Healthy Salad Recipes

The following healthy salad recipes taste like a dance party in your mouth! So full of flavor and nutrition. There are many variations, so I’ll list all the options here for you to choose from. If you know of others that I forgot, be sure to comment below.

photo by Catsper

HEALTHY SALADS – MANY OPTIONS TO TOSS IN:

Always start with the best greens you can find. I never use iceberg, the darker greens have more nutrients. My favorite is when I can get local organic lettuce at our farm market in the summer – I’ll usually get a couple different varieties. In the winter I’ll use the organic lettuce and/or spinach from the grocery store.
Fresh fruits in season: apples, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries
Other fruits that are never in season near us, but I’ll use them at times: orange slices, grapes
I’ll often mix in organic dried fruits like cherries or cranberries, especially in the winter.
I love something crisp in my salad, so I almost always toss in some Crispy pecans or almonds. (If I don’t have any crispy nuts made, I’ll throw some pecans or almonds on the cookie sheet with the next item…)
To add even more crisp (and if you’re not watching your carbs), some people use just the noodles from those Ramen packages. Even though they took the trans fats out of the Ramen noodles a while ago, I found something similar at the store with an ingredient label that I still liked better. I tried it today for the first time, it was a delicious crunch! (The ingredients are enriched wheat flour, palm oil, potato starch & salt.) It’s in a package a little bigger than the Ramen noodles, it says on it, “Sapporo Ichiban” and “Kitsune” (I can’t figure out which is the brand name and which is the food name!) and “Japanese style noodles with fried bean curd and soup base.” That SCREAMS of MSG, so when you open it, immediately toss out that soy cracker thing and the packet of MSG (“flavorings”), then crumble the noodles onto a buttered cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. Now you can either put them in the oven on 350*, then forget to set the timer and burn them every time like I do, or you can keep the oven lower, at about 250* or so, and keep setting the timer over and over for what seems like 10 times (in fear of burning another batch) until they’re golden brown. (Here’s where I start sampling and can’t stop.)
Fresh veggies in season: chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded carrots, whatever you like. If I have cabbage or celery in the frig I might chop that small and add it, too.
Lately I love freshly grated parmesan cheese on everything, especially my salads! Others like cheddar or another kind.
Sliced hard-boiled eggs are another delicious and healthy option.
I don’t like onions or mushrooms on a salad, but you might, so I included them here.
Cooked & crumbled bacon (Use nitrate-free bacon from a local farm if possible), or any other type of meat (chicken or beef), shrimp, etc. (You may want to check out the comments at this post about healthy hot dogs to read about a new twist on the topic nitrates.)
If I have some leftover chicken, I’ll cut it into strips and toss that in, too.
Anything goes! Experiment with different ideas and let us know in the comments if you find a good one!

HOMEMADE SALAD DRESSINGS

There are many great homemade salad dressing recipes out there; here are three of my favorites. Keep in mind, amounts may not be exact, I often play around with the recipe and taste-test to get it just right.

Berry Vinaigrette: mix together 2 heaping T. of jam (preferably organic or homemade so it has no high fructose corn syrup), 1/2 c. virgin olive oil, 1/4 c. balsamic vinegar, 1 T. poppy seeds. Makes over a cup of dressing. (Approximately)
Garlic Vinaigrette: (Warning: this has a really strong garlic flavor that I love, but Kent can’t stand it!) 1/2 c. olive oil, 1/3 c. sugar (organic cane sugar), 1/3 c. raw apple cider vinegar, 1 T. poppy seeds, 1 T. garlic powder, 1/2 T. mustard seed. (For this one serve it with lettuce, grapes, bacon, cucumbers, parmesan & almonds – it’s SO good, even though it doesn’t sound like it would be!)
Raspberry Vinaigrette: (A variation from #1) 1 c. olive oil, 3/4 c. raspberry vinegar, 1 t. sea salt, 1/2 c. sugar (I use organic cane sugar, or you could use local honey.)
Easy Citrus Dressing: If I’m in a hurry, I’ll make this super easy dressing for my salad-on-the-go. Squeeze half a lime (or lemon) over your salad. Drizzle a little olive oil or sesame oil over the top. (I think sesame oil has a milder flavor.) Drizzle a little Agave Nectar over the top. (I don’t use that much anymore, since the jury is still out on whether or not it’s a good alternative sweetener, but it’s nice when you don’t want to dissolve some sugar.) Stir your salad good, and add a bit more Agave if needed. I also add a dash or two of sea salt.
Homemade ranch salad dressing or ranch veggie dip
Creamy Lime Dressing (for a yummy cucumber tomato salad, or for any lettuce salad!)