11 Fresh and Unique Green Salad Recipes
By Beth Ricci, Contributing Writer
There’s just something so right about a fresh, in-season, mouth-watering green salad in the summer, don’t you think?
I was raised by a mother who believed in eating seasonally, which meant that I never even knew that you *could* buy things like peaches, strawberries, and tender baby lettuce leaves in the dead of our Canadian winter. I thought they were strictly a summer-only treat. They were in our house, at least.
That’s why I tend to especially enjoy salads in the summertime. They’re like a reunion party of fresh produce all tossed into one bowl of crisp flavor-explosion goodness. Mmmm.
Over the years I have enjoyed many salads at restaurants, buffets, and in others’ homes. [Tweet “(True story: I went to a salad bar for my birthday, giddy with excitement when loading up my plate.)”] I have marveled at the simple gourmet feel that a great salad recipe can bring to a table.
Nonetheless, I have found myself in a salad rut year after year. I typically use a spring mix of greens with dried cranberries
Here are 11 of the most drool-worthy recipes that caught my eye as I was browsing around trying to find new green salad inspiration. I specifically chose recipes for this list based on two factors:
1) Uniqueness
2) How much I drooled on my keyboard as I read through the ingredients list. (Figuratively-speaking, peeps. Relax!)
If you are planning a summer meal and are in need a great homemade burger patty recipe to serve alongside any of these drool-worthy salads, check out my easy homemade burger patty recipe. Perhaps you’d like to satiate your thirst with this honey-sweetened lemonade recipe, and then finish off the meal with a no-cook desert of homemade peanut butter cups! I’m getting hungry already… man, I really need to stop writing food posts just before dinner. Mmmm…
Now, without further ado, here it is. I guess we can call this my Green Salad Bucket List for Summer 2014. Yum!
1. Beet Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Mustard Dressing | Live Simply (above photo, credit to Kristin Marr of Live Simply)
2. Detox Salad with Orange Avocado Dressing | A Harmony Healing
3. Greens with Peaches, Carmelized Rosemary Pecans, and Golden Balsamic | The Organic Kitchen
4. Kale Salad with Cranberries, Avocado, and Feta | Attainable Sustainable
5. Mediterranean Kale Salad | Fresh Bites Daily
6. Chard and Kale Caesar Salad | Health Nut Nation
7. Peanut Butter and Jelly Bok Choy Salad | Hybrid Rasta Mama
8. Baby Kale Raspberry Salad with Nectarine Balsamic Dressing | A Harmony Healing
9. Greens with Blackberries and Passionfruit Vinaigrette Recipe | The Organic Kitchen
10. Beet and Arugula Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette | Happy Healthnut
11. Versatile Summer Salad | The Marathon Mom
Thank you for this great collection! I’m a beginner in the world of vegetarians (or better to say in the world of those who desperately love meat but are trying to cut it out for at least one day per week), so I still don’t know that many recipes and I’m just discovering the new tastes I was missing until now. I’ll definitely try some of these, especially the Detox salad with orange avocado dressing sounds pretty nice and as a great quick lunch idea for my next Meatless Monday (I guess everyone know this famous initiative but if not, this is the one I joined), because I also cannot spend hours in the kitchen… 🙂