Big Salads!

Often, I actually prefer my salads to those I can get at restaurants. It's not because I make any kind of amazing dressings or extra-special ingredients. It's because I like "salads with lots of stuff in them!"

My ideas of the anti-salad: soggy salads (ie- salads so overdressed you might as well be sipping dressing), "the wedge" (really! Who had the awful idea of chopping a head of iceberg in half and slathering some creamy dressing all over it and calling that a salad?!), or even worse- those iceberg lettuce salads from steakhouses of the 80s with 3 wedges of boring tomatoes and a few thickly sliced cucumbers. Yawn. What a waste of a vegiportunity! I like my salads to SING with vegetables.

What I love about salads is they can be made QUICKLY. And, when done properly, they are healthy, filling, and delicious. Here are my tips for making a good salad:

• Variety- Not just in the 'toppings' but in the lettuces. My favorite salads usually have at least 2 different kinds of lettuce (although a good kale or spinach salad doesn't have to- but if you're using something basic like romaine, or -God forbid- iceberg- definitely mix it up a bit. There are some good baby lettuce mixes you can buy pre-packaged, but make sure they are fresh). Adding some fresh herbs, like dill or basil, can also be a nice flavor addition.
  
• Color- this is another way to test the above- if you have a colorful, beautiful salad, chances are you've got some good variety in there (as well as different nutrients you need!)
  
• More veggies! I often like having chopped fresh steamed asparagus, zucchini or squash, sauteed mushrooms, beets, chic peas, jicama (for a nice crunch!), or sprouts in my salads.
• Nuts, fruits, & seeds- (what my husband calls twigs & berries) -Adding some dried or fresh fruit, healthy nuts, or seeds can go a long way to spicing up your salad. My new favorite is pomegranate seeds, which also pack a high punch of antioxidants. Trader Joes has some really good dried fruit options. Here are some ideas: raisins, cranberries, apricots, chopped figs or dates; mandarin oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, blueberries, apples, avocado; walnuts, almonds, cashews, or sunflower seeds.
  
• Proteins(s) - Since I'm veggie, I like using beans, edamame, tofu, or tempeh. Adding some protein to your salad ensures it will keep you full, and takes it from a side to a meal. Items with healthy fats also go a long way towards keeping you full (like avocados and nuts), in addition to just making the salad really yummy!
  
• Freshness- Using fresh ingredients should always be a rule of thumb! The only real exception to this is some frozen veggies *can* be acceptable in a salad - corn is often ok, or peas, and sometimes artichoke hearts.
• Keep the dressing light! Don't drown your salads!!! Dressing shouldn't be the highlight of the salad, or the only thing you taste when you take a bite.
  

Some "Big Salad" meal ideas:

• Mandarin oranges, fresh dill, avocado, green apple, atop baby greens with a light dressing
  
• Middle-Eastern: hummus or chic peas, olives, feta, cannellini beans, sauteed zucchini, asparagus, atop fresh baby spinach with a balsamic dressing
  
• "Salsa salad": Black beans, sour cream, shredded cheese, tomatoes, avocado, jicama, atop shredded mixed iceberg and romaine lettuces, with salsa as the dressing
• Summer salad: strawberries, blueberries, edamame, sprouts, orange grape tomatoes, sunflower seeds, atop baby arugula with a citrus or honey-mustard dressing

The salad pictured above has avocado, tempeh, pomegranate seeds, carrots, tomatoes, snow peas, edamame, and baby arugula blend. I used Brianna's dijon honey mustard dressing, which is awesome!!

Speaking of salad dressing, I usually look for low-fat dressings that will complement my salads rather than over-power them. Some of my favorite store-bought dressings:

• Brianna's Honey Mustard
• Newman's Own Light Balsamic Vinaigrette
  

While I do like making my own salads, these places have some of my favorite salads in the Bay Area (which, I might add, is a pretty darn good area to be in if you're a vegetarian or vegan who loves big salads with fresh ingredients!):

• Blue Barn Gourmet in San Francisco's Marina/Cow Hollow (Yelp)
• The Plant Cafe Organic in San Francisco - Embarcadero and Marina/Cow Hollow (Yelp)
• Paisan in Berkeley (Yelp)
• Crepevine - multiple locations in the Bay Area (Yelp)

Inari

(aka Inarizushi)

Ok, I admit I didn't make these, but they are becoming one of my favorite lunch items! Never had or heard of inari? It's on the menus of many Japanese restaurants, or can often be found in the prepared sushi sections of grocery stores. Basically, inarizushi is a fried tofu/bean curd wrapper, stuffed with white sushi rice. It's simple but surprisingly good because the wrapper tastes slightly sweet since it's cooked in a sweet soy-sauce base. And it's still pretty healthy: only 2 grams of fat and about 130 calories per pouch, and each has 5 grams of protein. I like them because they are tasty, filling, but still light.

Check out this page for information about how to make your own inarizushi.

Coo-Coo for Kale

Not too long ago I posted a kale salad I found while exploring some vegan blogs. Here it is again, featured on its own. I used the original kale salad recipe, along with some leftovers of Kathy from Health.Happy.Life's mushroom recipe from trio of bruschettas. The result is a really filling salad with a lot of flavor. The dressing (a miso sesame) has that Asian peanuty flavor, the kale is just the right amount of crisp, vine ripe tomatoes provide the color pop, and the truffle salt thyme mushrooms add that extra flavor that really complements the salad and dressing! I think this salad could also work with some tempeh added in.

After loving this delicious raw kale salad, my eyes popped at this yummy version with beets, apples, and avocado from The Happy Go Lucky Vegan. So I had to make that too! I changed things up a bit by using golden beets (they are so pretty and have such a great flavor!) and pomegranate seeds instead. Whereas the first kale salad listed above has a rich creamy dressing and Asian flavor, this second kale salad has a really bright, light, citrusy flavor to it, which I loved. It works really well with the pomegranate seeds too! And I LOVE that avocado is the primary ingredient in the dressing.


Ingredients (for the beet version pictured directly above):

• 1 bunch of kale, de-stemmed, washed, and coarsely chopped
• 1 ripe avocado, chopped
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 and 1/2 Tbsp olive oil (I used only 1 Tbsp)
  
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp brown rice syrup (I subbed about 1/2 tsp agave syrup instead)
  
• 5-6 small beets sliced (I used golden beets, and steamed them... but roasted beets would be great too!)
  
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
• 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds (I used pomegranate seeds instead)
  

Steps:

1. Whisk together the olive oil, salt, and brown rice syrup in a large bowl. Add the chopped avocado.
2. Add in the raw, cleaned and chopped kale and massage it with the dressing and avocado mix (ie, just take your hands and mush it all together for about 3 minutes or so! This helps break down the kale, and, admit it- it's kind of fun too).
   
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss gently. Add pepper to taste, and chill in the fridge prior to serving.
   

Notes: As mentioned by Gena, kale salads are great because you can make them a few hours in advance and take them to a picnic or dinner party later on and they won't wilt and get mushy. Actually, I even have it the next day and it still is nice and crunchy- no soppy salad leftovers with these kale salads! Plus, kale is a super green- it's got tons of fiber, vitamin A, C, K, and lots of other healthy nutrients, all while weighing in at a measly 33 calories per cup. Who wouldn't be coo coo for kale when it tastes so good in these salads?

Edamame Hummus

Recently my husband and I discovered Trader Joe's edamame hummus. In a word, yum. When he asked me to pick some up from the store, I sneakily said I would, but, flying high off of my recent triumph of making my own batch of hummus for the first time, I just got the ingredients instead. This is what I whipped up:


I used the recipe base from Gena from Choosing Raw's high protein hemp hummus, and simply switched out the chic peas for about 2 cups of cooked shelled edamame. I also added a few other things (a little onion, a little olive oil, and some pepper).

Ingredients:

• 2-2.5 cups of cooked shelled edamame
  
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• Pepper to taste
  
• 3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp chopped onion
  
• 1 Tbsp tahini
  
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
  
• Water

Steps:

1. Add all ingredients but the water and oil and begin to process. (You may want to start with about 3/4 of the edamame and add the rest after breaking it down a bit).
   
2. Add water and olive oil (stopping to scrape the bowl a few times) until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
3. Garnish with some left over edamame beans and chill prior to serving.

For the sandwich above, I used multigrain spelt bread, a solid helping of the edamame hummus, and a nice big avocado slice. Yum!