Salads are Kind of my Thing.
I teach over 30 different salads in my cooking classes at The Organic Kitchen. Salads are a delicious way to get your family to eat greens, fruits and vegetables in one fell swoop. If you want your family to eat salads, and not only eat them, but LOVE to eat them, here are The Secrets to Making an Amazing Salad! (Links to the recipes for most of these salads will be at the bottom of this post)
The Secrets to Making an Amazing Salad!
Variety!
No one wants to eat the same salad over and over year after year. The key to keeping salads interesting is changing it up! Use a variety of lettuces and greens: baby spring mix, spinach, kale, romaine, red leaf, mesclun, butter leaf …you get the picture. But just in case you don’t… here are a few pictures…
Herb Mix:
I use an herb mix in The Organic Kitchen House Salad.
Romaine: Chopped Salad with Apple Vinaigrette
Baby Spinach: Roasted Carrot and Couscous Salad
Mixed baby greens… The Fresh and Easy Salad
Red leaf lettuce… Greens with Roasted Butternut Squash
Changing up the greens is a good start, but we also want variety in the ingredients we place on top of our greens.
Add Color by Using Seasonal Produce!
Color not only makes a salad more beautiful, it’s a way to guarantee you are getting a wide variety of nutrients. The more color you eat, the more vitamins and minerals you are consuming. Add color with seasonal fruits and veggies. Produce is always higher in nutrients when it’s in season.
Winter: Greens with Pomegranate Vinaigrette
Spring: The Rustic Italian Salad
Summer: Greens with Peaches and Golden Balsamic
Fall: The Roasted Carrot and Sweet Potato Salad
Texture!
I always provide texture in my salads by using a combination of something creamy or soft, like feta, creamy goat cheese, shaved asiago, or avocado with something crispy or with a snap, like raw nuts, caramelized nuts* or…
…snap peas, red onions or fennel as pictured in this Italian Heirloom Salad
…or grains like brown rice or seeds like these roasted salted pepitas in my Chicken and Wild Rice Salad.
Warm it up!
Another way to add variety is to change up the temperature. A warm salad is a cozy and healthy option! Add warm breaded goat cheese or grilled veggies!
Greens with Pears and Warm Goat Cheese
The Grilled Veggie Salad
Dressing!
Last, but soooooo not least… add a variety of dressings to your repertoire! I use a variety of dressings for my family and cooking classes, all are delicious and good for you. The key to a delicious dressing is a combination of a healthy fat provided by olive or nut oils, and then an acid such as citrus juice or vinegar. We make passionfruit, raspberry, tangerine, fig, pomegranate, Champagne, Pear Chardonnay, white and traditional balsamic vinaigrettes and more! Homemade dressings are so worth the 2-5 minutes they take to prepare!
The Organic Kitchen Caesar Salad:
So here is the formula for healthy delicious salad dressings:
Two parts oil (olive or nut oils) to one part acid (vinegar or citrus or fruit juice). This means you will use twice as much oil as vinegar. EX: 1/2 cup olive oil to a 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar or juice. You can whisk that together and keep it that simple or add flavor enhancers such as chives, green onions, minced garlic or honey. Then add a little sea salt and pepper and you have a delicious healthy salad dressing. That’s it! If you need reassurance check out the recipes below, or enter salads in my search bar (upper right) and plenty of recipes will pop up!
I hope you enjoyed these tips and learned a little something along the way. Scroll down for recipe links to some of the salads in this post.
Greens with Cherries and Nectarines
MAY I PLEASE ASK A LITTLE FAVOR?
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Post tags: How to, vegetable, vegetables, gluten free, dairy free
Thanks for sharing your tips. Your pictures are just so beautiful! I want to eat ALL your food because it just looks so yummy. 😉
Thank you Jacquelyn. That is so nice of you to say.
this is a wonderful post! Everything looks so good…
Thank you Theresa!
All of your recipes sound so delicious! I love experimenting with different salad toppings.
Me too!
If someone can’t find a salad they love then there is a problem, so many good ones
Wow, so many delicious salads! Great tips!
Well now I want a salad! I don’t make them at home often because with only two of us (and he doesn’t believe they can be a meal) the produce often goes bad before we can eat it all. When I do make them, I like to make salad bar type set ups. Which now that I think about it, may be why it goes bad before we eat it all! The more ingredients the better in my mind! Thanks for the post!
My husband is the same lol!
I couldn’t agree more with all of your tips! I have to have different textures and colors in my salads. I also have to change it up a bit. My favorite dressing lately is Blackberry Ginger Balsamic Vinegar, and nothing else.
Mmmmm! That sounds amazing!
Awesome awesome photos. I absolutely love salads with fruit. Thanks for making my mouth water…off to make me some!
Me too! I think most people only think of cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots. Gotta shake it up to keep in interesting!
Love this post and thanks for sharing such awesome tips. I love salads so i am saving this one for later
Adding herbs to a salad can completely make it! I love this round up. Definitely makes me ready to try some new recipes!
xo,
Sara Kate Styling
Wow! You DO know how to make a salad look delicious. I need to go check out your cookbooks. For whatever reason salads are not my thing in the kitchen but my bestie always makes incredible ones. I would love to be able to switch it up and WOW her one of these times.
I like this post, Linda! I’m. It a salad expert so this helped me. 🙂
Thanks Amy! I am glad you liked it!
I which i had every one of your recipes.
You do! They are all on this website:)