Salads, Reimagined
Salad. The very word connotes health. There are few better ways to rev up your body’s detox process than to add plenty of colour to your plate from a well-composed salad. Who doesn’t feel a little bit healthier after eating a salad?
Indeed, research shows that going bigger on veggies—both raw and cooked—can boost a healthy lifespan. Problem is, munching on the same cold salads every day can be tiresome, to say the least. The solution to salad burnout? Turn up the heat.
Like their cool counterparts, warm salads can be overrun with the nutrient-dense ingredients you’re trying to eat more of. But because they contain cooked elements—think roasted veggies, simmered grains, or heated dressing—they can be more exciting to eat as well as hearty and satisfying enough to be considered main-dish worthy. This is the motivation you need to once again make vegetables the cornerstone of your meals and reap the health benefits of doing so.
Pivot to these cozy early spring salads that are, without question, hot stuff. They’re most certainly not your standard bowl o’ greens!
Carrots, whose earthy sweetness is intensified in the oven, are an inspiring and eyesome stand-in for grains in this lively gluten-free version of a classic Lebanese side dish. You can serve the tabbouleh salad on a bed of freekeh or quinoa for a more substantial dish. If za’atar is not available, you may season the carrots with Italian seasoning or herbes de Provence.
This plant-based BLT pasta salad recipe is an exciting twist on the classic sandwich. There’s no actual bacon here, but that’s hardly a missed omission. Packed with smoky tempeh, warm tomato dressing, and creamy avocado, it hits all the flavour and texture pleasure points. It’s a great dish to bring to a potluck as a vegan-friendly main. For a simpler preparation, look for tempeh that is pre-flavoured.
This virtuous salad is reminiscent of what you’d be served at a well-reviewed bistro. The process of oven-blasting the vegetables serves to intensify their naturally occurring flavours by drawing out excess moisture, leaving behind a new, and improved, concentrated taste. And when caramelized veggies are paired with lacy greens, silky poached egg, and a mustard-forward dressing, you have a salad that wins. For a special finishing touch, garnish egg with a pinch of smoked salt.
The sweet-tart warm blueberry dressing is a wonderful counterpoint to the earthy elements of this simple yet satisfying salad. All the cooked elements of this salad—berry dressing, chicken, and farro—can be prepared ahead of time and then assembled for a quick weeknight meal. If farro is not available, other grains, including spelt berries, sorghum, or quinoa, can be used.
Who says meatballs are just for pasta and red sauce? These curry fish balls are an exciting focal point for this salad inspired by traditional Asian flavours. The raw greens and herbs deliver freshness to the salad, while the sweet and nutty-tasting black rice adds a visual pop. If you can’t use black rice, long-grain brown rice can stand in.
Black, pearly lentils serve as a springboard for a highly nutritious salad that seems more sophisticated than its ease of prep would suggest. You want a lot of broccoli in this dish, so if only small heads are available, use two bunches. French green lentils also hold their shape with cooking, so they would be an adequate substitution for black lentils.
Matthew Kadey, MSc, RD
Matthew Kadey is a dietitian, nutrition writer, and recipe developer. He is also the author of Rocket Fuel (VeloPress, 2016) and Muffin Tin Chef (Ulysses Press, 2012).
