce and canned tuna
Calories: 340
Celery, Walnut, and Parmesan Salad from CookingLight.com – This is a great crunchy salad that shows that not every salad has to have a leafy green (although I have added spinach and romaine to this recipe and it’s great). I suggest that you pair this salad with a protein or add chia seed or wheat-berries to it. My boyfriend loves it with salmon or roasted turkey.
Ingredients: celery, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, walnuts, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, ground black pepper and kosher salt
Calories: 305
Mary Allen says
I really like the reminder of using whole grains so it would be considered a whole food. So many people forget that processed grains lose most of their nutritional values because of how they were treated at the factories.