MORE ADD-IN SALAD INGREDIENTS
Again this salad is versatile, so add in any combination of garden salad ingredients you like. Here’s some ideas…
Everyday Tossed Salad
This Everyday Tossed Salad is an easy garden salad to pull together to serve as a starter or have as a light main. I’ve tossed this salad with a delicious light dressing made with avocado oil, lemon juice, turmeric, garlic, Dijon mustard and honey.
You can serve this simple fresh garden salad as a light main or as a side dish with everything from Hearty Lentil Stew to Chicken Fajita Stuffed Sweet Potatoes.
Eating a mostly raw plant-based diet rich with fruits and vegetables as part of your daily wellness program is a good way to help strengthen your immune system and improve your overall health. And if you’re wondering how to start a plant based diet, eating a big beautiful salad every day is the easiest way to get started. Make yourself big bold salads that are pretty, satisfying (filling) and fun to eat. Having a variety of homemade salad dressing recipes in your arsenal helps a lot to accomplish this! A good dressing can really make a simple salad taste special.
WHAT’S IN A GARDEN SALAD
A good garden salad is a versatile and whimsical combination of your favorite garden salad ingredients (or whatever happens to be in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator). It can be filling enough to serve as a main, but it can also sub-in for a side to accompany a main dish (like pasta or grilled chicken or fish) any night of the week.
TOSSED SALAD RECIPE
The ingredients for this tossed salad recipe is my riff on a salad that I had at a restaurant last year. I loved everything about it. The cauliflower is grated or finely chopped and looks a little like feta cheese. The dressing for this salad is a new favorite. It’s made with avocado oil (which is more mild in flavor than olive oil), lemon juice, turmeric, garlic, Dijon mustard and honey. I love the turmeric in this dressing for the added nutritional (antioxidant & anti-inflammatory) benefits.
- Combination of Romaine lettuce and mixed greens (baby kale, spring greens arugula, spinach, etc)
- White or yellow corn, fresh, grilled or frozen
- Cherry tomatoes
- Cucumber
- Radishes
- Cauliflower
- Avocado
- Golden raisins
- Sunflower seeds
- Turmeric vinaigrette
- Shaved purple cabbage
- Grated carrot
- Beets, raw or steamed (grated or chopped)
- Onions (purple or green)
- Mushrooms
- Sliced almonds, chopped Marcona almonds, hemp seeds, pepitas, etc.
- Chopped dates instead of golden raisins
- Micro-greens
- Berries (especially blueberries)
- Croutons
- Chickpeas (if you want to make a vegan meal of it)
- This Healthy Citrus Vinaigrette, Cleansing Lemon Herb Vinaigrette and this Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette also make great dressings for your everyday tossed salads.
TURMERIC SALAD DRESSING
This turmeric salad dressing is quick and easy to make. I just use powdered turmeric found in the spice section of your local market and health food store.
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons pure clover honey
- 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Add the ingredients for this vinaigrette to a mason jar and seal the lid. Shake well to blend ingredients. You can also add the ingredients to a medium sized bowl and blend using a wire whisk.
TIPS FOR MAKING A GOOD SALAD
- Wash produce – always give your produce a good rinsing under cold water. A salad spinner isn’t a necessity, but it’s sure handy! It leaves the lettuce fresh, perky and crisp. I use mine daily!
- Variety – pick a good hearty lettuce to start with, then add in any combo of vegetables, fruit and protein.
- Wide Mixing/Serving Bowl – you want a bowl that’s relatively shallow and wide enough to give you room for tossing. You can use the same bowl to mix and serve with. A pair of nice wooden spoons or decorative serving spoons is always a nice touch and will help you to gently toss the salad without smooshing the leaves.
- Dressing Salad – I always drizzle the vinaigrette around the inside of the bowl just at the top edge of the salad ingredients so the dressing drizzles down the inside of the bowl just under the ingredients. Then I gently toss the salad ingredients into the vinaigrette. Sometimes pouring the vinaigrette on top of the salad ingredients can really weigh down the leaves, giving you a wilted looking salad.
- Seasoning – season sparingly with a healthier salt (like sea salt or Himalayan) and freshly ground black pepper. Chopped herbs like flat-leaf parsley, cilantro and basil are also nice to add to salads for both the flavor, eye appeal and nutritional benefits. If you’re on a low-sodium diet, adding fresh herbs is a healthy substitute for salt.
- Serving – don’t dress the salad until you’re ready to serve and keep the salad and dressing (separately) in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve to prevent soggy leaves.
MORE GREEN SALAD RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE
- House Salad
- Kale Salad with Basil Vinaigrette
- Crunchy Detox Salad
- Italian Chopped Salad
- Everyday Detox Salad
- Vegetarian Mexican Chopped Salad
- Immune-Boosting Arugula Berry Salad
Yield: 2-4
Everyday Tossed Salad
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
This Everyday Tossed Salad is an easy garden salad to pull together to serve as a starter or have as a light main. I've tossed this salad with a delicious light dressing made with avocado oil, lemon juice, turmeric, garlic, Dijon mustard and honey.
Ingredients
- 1 large head Romaine lettuce, core removed, rinsed, dried and chopped (or 1/2 head Romaine and 2-4 cups mixed greens)
- 1 cup cooked corn, fresh or frozen (barely blanched so its crisp))
- 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
- 1 cup sliced cucumber (peeled and seeded if you prefer)
- 3/4 cup sliced radishes
- 3/4 cup cauliflower, grated on a box grater or finely chopped
- 1 avocado, peeled, remove seed and chop meat
- 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
Turmeric Salad Dressing
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons pure clover honey
- 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Rinse, spin and chop lettuce.
- In a large bowl, combine the ingredients and gently toss to combine.
- Drizzle 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the vinaigrette over the salad, then toss gently to coat the ingredients with the dressing.
- Taste for seasoning and add more vinaigrette if desired.
Turmeric Salad Dressing
- Place all of the ingredients into a mason jar and shake well to combine.
Notes
MORE ADD-IN SALAD INGREDIENTS
Again this salad is versatile, so add in any combination of garden salad ingredients you like. Here's some ideas...
- Shaved purple cabbage
- Grated carrot
- Beets, raw or steamed (grated or chopped)
- Onions (purple or green)
- Mushrooms
- Sliced almonds, chopped Marcona almonds, hemp seeds, pepitas, etc.
- Chopped dates instead of golden raisins
- Micro-greens
- Berries (especially blueberries)
- Croutons
- Chickpeas (if you want to make a vegan meal of it)
- This Healthy Citrus Vinaigrette, Cleansing Lemon Herb Vinaigrette and this Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette also make great dressings for your everyday tossed salads.
TIPS FOR MAKING A GOOD SALAD
- Wash produce - always give your produce a good rinsing under cold water. A salad spinner isn't a necessity, but it's sure handy! It leaves the lettuce fresh, perky and crisp. I use mine daily!
- Variety - pick a good hearty lettuce to start with, then add in any combo of vegetables, fruit and protein you like.
- Wide Mixing/Serving Bowl - you want a bowl that's relatively shallow and wide enough to give you room for tossing. You can use the same bowl to mix and serve with. A pair of nice wooden spoons or decorative serving spoons is always a nice touch and will help you to gently toss the salad without smooshing the leaves.
- Dressing Salad - I always drizzle the vinaigrette around the inside of the bowl just at the top edge of the salad ingredients so the dressing drizzles down the inside of the bowl just under the ingredients. Then I gently toss the salad ingredients into the vinaigrette. Sometimes pouring the vinaigrette on top of the salad ingredients can really weigh down the leaves, giving you a wilted looking salad.
- Seasoning - season sparingly with a healthier salt (like sea salt or Himalayan) and freshly ground black pepper. Chopped herbs like flat-leaf parsley, cilantro and basil are also nice to add to salads for both the flavor, eye appeal and nutritional benefits. If you're on a low-sodium diet, adding fresh herbs is a healthy substitute for salt.
- Serving - don't dress the salad until you're ready to serve and keep the salad and dressing (separately) in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve to prevent soggy leaves.
I'm Deborah, the cook, photographer, writer and nutrition enthusiast behind The Harvest Kitchen. You'll find casual healthy recipes here for everyday life. I've been featured in Country Living, Prevention, Huffington Post, Women's Day, Four Seasons Hotel, Parade Magazine, Healthline and Purewow.
